Descent

The Good
Descent left me cold, sad to say. A lot of people think it was the bee's knees, but at the time, and today, I didn't really appreciate it. Technically it's very impressive - proper 3d whizzing around on a 486 is nothing to sniff at - but otherwise it just doesn't seem to offer much in the way of fun or excitement. Still, lots of people seem to like it, so I assume it's just me.

The Bad
Whilst it was a technical feat, it lacked the character of Doom - the generic robot bad guys were boring, and the levels quickly became quite tedious and samey. Ironically, it didn't have the same variety, despite the 3d-ness.

The Bottom Line
A groundbreaking fully-3d Doom-esque shooter, marred by repetition.

The Good
The true 3-D landscape (as opposed to the 2.5-D of Doom) was fairly innovative at the time. True, Looking Glass had done it already with the Ultima Underworld games and with System Shock, but those games used sprites for the enemies. Descent not only gave you a true 3-D landscape (in which tunnels could go over and under each other), it was the first game to give you 3-D opponents.

The Bad
IMHO, it lacked atmosphere. The storyline is uncompelling, and isn't nearly as nifty as the "invade Hell with butt-kicking weapons" story of Doom or Doom II. Nor does it have the attitude of Duke Nukem 3D, the other major player of the early FPS days. Largely, Descent just feels sterile. You complete the levels not because they're cool, or because the level draws you into the game, but because it's what you have to do to go to the next level and ultimately finish the game.

The Bottom Line
If you're a First Person Shooter fanatic, Descent will tickle your fancy. The game mechanics and graphics still hold up fairly well in comparison to the current crop of FPS games. If you're just a casual FPS player, there are better, more interesting FPS games out there.

The Good
I personally liked the 3D engine. This game looked awesome!!! The look and feel of Descent was original, and the enemy AI was good. And you could ram into them! Descent was the title that brought Parallax Software to fame.

The Bad
My only gripe with Descent is that sometimes it's hard to orientate yourself in the tunnels. I mean, you go upside down (or downside up) and you go the opposite way a minute later! It was hard to control! Other than this minor little detail, the game was excellent.

The Bottom Line
I would buy it if you like space combat flight sims in tunnels. It may not shape up to Doom, but Descent is a winner on originality, but the controls need a little work. Highly recommended!