Buy it if you like
- Graphics: 56 reviews raised it, mostly praise
- Gameplay: 43 reviews raised it, mostly praise
- Combat: 37 reviews raised it, mostly praise
Think twice if you dislike
- Difficulty: 33 reviews raised it, mostly criticism
- Controls: 10 reviews raised it, mostly criticism
Based on 478 player reviews · updated
What players think
The recurring themes across 300 analysed reviews: what players praise, what divides them, and what to know.
Why players love itThings to know
50% of themes are praise33% are divided17% are complaints
Graphics
Players who bring up Graphics mostly praise it.
56 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
At the time the graphics of descent were extremly advanced and even caused motion sickness in many of its players.
Gameplay
Players who bring up Gameplay mostly praise it.
43 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
All in all, the gameplay is faithful to what I would expect from a 6DOF, so if you like 6DOFs, and you like retro games, you'll probably enjoy this gem from 1994.
Combat
Players who bring up Combat mostly praise it.
37 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Enemies and items are recognizable from quite a distance, and the game is generous with hitboxes.
Multiplayer
Players who bring up Multiplayer mostly praise it.
27 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
On the note of multiplayer, Parallax had long terminated its servers, but what is amazing is that the player can configure DOSBox (the emulator for Descent) to host an IPX as a TCP/IP under a defined IP address, and those also connected to the internet can find the player's IP address and play online.
Performance
Players who bring up Performance mostly praise it.
24 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Complimenting this freedom of movement is the ability to look in any direction like an FPS or roll on the forward axis, and of course the direction you face changes how you move.
Audio
Players who bring up Audio mostly praise it.
20 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
First, it did not include the remixed soundtrack from the Mac version, which is by far the best non-orchestrated soundtrack I have ever heard in a game.
Theme by theme
Scored on what reviews say about each topic, not the thumbs.
Players love
Graphics56 reviews
Gameplay43 reviews
Combat37 reviews
Multiplayer27 reviews
Performance24 reviews
Audio20 reviews
Divided opinion
Story100% still recommend
Co-op100% still recommend
Linux compatibility100% still recommend
Interface100% still recommend
Players complain
Difficulty100% still recommend
Controls90% still recommend
What you get
Can you play it alone, does a controller work, does it run on your machine.
Play modes
- Multi-player
- Single-player
Controller
Steam lists no controller support.
Store features
- Family Sharing
Platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
Valve device support
Steam DeckPlayable
SteamOSPlayable
Steam MachinePlayable
Should I buy it now?
Based on Steam price history.
Prices have been lower
$19.99
The lowest we've tracked is $15.99.
4 points recordedtoday · $19.99
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