"Direction is irrelevant here"

One of the few games I would consider a ''classic'' for PC. Descent is an awesome space shooter game with full 360 degree action. A full arsenal of weapons, and enough fuel to let your ship idle for years. There is no up or down here.

Story: 8/10
Yes, there is a story in this game. Unfortunately, I was always so anxious to get to the killing that I skipped lots of it. But from what I did see, it was excellent. Nothing amazing, but the story isn't very important in this game anyway... In my opinion at least.

Graphics: 8/10
At the time this came out (when I first played it) the graphics would have been a 10. But of course, standards have risen, so I'll lower it to an eight. Some of the textures can be a bit pixely, but I think the main things like robots and such are very satisfactory.

Audio: 9/10
The soundtrack for this game is simply amazing. There are about 14 real-sounding, non-synchronized, awesome songs in this game that add to the feel very nicely. Of course, not all versions of this game come with this great soundtrack, so there are some with just a basic midi track, which is still OK, although doesn't come close to the real music. (The earlier versions have the midi, while the later ones, and the Macintosh version ones have the good soundtrack.) The sound effects provide an excellent blend with the music. The sound of lasers exiting your ship's weaponry, flying through the room and entering into a robot's hull is very mind-calming. For me that is. Very good job on the sound effects.

Gameplay: 9/10
This game consists of 30 levels, and even has some secret levels you can find as well. Each level consists of a mine that has a reactor in, and your job in each mine is to destroy the reactor. This consists of getting the red key, which requires (in most levels) getting the other 2 keys as well. The levels get progressively harder of course, and the later ones can provide an amazing challenge as far as killing the robots while staying alive goes, not to mention finding the keys and your way through the mines.

The control in this game is very customizable, so it can be very difficult, to very easy, depending on how you make it. The default controls are an adequate start, but it's best to find the controls that you are most comfortable with, so you can move around more smoothly without worrying about your hands. Most say this game is more fun with a joystick, but I disagree. I have one, but I don't use it for this game. I found a nice spot on the keyboard to get my controls mastered, and it's more convenient for me than a joystick.

Replay Value: 10/10
You'll be busy for a long time already just trying to get through the 30 1-player default missions, but there are so many more things you can do. Multiplayer on this game is one of the funnest things ever. There are several modes of play, and you can choose from hundreds of levels provided you download them, or buy an expansion. So once you have even more levels to chose from (I have at least 300 on my computer), you'll have tons more to do in single player and multiplayer.

The only PC game I've liked more than this in the long run is Descent II and 3. Go buy this game. You can get it really cheap nowadays, and it's well worth your money. The only downside is that it's hard to find someone to play multiplayer with, since not many people play this game anymore.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/08/02, Updated 07/08/02