Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a breath of fresh air in a gaming world that’s populated with ultra violence and incredibly complex games. Developer Megagon Industries together with publisher Thunderful Publishing have delivered an excellent game that is surprisingly therapeutic and relaxing when you get the hang of it.
In Lonely Mountains: Downhill, players will customize a male or female mountain biker, select a bicycle and trail and get right to it. Players will ride down an easy to identify trail down a mountain past checkpoints and eventually reach the goal at the bottom. It’s simple, yet oh so enjoyable. There’s 16 trails to unlock and each one has varied terrain throughout. Players will have to traverse grassy patches, gravel roads, dirt roads, forest trails and more as they bike their way through the lonely mountains.
Players will have to learn to control their bike as well as their speed effectively to make it to the bottom. Pedal too fast and you’re in for a world of hurt as you end up crashing into a rock or tree or even worse, falling off the mountain to your certain death. The game lets you disable blood effects for a fully wholesome family friendly experience but having it switched on makes your inevitable failures on a trail feel a lot more visceral. The accompanying sound effects amplify this too.
Lonely Mountains: Downhill on PC, played with a mouse and keyboard is incredibly hard. You’ll crash at least 20 or more times before you get used to the controls and even then, we would recommend you just use a controller since it makes your biking life so much easier. With that said, controlling your bike with a controller is extremely enjoyable but still challenging in its own right. You’ll probably still crash, a lot, but once you get the hang of the game, you’ll be chasing down time trials and setting leaderboard records in no time.
Progression in Lonely Mountains: Downhill involves beating specific times on certain trails and unlocking new ones. Players can also unlock bike parts which are used to unlock new bikes which handle completely differently to other bikes. There’s plenty on offer in the game so unlocking the new bikes is something you’ll definitely want to do to experience different playstyles throughout. There is a minor gripe to be had with this though and that’s because you’ll need to unlock all the specific parts before you get awarded with a brand new bike. This can be annoying or tedious at times because some mountain trails are downright dastardly in their difficulty and you’ll be stuck on them for ages until you manage to perfect your riding. However, when you do eventually perfect a trail, the feeling of satisfaction you get is extremely rewarding.
The top down third person camera angle can obscure the paths at some points in the game but generally, it’s been excellent. Finding hidden paths or shortcuts is rewarding and players can even unlock hidden resting places where the game treats you to some really scenic views. Trying to find these however will take up quite a lot of time so it’s best to do this while not attempting a speedrun of a mountain trail.
Graphically, Lonely Mountains: Downhill features vibrant colours and lovely low-poly graphics. The game is artistically gorgeous and the varied environments are definitely visually appealing. Cosmetic unlocks add to the longevity by allowing you to further customize your mountain biker with different outfits as well as your bike itself with different paint jobs. There’s just something about the game’s aesthetic and arcade style pick up and play gameplay that will keep you coming back for more.
Overall, if you’re a fan of games that are both relaxing yet still challenging, and don’t mind grinding through time trials for progression, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is for you. This is easily one of the best indie games available on Steam right now and we highly recommend playing it at least once just to see if you’ll enjoy it or not.
- Lonely Mountains: Downhill on Steam
- Developer: Megagon Industries
- Publisher: Thunderful
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems, Xbox One
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