Lonely Mountains: Downhill

 PlayStation 4
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 25
  3. Negative: 10 out of 25

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. boblike
    Dec 27, 2019
    9
    I feel like I need to defend this game because of the user score. It's a good game and you should ignore the 3.4 it currently has. Deserves much higher. At no point while playing this was I bored, or frustrated. It's easy to pick up, and it's easy to put down (meaning it's not frustratingly addictive). There isn't obnoxious music and the scenery is beautiful. The bikes are fun to unlockI feel like I need to defend this game because of the user score. It's a good game and you should ignore the 3.4 it currently has. Deserves much higher. At no point while playing this was I bored, or frustrated. It's easy to pick up, and it's easy to put down (meaning it's not frustratingly addictive). There isn't obnoxious music and the scenery is beautiful. The bikes are fun to unlock and each mountain definitely has it's own character. None of the runs feel the same.

    This is a game that was cared for during it's development. Shame to those who gave it a 0.    … Expand
  2. vanVamp
    Jan 16, 2020
    10
    Great fun and really challenging. I love to explore the mountains and find the best ways. In total this game is a little treasure.
  3. Angel_Sigh
    May 25, 2020
    8
    Sometimes when you start playing a game it takes hours to get into it. Sometimes it takes even longer. My favourite game of all time, Final Fantasy 7, took about three or four, maybe five, hours.

    Lonely Mountains? It took fifteen seconds to get its hooks into me: that's the time it took for me to accelerate my little diorama bike-rider towards a downhill corner...and skid-drift around    Sometimes when you start playing a game it takes hours to get into it. Sometimes it takes even longer. My favourite game of all time, Final Fantasy 7, took about three or four, maybe five, hours.

    Lonely Mountains? It took fifteen seconds to get its hooks into me: that's the time it took for me to accelerate my little diorama bike-rider towards a downhill corner...and skid-drift around it, accompanied by the delicious sound of churned-up gravel and dirt scraping against rubber. As soon as I saw the bike come to a skidding half-stop like that I knew I liked this game.

    The game is either very basic or incredibly pure and deep, depending on your tastes. You pedal/accelerate with the right trigger...but obviously, the sharper the angle of your descent(so far you're always going downhill) the greater the speed, and you often need to brake in order to avoid careening into a tree, or off a cliff. That's achieved with the left trigger. The left analogue steers, the X button accelerates the bike into a sprint. That's it. Those are all the controls, and yet it is punishingly tricky and deliciously skillful. It's reminiscent, in its purity and respect for the player's abilities, of the Trials series, but it's tonally completely different. Strange to say, but the most common comparison that came to me while I played it was Breath of the Wild: like BOTW it eschews music in favour of simple ambient sound effects...the breeze, birds chirping, trees rustling and above it all your bike's constant motion, the glorious skids, and grinds and bounces as it navigates one of the four(huge) lonely mountains.
    There's a hint of BOTW in the freedom it grants you to(literally) go off the beaten track, and experiment: see if you can manage to steer your bike down that almost sheer rock face and avoid a much longer but safer descent...you never feel like the game is constraining you.

    Visually it's extremely basic. Some people will hate the way your character is modeled; personally I was slightly put off the game by its cover, which shows a close-up of that angular modelling. But it's not meant to be seen in close-up, and when panned out, as 99% of the game is, it actually looks rather good. Aesthetically pure, clean, uncluttered, and with a clever use of blurring on background scenes. It's just pleasing to look at. Nothing special, due to its low-budget nature, but clean and pretty nevertheless.

    I can highly recommend you give this a go: it is moreish in the extreme.    … Expand
  4. Gregormeister
    Dec 19, 2019
    8
    I don't understand why people are so negative in here. If you like some challenge and are a bit skilled in playing games, this can hold you in front of your TV for hours and hours.

    On every tracks first attempt, you just have to reach the finish, that's the easy part. Just try to get from checkpoint to checkpoint until you reach the finish. No problem if you fall a lot, you can't fail.    I don't understand why people are so negative in here. If you like some challenge and are a bit skilled in playing games, this can hold you in front of your TV for hours and hours.

    On every tracks first attempt, you just have to reach the finish, that's the easy part. Just try to get from checkpoint to checkpoint until you reach the finish. No problem if you fall a lot, you can't fail.

    You will then unlock new tracks (and different areas) by managing to get from start to finish either with a limited amount of crashes, so here you just need some skill. If you have to finish a track in a specific amount of time to make progress, it becomes more difficult. In this case you not only need skill, but also your brains. All over the different tracks you will find a plethora of shortcuts or just faster ways, so you have to experiment a bit and memorize those in between two checkpoints until you will find the - for you at this time - perfect way to get down from the peak. (Actually, if you check any walkthroughs, you will be surprised that there are still a lot of way faster paths down.)

    The game might be a bit tricky sometimes and especially children might not have the patience nowadays to make much progress. But this is a little indie diamond in terms of gameplay (and also graphics), so if you like trial & error games where you develop your gaming skills, just give it a try!

    I spent many hours already, still make progress and should unlock the last mountain (of four) very soon. For me, it was definitely worth the money!    … Expand
  5. UltimateRich
    Jul 7, 2021
    10
    Is it difficult? To some degree, yes. But it's also very fair. You're not intended to go full tilt, and if you do, you'll fail. Exploration and experimentation are the name of the game. Learn a course, repeat it, and keep trying to optimize and exploit paths. Believe it or not but this is very relaxing.
  6. MrEBE
    Jul 4, 2023
    10
    - Super addictive game! Simple, old-fashioned, but superbly effective!
    - 99% of whining critics fall from the first additional bike unlocked !
    - Not once did I get mad at the game!
    - woah woah woah big crush
    - Again, awesome game Bomb Trashed from whining pseudo gamers who judge after 5 minutes of game time..
  7. MeloMMP
    Sep 1, 2023
    10
    Juegazo!....al principio cuesta hacerse con el control de la bici, tienes que acostumbrarte, escoger el tipo de control que más vaya contigo y entender qye vas a despeñarte mil veces hasta dar con la ruta, el salto o la bajada perfecta.
    Pero cuando lo consigues el placer es brutal. De repente empiezas a fluir con la bici, y si te caes es o porque has tomado una mala decisión o porque has    Juegazo!....al principio cuesta hacerse con el control de la bici, tienes que acostumbrarte, escoger el tipo de control que más vaya contigo y entender qye vas a despeñarte mil veces hasta dar con la ruta, el salto o la bajada perfecta.
    Pero cuando lo consigues el placer es brutal. De repente empiezas a fluir con la bici, y si te caes es o porque has tomado una mala decisión o porque has ido más rápido de lo debido.
    Te hace sentir como sivestuvieras encima de la bici, y es muy muy divertido y adictivo.
    JUWGAZO!    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Nov 18, 2019
    80
    The very occasional framerate stutter aside, LMD is as much of a joy to stare at as it is to play, and PS4’s biggest sporting surprise of 2019. A wheel good time. [Issue#169, p.96]
  2. 4P.de
    Nov 1, 2019
    79
    Charming hybrid of bicycle racing and and skill tests - quite motivating and with spot-on controls.
    Read full review
  3. Vandal
    Oct 25, 2019
    80
    It might seem simple, but Lonely Mountains is much more complex than you think. A good idea fantastically executed that we recommend to those who are looking for a somehow relaxing challenge.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »