!±8± Descent 3
The first word in omnidirectional first-person shooters--Interplay's Descent franchise--entered its third iteration for the Mac in late 1999. For those who loved the first two games, praise God and pass the ammunition: Descent 3 delivers more of the same, not new but certainly improved, meeting and exceeding the already formidable quality of its predecessors.
As with the previous titles, Descent 3 puts you at the controls of a heavily armed, highly maneuverable little spacecraft. Your mission is to duck and dive through subterranean mazes, blasting robotic foes into scrap, all the while fighting vertigo as you spin, thrust, and fire in every conceivable direction. Rich, flawless graphics rendering and realistic sound effects make D3 more convincing than ever. Although the controls can be a little overwhelming for the uninitiated (and might even be complex enough to make a keyboard preferable to a joystick), the upside is superior handling that lets you park on a dime.
Keeping with the same-but-better theme in D3, you get more weapons than ever (20 weapons in primary and secondary slots, including the evil-glee-inducing Mass Driver and Napalm Cannon); an improved Guide Bot to track down whatever you desire (power-ups, enemies, or the next piece in a problem-solving puzzle); way-better robot AIs (letting your enemies hit and run, ambush, work in teams, and feint); indoor/outdoor action (Descent 3's new Fusion Engine uses a flight-sim engine to seamlessly splice in wide-open outdoor environments); and more variations on multiplayer play (over a LAN or the Net). --Paul Hughes
Pros:
- Same addictive action of Descent and D2--one of the best shows in town for the Mac
- Deadlier weaponry and smarter robots to use it on
- Better rendering than ever, plus outside environments
Cons:- No significant improvements on game play from previous titles
- Yawn-inducing back-story
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