A few weeks ago I got an email about a game about riding bikes down hills. I didn’t give it much thought because it was on Steam, and there’s no way it would run on my laptop based on the screenshots. That meant I’d have to boot up my rig, which I don’t get the opportunity to do very often, as the setup is not at all ideal. So when I finally watched a video for it the night it was downloading, I couldn’t help but regret how long it had taken me to play it.

Descenders is so much more than riding bikes down hills as I had so ignorantly thought. This is a game that speaks to the joys of SSX, Steep, and the Trials series. This is a game that throws you on a path with twists and turns that you may or may not see coming, as every level you play is procedurally generated. This is a game that knows what speed is, and doesn’t ask you if you’re ready for that. This is a game that is a hell of a lot more fun than I thought at first glance.

After a short tutorial teaching you about the basics needed to play the game, you’re set to ride. Starting up a new session, you’ll be tasked with getting from the starting line to the finish in any way you see fit. Go on the designated path with hairpin turns, jumps, and more. Or, choose to go off the beaten path and make your way to the finish line as you see fit. You won’t face any penalties unless you end up crashing, at which point you’ll lose a percentage of your earned rep. There are some levels that don’t even have a path, and you’re to make it to the finish line however you see fit. Similarly to the path you choose to take, you can also decide whether you want to race through the level, or take it at your own pace. The game is very open to interpretation, and allows for all sorts of players to enjoy it.

While playing through a session you have a limited number of lives which are used each time you bail. Bailing can be caused by running into something, attempting a trick and not landing it properly, as well as other things like being broadsided by moving objects. Like most games, you are able to earn more lives – each level has an additional challenge for you to complete, and doing so boosts your rep and grants you an additional life. Of course, these may end up costing you lives in the process, as they require you to race through the level, perform area specific feats, and all around doing something dangerous. Run out of lives and the session ends. This certainly isn’t the end of the world, as the end means you see the rep you’ve earned, and you’ll be awarded gear that you can switch out at the shed. Pretty much all of the gear you acquire is cosmetic at this time, but as this is in Early Access, it’s entirely possible that’ll change as time goes on if enough people request it.

The way the game plays level wise is actually reminiscent of Spelunky. There are four zones currently, and a session will start you off in the Highlands and you’ll then have to ride your way to the next ones: Forest, Canyon, and Peaks. Each zone ends with a boss level, which translates to a huge jump which may go over something like a train that’s chugging away on a bridge. Complete a boss jump three times for a zone and you’ll be able to skip over the previous one and work on the new one when you start a session, ideally making it to the next zone with more lives. Although you probably won’t want to skip the areas forever, as the landscapes you traverse are absolutely beautiful and diverse.

While actual competition on the levels could be fun, the thing I’d like most is a set of handcrafted levels with leaderboards. I love the thrill of not knowing what’s going to be around the next bend with the generated levels currently available, but what I loved about SSX Tricky as I played through the game with every character was finding new paths to take in the same levels. Learning the ins and outs of a level meant I could experiment more with tricks as I knew the length of air time I would have for each jump. And exploration would either punish or reward the player greatly. There isn’t a lot of that with random levels, especially when you have a small number of lives available to you. This isn’t necessarily going for that type of gameplay, but it’d be awesome to have a small section of the experience dedicated to that down the line.

For anyone that has ever found themselves enjoying the likes of extreme downhill sports games, I highly recommend checking out Descenders. While the game is in Early Access, there’s a lot to it already, and you’ll be able to help shape what it becomes by joining the community and the discord channel. How fun can riding bikes down a hill be? It’s about the same as holding down the right button on a controller and jumping occasionally as a plumber with a mustache.

 

Descenders is being developed by RageSquid and published by No More Robots. It was released on Steam Early Access on February 9th, 2018 for $24.99. The game was provided to us for preview on PC. For more on Descenders, visit its official site.