Incredibly technical space combat and an epic story, need I say more? Play this!
D3 takes the best of the first two, and takes the whole thing out of the mines onto plantetary surfaces. The new weapons rock, the graphics were way ahead of their time, and the sound effects are gripping. The intro is the best part of the story, really amazing, but after that the story takes some odd turns, and it's really my only gripe with this game. You may also need a guide for this game, as some of the levels can become quite confusing towards the end of the game. The multiplayer is great, possibly the game's greatest feature. With the included level builder, lots of great fan made content has been generated and played online. Recommended to any gamer with interest in flight or shooter games.
Descent is what got me into gaming. Sure, I'd played Wolf3D and Commander Keen, even Catacomb Abyss years before it, but this is what made me a gamer. At the time, the full six degrees of freedom was breathtaking, along with the enemy AI, the lighting effects, the soundtrack, and the massive levels. Blowing up a reactor and hurrying to escape through the emergency exit is always an intense experience! The weapons were varied, with your primary weapons ranging from simple (yet upgradable) lasers, to a vulcan cannon, to the mighty fusion cannon which you could charge up and deliver a large blast of energy to your foes (fun fact: you can damage your ship by overloading the fusion cannon!). If that weren't enough, you had a full set of secondary weapons, ranging from dumbfire concussion missiles, to plasma-releasing smart missiles, to the shockwave inducing mega missile. Descent also offered an unparalleled multiplayer experience for it's time, with highly competitive drop in (you could join at any time during a match) play. The common gripe many have with Descent is it's seemingly overwhelming control structure. Many will use a joystick or gamepad, both of which I dabbled in but I always returned to a keyboard/mouse setup. For some, it may take much experimenting to find something comfortable, but the reward of total freedom of flight is well worth it. A year later, I was poking around in some PC Gamer magazine and came across Descent 2. I hauled my butt over to the store and grabbed a copy, only to return home and not be able to run it! It needed 8MB of RAM to run, and I only had an old 486/4MB of RAM machine! I was so sad, but then I learned how to tinker with the memory manager and I got it to run, albeit at a low framerate. Descent 2 introduced so much, it felt like an entirely different experience. You had a guide-bot to show you around the level. You had 10 new weapons, including the beastly Omega Cannon (a direct stream of energy), to the devastating Earthshaker missile which would shake the entire level upon exploding! There were locked doors that could only be opened by destroying switches hidden around the level. The robots were incredibly varied and the already excellent AI was improved. You had an afterburner to speed you around. There were also some graphical upgrades, such as coloured lighting and support for higher resolutions. There were full motion video cutscenes, and the story from Descent 1 is continued. The multiplayer was just as excellent, although some preferred Descent 1 due to it being more difficult (the weapons were quite overpowered in D2). I have beaten both Descent 1 and 2 countless times and played hundreds of online matches. Eventually, I lost my discs when I moved on to other games, so I jumped on the Descent package here at GOG.com when it launched. Playing them again after about 7 years was a real treat, and I played it using the Descent Rebirth engine (google it) to enjoy high resolution graphics. I would recommend Descent to any shooter fan, any flight game fan, and anybody looking for a fresh challenge. It's simply one of the best franchises you will find here on GOG.com, and I hope other people will have as much fun with it as I have had.
Descent is what got me into gaming. Sure, I'd played Wolf3D and Commander Keen, even Catacomb Abyss years before it, but this is what made me a gamer. At the time, the full six degrees of freedom was breathtaking, along with the enemy AI, the lighting effects, the soundtrack, and the massive levels. Blowing up a reactor and hurrying to escape through the emergency exit is always an intense experience! The weapons were varied, with your primary weapons ranging from simple (yet upgradable) lasers, to a vulcan cannon, to the mighty fusion cannon which you could charge up and deliver a large blast of energy to your foes (fun fact: you can damage your ship by overloading the fusion cannon!). If that weren't enough, you had a full set of secondary weapons, ranging from dumbfire concussion missiles, to plasma-releasing smart missiles, to the shockwave inducing mega missile. Descent also offered an unparalleled multiplayer experience for it's time, with highly competitive drop in (you could join at any time during a match) play. The common gripe many have with Descent is it's seemingly overwhelming control structure. Many will use a joystick or gamepad, both of which I dabbled in but I always returned to a keyboard/mouse setup. For some, it may take much experimenting to find something comfortable, but the reward of total freedom of flight is well worth it. A year later, I was poking around in some PC Gamer magazine and came across Descent 2. I hauled my butt over to the store and grabbed a copy, only to return home and not be able to run it! It needed 8MB of RAM to run, and I only had an old 486/4MB of RAM machine! I was so sad, but then I learned how to tinker with the memory manager and I got it to run, albeit at a low framerate. Descent 2 introduced so much, it felt like an entirely different experience. You had a guide-bot to show you around the level. You had 10 new weapons, including the beastly Omega Cannon (a direct stream of energy), to the devastating Earthshaker missile which would shake the entire level upon exploding! There were locked doors that could only be opened by destroying switches hidden around the level. The robots were incredibly varied and the already excellent AI was improved. You had an afterburner to speed you around. There were also some graphical upgrades, such as coloured lighting and support for higher resolutions. There were full motion video cutscenes, and the story from Descent 1 is continued. The multiplayer was just as excellent, although some preferred Descent 1 due to it being more difficult (the weapons were quite overpowered in D2). I have beaten both Descent 1 and 2 countless times and played hundreds of online matches. Eventually, I lost my discs when I moved on to other games, so I jumped on the Descent package here at GOG.com when it launched. Playing them again after about 7 years was a real treat, and I played it using the Descent Rebirth engine (google it) to enjoy high resolution graphics. I would recommend Descent to any shooter fan, any flight game fan, and anybody looking for a fresh challenge. It's simply one of the best franchises you will find here on GOG.com, and I hope other people will have as much fun with it as I have had.
