Got to play this at the IGF booth at GDC this year, which was an earlier version than the final release. Great stuff. While billed as a "roguelike" it has a number of other elements that make it feel more like Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, Star Control 2, or an episode of Star Trek. Assuming that the release version is basically the same except better (improved graphics/audio/interface/etc.) this is an obvious game to add to your collection if you like strategy games at all.
This is a Sim/Tycoon game, and no matter how much you like James Bond / Austin Powers, the gameplay will wear thin unless you like these kinds of games. That said, Evil Genius perfectly nails the experience of playing a supervillain, from the text to the missions to the minion animations to the background music.
Human beings are not normally born with the ability to think in three dimensions. We don't fly or swim particularly well, we're land-dwellers, so we are used to conceptualizing our environment as a 2D plane. Even with the majority of so-called "3D" games, if you replaced the first-person camera with an overhead view, the gameplay would be largely the same. But not here. Descent is built around the concept that your world is true 3D. You are flying in a 3D space. You not only look around in 360 directions, but can rotate yourself forward/backward, right/left, and clockwise/counterclockwise. If you're used to WASD for movement, this is more like QWEASD for movement. As such, this game has a high learning curve, and not everyone will "get it" - if you are in love with more traditional FPSs, or particularly the more modern ones that simplify their interface with assisted aiming and similar qualities, you'll probably find this a bit frustrating. If you're used to mini-maps in 2d, trying to navigate your way through a series of mazes where the passages loop around each other can be maddening. But if you are willing to work at it or you just have unnaturally good spatial perception, you'll probably enjoy this as an FPS in a class of its own.
Human beings are not normally born with the ability to think in three dimensions. We don't fly or swim particularly well, we're land-dwellers, so we are used to conceptualizing our environment as a 2D plane. Even with the majority of so-called "3D" games, if you replaced the first-person camera with an overhead view, the gameplay would be largely the same. But not here. Descent is built around the concept that your world is true 3D. You are flying in a 3D space. You not only look around in 360 directions, but can rotate yourself forward/backward, right/left, and clockwise/counterclockwise. If you're used to WASD for movement, this is more like QWEASD for movement. As such, this game has a high learning curve, and not everyone will "get it" - if you are in love with more traditional FPSs, or particularly the more modern ones that simplify their interface with assisted aiming and similar qualities, you'll probably find this a bit frustrating. If you're used to mini-maps in 2d, trying to navigate your way through a series of mazes where the passages loop around each other can be maddening. But if you are willing to work at it or you just have unnaturally good spatial perception, you'll probably enjoy this as an FPS in a class of its own.
Human beings are not normally born with the ability to think in three dimensions. We don't fly or swim particularly well, we're land-dwellers, so we are used to conceptualizing our environment as a 2D plane. Even with the majority of so-called "3D" games, if you replaced the first-person camera with an overhead view, the gameplay would be largely the same. But not here. Descent is built around the concept that your world is true 3D. You are flying in a 3D space. You not only look around in 360 directions, but can rotate yourself forward/backward, right/left, and clockwise/counterclockwise. If you're used to WASD for movement, this is more like QWEASD for movement. As such, this game has a high learning curve, and not everyone will "get it" - if you are in love with more traditional FPSs, or particularly the more modern ones that simplify their interface with assisted aiming and similar qualities, you'll probably find this a bit frustrating. If you're used to mini-maps in 2d, trying to navigate your way through a series of mazes where the passages loop around each other can be maddening. But if you are willing to work at it or you just have unnaturally good spatial perception, you'll probably enjoy this as an FPS in a class of its own.
PC RPGs have always been a bit more hardcore than their console cousins, and "Betrayal" is one of those pinnacles of what made PC RPGs what they were. This game is not for the faint of heart. Expect to spend a lot of time making maps, exploring arbitrarily, restoring from save, not to mention tons of optimization in menus. You must not only manage hit points and mana but also food, and many types of food will spoil quickly. This is back from the times when the PC was a sadistic GM whose goal was to kill off your entire party mercilessly as soon as you screwed up, so if you're used to modern-day console RPGs that bend over backwards to give you every chance to beat them, this will be a bit of a shock. Still, there is a decent story here, wonderfully challenging puzzles, and deep combat and non-combat systems to explore.
This is one of those "sleeper hits" that defied all understanding. Big budget, skilled developers, decent gameplay, wonderful story, likeable characters. It had decent marketing and solid reviews. There's no earthly reason this wasn't a multi-million seller... except that it wasn't. At least you can still buy it!
