Retro Review - Descent

Editor’s note: I originally authored and published the below post on a now defunct site called “The Cool Ship,” where it ran in November 2011. Enjoy this reprised content!

Descent burrows its way back from the depths of time and shines like a diamond on Windows 7.

Summary

The game has no upgrades, graphics or frills by today’s standards, but it pulls you in as if it had the X-wing vs Tie Fighter or Ace Combat name behind it. I had forgotten in the years since I last played how easy it is to dig into the true 3D gameplay, delving into mines to bring down infected AI machinery. This game came out shortly after the genre defining release of Doom, which started the FPS craze now followed by millions of gamers.

In contrast to the gravity bound movement of Doom, Descent allows you to pilot a lethal craft in a zero gravity environment. To put it simply, there is no spoo—I mean—floor. I found that thinking there was a floor or ceiling ruined the experience, and I think the developers did that on purpose. Sometimes the textures for floor and ceiling are too hard to tell apart. But enough about 8-bit color textures, what about the shooting?

You start with a laser and unguided missiles, but as you progress you get better lasers and a few other guns and missile types. I rather like the simplicity of it all. Just keep flying, point, and shoot. In fact the five principles of dodgeball apply here, dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge. The enemies have varied intelligence, so some will see you and fire, and some will wait till you’re close and clamp their sharp talons on your shielded hull. As a game made for what seems now an outdated platform, the resulting experience is brilliant.

The Nostalgic Perspective

I used to play multiplayer against a friend over a 56k modem connection(Google didn’t exist back then, but you can use it to look that up). We spent hours dueling, and having to dial each other over an ancient internet protocol that clogged up the phone line never stopped us. It seemed like we could play forever, and neither of us could ever quite get the edge on the other. Just when I thought I might have an advantage, I’d lose sight of my friend’s ship and get lasered from behind. This truly defined a gaming experience for me back when it came out in 94.

Yes I know most kids with PC’s were playing Doom and learning deathmatch so they could one day become pro campers in Modern Warfare, but I couldn’t put Descent down. The exploration, difficulty and versatility of unlimited 3D motion captivated my imagination. I played the levels again and again to find every secret room and all the helpless blue-suited hostages stuck behind exploding doors.

The Now Perspective

The potential for this game to let me down in a modern gaming age was enormous, but Descent didn’t dissapoint. Not only was I fragging like a kid again, I couldn’t stop, not even to blink. Teary eyed and with a grin plastered on my face, I’ve been living my childhood dream in the mines of the moon. Even though I’ve played Descent dozens of times, I feel like this is still my first time in space. I can go anywhere and there are lots of secrets to find in the commercial mines of the solar system.

My one disappointment is that multiplayer would be nearly impossible to get working with today’s technology. It might work with a lot of tweaking, but you’d almost have to own Windows 95 machines just to play some deathmatch. That’s not a huge issue though, this is still one of my all time favorite games. It’s also still one of the best space combat games in existence. So, Activision, EA, Valve, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony and others: I challenge you to make a better space combat game with modern graphics. Yes I know about the X-wing games, Warhawk, Ace Combat, and other fighter games. They aren’t the same.

Final Thoughts

Another reviewer once predicted that this game would be a classic (Bernard Yee, Gamespot). I believe he was prophetic. Descent was an original idea backed with the cutting edge technology of its time and very imaginative and resourceful implementation. It stands apart from its predecessor, Doom, in a category it created and mastered in one stroke. It spawned clones like Forsaken and Freespace and inspired new ways of gaming on PC, Mac and even Playstation. I loved it in its infancy. I used it as a yardstick against other flight games, and now it wears the name “classic” with purity like the diamond it is.

If you can think of a better space combat game drop a note in the comments below.