Descenders

• It is important to not blow off the tutorial in this game if you want to do well. You'll want to get a feel for how jumping and moving in mid-air works because the game will certainly be expecting you to if you don't want to crash from landing incorrectly. Having to use the right stick to jump and using the left stick to do spins and flips in the air by default is tricky but doable.

• You can pump the brakes to help control your downhill speed (default L2) and there is also a dedicated sliding function (default moving the right stick left or right while on the ground) to also make sharp turns as necessary.

• You start off with one type of bike and need to unlock the other two by joining up with a sponsor. They all have pretty different stats and it's good to try to beeline for a sponsor just so you have options and find out which bike you like best ASAP.

• You can ride fakie (backwards), but only when your momentum allows and it's up to you to balance yourself so you don't bail. Also, your character will not walk backwards using the brake button when you're completely stopped. If you want to turn yourself around in a cramped area or without moving too much and causing a problem, hold brake and do some hops so you can turn yourself in the air while still landing in place.

• You can ignore the path given to you as much as you want in a given level, but in some cases, that may be a very unwise idea. Sometimes, the game will even take the path away from you and force you into an all-off-road level, but you will be handed a compass so you always know where the exit is.

• As you go through a career mode session, you will earn points from doing tricks and putting yourself at risk. For every point threshold you pass, you get a crew member selection at the end of the level that can alter either the levels themselves (for example, putting more stunt objects on the path) or your rider's biking abilities (reducing wobbling when traveling at very high speeds).

• You would do well to remember that bonus objectives are called that for a reason. Sometimes, what's asked of you is not worth breaking even for the +1 HP you're getting because you bailed trying to go for it.

• Keep in mind that you don't have to do the boss jump of a given region if you really don't want to, but it will still be up to you to reach the goal and finish the level anyway. You can only unlock shortcuts by doing the three bonus objectives, too, so may as well try to get those out of the way when you can.

• Some ramps will let you get more height off of them when you jump before hitting the top of the ramp. It'll take some practice to do it consistently, but you can do it.

• If your bail is particularly nasty, you may lose more than 1 HP from it. If you are put at 0 HP, you will enter Last Stand. In this state, you have to either find a medic node and complete it or finish a bonus objective to heal up. If you end up eating the ground from anything at all, even lightly tapping your arm against a ramp while you're going very slow, the run is over.

• As far as the PS4 version is concerned, turn off the news feed in the pause menu by hitting Triangle. For some reason, one of the pieces of news instantly crashes the game and it's not worth leaving that thing open when you pause at the lobby and walk away to do something, only to find out that it crashed when you come back.