by David Craddock

By 1995, Doom's popularity had spawned countless clones, all of which seemed content to cash in on the grit and gore of id Software's opus rather than stake out new territory. As retail shelves became exponentially overcrowded with soulless copycats, it became obvious that a radically different first-person shooter was needed to stand out among the dozens of derivative keycard hunts and demonic invasions. In answer to the genre's plea for individuality, developer Parallax Software crafted Descent, a three-dimensional FPS that literally turned the genre upside down.

In an era of 486 processors, 2.5D engines, and boot disks, Descent's true 3D movement and six degrees of freedom (6DOF)-based gameplay was a wonder to behold, but the first few forays did require a strong stomach. Traversing Descent's 27 levels wasn't a matter of moving up, down, left and right. Players dipped, spun, and corkscrewed through corridors crawling with hostile ships, imprisoned hostages, and plenty of slick weapons and power-ups. After acclimating to the freedom of 6DOF, players embraced the silky-smoothness of exploring Descent's every nook and cranny.

Like any good FPS, single-player was only the tip of Descent's 3D iceberg. Shunning the connectivity rigmarole enforced by other FPS titles, Descent allowed multiplayer sessions to be created from within an in-game menu, and sessions could be joined on-the-fly instead of forcing all players to be queued beforehand. Within minutes, up to eight LAN-ready players could be gliding and twisting like gravity-defying Spider-Men armed with laser cannons and missiles.

Descent's uniqueness and depth spawned a loyal community that passionately embraced Descent II, released in 1996 one year after the original's debut. While imposing for those unable to handle their topsy-turvy gameplay, Descent and Descent II are rightfully regaled as unique, deep experiences that take fun and freedom to the sixth degree.

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