Descenders

This time of year used to be awful for gaming as nothing came out after the Christmas rush of AAA titles but in recent years things have been far more kind. With the indie game industry stronger than ever there's always a lower budget title around to bring a smile to my face. 2018's leading contender is none other than biking simulator Descenders.

Descenders is an addictive freeriding roguelite with plenty of content to keep players busy as they get to grips with its unique take on extreme biking action. It may be a little rough around the edges in places and this Switch port has certainly seen a graphical downgrade, but the core riding controls well, the framerate is solid and the procedurally-generated nature of courses keeps things feeling fresh. With a meaty campaign featuring eight diverse biomes, a decent multiplayer component and those all-important online leaderboards, this one's a surprisingly robust package that comes highly r...

With the exception of the very niche (and very underwhelming) Tour de France games, and the copious hours spent burning CJ’s calories in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I don’t think I can remember of any other cycling game being released over the past two decades or so. That changed the moment developer RageSquid and publisher No More Robots released Descenders for PC and Xbox One in 2019. It’s a game centered around riding a bike down a hill, all while performing tricks and generally t...

“Just like riding a bike” is a statement that doesn’t apply to me. I literally nearly fell off a bike after not riding for about ten years, so it’s kind of ironic that I am reviewing Descenders, a ‘Rogue style’ mountain biking game. Even more ironic is how much I loved this game. Me, who would rather stay inside and smash buttons than smash the pavement. Me, who would rather read about people going on crazy adventures than going on them myself. Me, who gets anxious rather than pum...