How Close Descenders Is To Downhill Domination

How Close Descenders Is To Downhill Domination

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Descenders and the PlayStation 2 classic Downhill Domination both sport mountain-bike action. Here’s what makes them similar and different.

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How Close Descenders Is To Downhill Domination

Indie game Descenders is making a name for itself with its intense downhill mountain biking gameplay. There aren’t many games that feature downhill bike racing, but if players were gaming during the PlayStation 2 era, Descenders might remind them of another title – the Sony Computer Entertainment published Downhill Domination.

There are a few similarities, to be sure. Both titles feature downhill mountain bike action, after all. Both feature gnarly crashes and both Downhill Domination and Descenders support the ability to do various tricks. But while the two games are similar in their basic premise and appearance, the two titles actually are quite different.

Let’s use another popular extreme sport game genre prevalent in video games – skateboarding – to explain the differences. Descenders is more akin to a more grounded, simulation-style game like Skate, whereas Downhill Domination is a more arcade-y experience like the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series.

Comparing Descenders to Downhill Domination

One of the biggest differences between Descenders and Downhill Domination is in their basic structure. In Descenders, players attempt to make it downhill to the finish line in one piece on procedurally generated levels that sport randomly-generated goals like “complete the level in under a certain time limit” or “perform a particular trick a certain number of times.” Players are, in essence, competing against themselves.

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Like Skate, the game feels much more like a simulation, where hitting a turn slightly wrong, making too big of a jump, or running over a rock at the wrong speed can spell certain doom. It can be punishing in that way, but it’s also what makes the game so much fun. It’s physics-based biking at its finest, and, combined with its soundtrack from electronic drum and bass label Liquicity, makes for an almost meditative experience as players make their way downhill.

Downhill Domination goes in the opposite direction. For starters, players are racing against a large number of opponents and attempting to reach the finish line at the bottom of the hill first, while also scoring points for doing various actions like tricks. The levels are not randomly generated, but predetermined.

In the same vein of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, players can do some ridiculous stunts in Downhill Domination, like jumping off gigantic ramps and cliffs that would have a Descenders player quaking in fear. In case being able to jump off a several hundred foot-high mountainside and land perfectly uninjured wasn’t enough arcade action, the game sports combat as well. If players get close enough they can punch their opponents, hit them with sticks, or even throw water bottles from a distance. With a collection of licensed tracks that help get the adrenaline pumping, Downhill Domination is all action, all the time.

Overall, Descenders and Downhill Domination share some DNA, but are each a unique experience worth checking out. Players who want to see what Descenders is all about can play on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Unfortunately, if they want to take Downhill Domination for a spin they’ll have to dust off a PS2, as the game has never appeared on other platforms.

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Cameron Koch is a Denver, CO based writer who’s writing on gaming has appeared on sites like Game Informer, Gamepedia, and now Screen Rant. On the rare occasion he’s separated from a keyboard or controller, he enjoys fencing (the sword-fighting kind) and obsessing over the latest kaiju film.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/descenders-gameplay-simulation-arcade-downhill-domination-ps2-comparison/

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