Description:
Descent 3 is not your ordinary first-person shooter--and it never was. Instead of binding a player to the body of a military grunt or brawny mercenary, the Descent line puts the player in the cockpit of an agile and heavily equipped space ship. Spiraling around the bowels of catacombs and pulling zero Gs while decimating the enemy has been this series' hallmark. With version 3, the game gets bigger. The sky's the limit (almost, since there's a moratorium on altitude), and the players can now skim over enigmatic alien ruins and the bombed-out hulks of recent industry. Enemies are just as hard or harder to fight in open terrain, and some truly gifted behemoths will make players scurry for the familiar safety of the underground warren. But the most challenging aspect of this milieu is its vigorous use of all three dimensions. If players are too regimented in forward, back, and sideways moves, some nasty 3-D accelerated surprises await them. Of course, there's standard play for the lone wolf, but for those who like to fly in packs, there's the Internet module, which enables players to congregate and interact. Descent 3 is the ultraworthy heir to a gaming dynasty, so put your tray table in its upright position and adjust your attitude. --Tamara Hladik
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