Review for descenders. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 09/02/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 16/06/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 25/08/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 15/05/2018
High-speed descents, dirt tracks, extreme sports: ingredients of a recipe that, as we will see in this review, will produce a meal that we will taste. The name of the dish? Of course, Descenders, sports title dedicated to the world of Downhill (literally, the sport in which you have to scapicollarsi down some slope / side of a mountain). An interesting title, developed by RageSquide published by No More Robots of which, with this article, we will discuss the PlayStation 4 version (the game also exists for Xbox One and PC).
An entire title dedicated to reckless descents, between impossible elbow curves and neck-breaking acrobatics, which in some ways stands on the (valuable) lines inaugurated by Ubisoft with Steep. No more chatter, here is the Descenders review!
Descenders is a sports game dedicated to Downhill cycling competitions. An extreme sports sector defined by experts as the "Formula One" of mountain biking. A discipline that, in its maximum expression, requires a mixture of athletic skills, knowledge and full control of the vehicle. In addition, of course, to an overdose of madness. In the game, the goal will be pretty simple: race after race, we will be called to make a name for ourselves in this extreme sector with the secondary target of obtaining increasingly substantial sponsorships and special equipment.
It is good to understand right from the start that Descenders is not a simulation but, from the very first moments, the desire of the developers to fish with both hands from the arcade field is very clear: we will see, as mentioned, our cycling alter ego facing elbow curves far beyond the limit of gravity, as well as projecting himself in pirouettes acrobatics worthy of a superhero or almost, But Descenders is not totally unrealistic: in fact the good overall job of reproducing the mechanical movements of mountain bikes, unrealistic but certainly plausible and which will be the main "counterweight" to the distinctly arcade soul of the game, which will also and above all translate into the control mode, at the center of which there will be a surgical management of the analog sticks.
Descenders will offer a classic selection of game modes of which the main one, as dogma requires, will be career. It will force us into one game map divided into different macro areas (4 basic plus 4 more for the PlayStation version), each characterized by specific biomes, different types of challenges, including acrobatic and speed tests, which will be characterized by paths generated in a totally procedural way and that will present a basically high level of challenge. Descenders, in addition to an arcade soul, also has a rather old school basic concept: we will have a limited number of "lives" with which to tackle the tracks and, consequently, the challenges present in each macro area which, as a “dessert”, will always offer us an arduous final test (a terrifying leap). Failing (specifically Descenders, falling off the bike) will mean starting over the challenges proposed by the specific area.
Winning or losing will still allow us to obtain various rewards such as helmets, bikes, glasses that will tend to be aesthetic gifts. In addition, Descenders will allow us to create a real crew that, in a nutshell, will translate into specific bonuses that can make a difference during the races. For example, we will be able to reduce friction with the ground or become more "resistant" to falls.
Once the campaign is over, we will not have a lot to do: we will be able to face “particular” scenarios in their own right of the Bike Park or with the Free Ride mode, but also dedicate ourselves to the Daily Challenges in which, basically, we will have to face single random scenarios day by day. Modes that will add a pinch of extra longevity but that will hardly keep you busy for a long time. Descenders also offers a multiplayer sector which, at the moment, has clear limits: in essence, we will enter online hubs that will result in facing a particular scenario with other players, trying to stay first in the standings in shared tracks. A highly commendable addition that increases the playful offer and its relative longevity, but with obvious limitations (some more modalities would have been appreciated) and several technical problems (it is not uncommon to crash during the competition).
From a more purely technical point of view, Descenders will offer a decent sector but far from making a miracle cry: the title moves within Unity offering a functional aesthetic to the game concept, but which will still be characterized by swinging textures (but stretched downwards) and slightly angular polygonal models. All packaged with a fluid smoothness (albeit limited to 30 frames per second) and an experience essentially free of crucial bugs.
Descenders is a crazy downhill game, essential and fun. It is not a particularly long-lived title, especially from the point of view of the diversity of the playful offer: at the same time, the technical sector will be more than enough and nothing more. But what Descenders proposes is to offer an extreme sporting experience along the lines of Steep, therefore procedural albeit basically arcade and as “free” as possible. Recommended if you are looking for an “easy” game in the concepts, but not in the execution manual.
► Descenders is a running-Sport type game developed by RageSquid and published by No More Robots for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 09/02/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 16/06/2020 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 25/08/2020 The version for Xbox One came out on 15/05/2018
