Descent

Game review

Descent is an action-packed game that takes you on a thrilling ride through the depths of space, where you command the nimble space fighter Pyro-GX. This game stands out as one of the pioneers in offering players the ability to navigate a fully-realized 3D environment, specifically the intricate and dangerous confines of space mines. The freedom of movement in all directions, combined with the game's immersive 3D graphics, sets a new standard for spatial exploration in video games.

In 1995, Descent brought an unprecedented concept - a combination of a space simulator ala X-Wing or Wing Commander with 3D actions such as Doom, Heretic, etc... Basically, you have a racket that moves in all directions, not only to the sides and forwards, but also up and down and turns in all directions. And with this racket you have to clear traditional doom levels (27 + 3 secret). It's such a classic - a huge maze, lots of secret walls, doors with colored keys, lots of weapons and enemies and an exit at the end.

The revolution lies in the fact that everything is fully 3D, you decide where it is up and where it is down, and it's up to you whether you fly into the room above you with your nose first, or hit it from the side or the top. Descent is credited with starting a subgenre of six-degrees-of-freedom first-person shooters, and remains an icon of the subgenre. It holds a Guinness World Record for being the first fully 3D first-person shooter.

Unfortunately, the graphics and story are not that good, even by old time standards. The story is basically non-existent. Descent is set in 2169. The story begins with a briefing between PTMC executive S. Dravis and the player's character, PTMC's best "Material Defender", who is hired on a mercenary basis to eliminate the threat of a mysterious alien computer virus infecting the machines and robots used for off-world mining operations. The whole story does not have a single animation, everything is in the form of texts and the only plus is the nice space pictures that once served as my wallpaper.

In short, Descent is an honest shooter from the 90s, which the ravages of time have only gnawed at graphically, the gameplay is still great.