Descent is what got me into gaming. Sure, I'd played Wolf3D and Commander Keen, even Catacomb Abyss years before it, but this is what made me a gamer. At the time, the full six degrees of freedom was breathtaking, along with the enemy AI, the lighting effects, the soundtrack, and the massive levels. Blowing up a reactor and hurrying to escape through the emergency exit is always an intense experience! The weapons were varied, with your primary weapons ranging from simple (yet upgradable) lasers, to a vulcan cannon, to the mighty fusion cannon which you could charge up and deliver a large blast of energy to your foes (fun fact: you can damage your ship by overloading the fusion cannon!). If that weren't enough, you had a full set of secondary weapons, ranging from dumbfire concussion missiles, to plasma-releasing smart missiles, to the shockwave inducing mega missile. Descent also offered an unparalleled multiplayer experience for it's time, with highly competitive drop in (you could join at any time during a match) play. The common gripe many have with Descent is it's seemingly overwhelming control structure. Many will use a joystick or gamepad, both of which I dabbled in but I always returned to a keyboard/mouse setup. For some, it may take much experimenting to find something comfortable, but the reward of total freedom of flight is well worth it. A year later, I was poking around in some PC Gamer magazine and came across Descent 2. I hauled my butt over to the store and grabbed a copy, only to return home and not be able to run it! It needed 8MB of RAM to run, and I only had an old 486/4MB of RAM machine! I was so sad, but then I learned how to tinker with the memory manager and I got it to run, albeit at a low framerate. Descent 2 introduced so much, it felt like an entirely different experience. You had a guide-bot to show you around the level. You had 10 new weapons, including the beastly Omega Cannon (a direct stream of energy), to the devastating Earthshaker missile which would shake the entire level upon exploding! There were locked doors that could only be opened by destroying switches hidden around the level. The robots were incredibly varied and the already excellent AI was improved. You had an afterburner to speed you around. There were also some graphical upgrades, such as coloured lighting and support for higher resolutions. There were full motion video cutscenes, and the story from Descent 1 is continued. The multiplayer was just as excellent, although some preferred Descent 1 due to it being more difficult (the weapons were quite overpowered in D2). I have beaten both Descent 1 and 2 countless times and played hundreds of online matches. Eventually, I lost my discs when I moved on to other games, so I jumped on the Descent package here at GOG.com when it launched. Playing them again after about 7 years was a real treat, and I played it using the Descent Rebirth engine (google it) to enjoy high resolution graphics. I would recommend Descent to any shooter fan, any flight game fan, and anybody looking for a fresh challenge. It's simply one of the best franchises you will find here on GOG.com, and I hope other people will have as much fun with it as I have had.
This game is a real gem. An excellent intro paves the way to some incredibly nonlinear gameplay, filled with practical humour and over the top violence. I would call it the Grand Theft Auto of RPGS. You've got drug abuse, sex, mass destruction, the works. You have plenty of weapons to choose from, deep character customization (albeit a few redundant abilities), mercenaries to hire (including a dog!), and a rich world to explore. The levelling system is great, there is no grinding. You just survive, and you gain experience. It's a great change from traditional RPGS. The interface certainly has a learning curve, but it's quite logical and makes sense after one is accustomed to it. The game can be long or short, depending on how you like it (don't let that 150 Water Chip post-it fool you). Many criticize the graphics, but the art direction and attention to detail overrule any such nitpicking. Sounds are done right, adding much to the atmosphere. I felt the lack of footsteps and other ambience a little disorienting, though. In conclusion, this game is great from start to finish, and is worth it to all gamers, even if one isn't an RPG fan. And thanks to this site for providing me the opportunity to finally play this game!
