Descent II
-
Descent II: Vertigo Series
(1996)
- Beyond the Meltdown (1997)
-
Mega Wad 3: Again and Again
(1996) -
Stellar Combat: Mission Pack
(1997) -
Ultra Level Add-On
(1997)
-
Descent + Descent 2
(2008) -
Descent I and II: The Definitive Collection
(1997) -
Descent II: The Infinite Abyss
(1996) -
Descent: Venture Pack
(2001) -
Interplay All-Nighter: Anthology No. 2
(1996)
- Descent II (1997 on Arcade)
Description official descriptions
The second Descent game features new levels, new weapons and new robot enemies. It also comes with helpful ideas for the player like the Guide-bot, the ability to fly with afterburner or energy-to-shield converter that many times they become a must!
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Credits (DOS version)
77 People (63 developers, 14 thanks) · View all
| Original Concept | |
| Programming | |
| Graphics / 3D Programming | |
| Level / Scenario Design | |
| Music | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 85% (based on 27 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 71 ratings with 4 reviews)
Didn't like the first, didn't like the second.
The Good
A complete engine overhaul make this one a true eye-candy. Also, multiplayer support has been revamped and improved, which is also good. But it's otherwise not very different from the original.
The Bad
The same as in I: an unintuitive control system and unclever level design. The sound effects have been improved but are still sub-par. The music in Descent II is not nearly as good as in the first, and gameplay is just plain boring.
The Bottom Line
If you liked I you'll like II, though it's not really different.
DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4536) · 2000
Fantastic graphics and sound but hard to control.
The Good
The music rocks and the graphics really stand out
The Bad
Way too hard to control. No sense of gravity to orient yourself with.
The Bottom Line
If you are a diehard fan of 1st person shooters then you would want this.
Windows · by gametrader (208) · 2000
A great FPS with a cool twist!
The Good
Most of all I like the fact that I picked up this nifty game at EBGames for only $4. The gameplay of Descent 2 is similar to that of a different first person shooter, but the flying controls are awesome. For example, you can flip your ship upside-down and fly around using the ceiling as the floor and vice versa. There are many different powerups in this game, including homing missiles, afterburner, and plasma laser add-on. There are five levels of difficulty, but I usually play on the lowest setting. The best part about this game is the diverse selection of enemies. You might expect them all to to the same thing- shoot you, right? Actually, there are many different enemy jobs; one critter steals you weapons, others send out little drones to attack you, and some enemies try to draw you away from the area.
The Bad
This game is pretty difficult, and hard to get the hang of. The default keyboard controls seem to require three hands to use, but this can be fixed by changing them. Also, I wish that there was more of a storyline to this game.
The Bottom Line
All in all, Descent 2 is a fairly good first person shooter. I would recommend it to any action/fps fan who is looking for a change of pace and does not mind a "grab the key and leave" style gameplay.
Windows · by Lord Matthias (11) · 2002
Trivia
3D card support
The 1.2 patch of this game provides support for 3dfx and Rendition Video cards. The gameplay is the same, but the blockiness was smoothed out. The result is a more realistic looking game environment.
Arcade Version
The 3D accelerated version of this game served as a basis for the Game Arc Arcade System version at the Gameworks arcade in Seattle which opened on March 15, 1997.
References
A cheat code in Descent II is FREESPACE. This was also the name of the next game from the developer.
References to the game
A voice sample from the game was used in the song Plasticity (on the same-titled record) by the industrial band Front Line Assembly.
Soundtrack
Descent II features music by the New York goth metal band Type O Negative in the form of a very shortened, instrumental version of their song Haunted, as well as two tracks written by industrial legend OhGr (formerly of Skinny Puppy), called Ratzez and Glut.
T-Shirt
The original marketing slogan for Descent II was "Your going down... AGAIN!" You could even get a T-Shirt featuring that slogan if you purchased the game from CompUSA.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) ā #123 in the ā150 Best Games of All Timeā list
Information also contributed by FloodSpectre, NeoMoose, phlux, Rantanplan and Scott Monster
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Related Sites +
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The Descent-Network
Site Description: "The Descent Network hosts the biggest websites for Descent-related information and download since mid of 97. Since mid of 1998 we are extending our web to cover all other games released or about-to-be released by Volition, Inc. and Outrage Entertainment. This URL, descent-network.com, is there to combine the sites and to serve as a gateway to the Descent Network sites, as well as offering shared resources." My Opionion: Its the largest collection of stuff for the Descent Series that I have ever seen, thousands of levels for Descent 1,2,3 and Freespace 1,2. Numerous contests going on, like level building contests and robot building contests. Also has a whole arsonal of Descent robot and level editing tools for download. If you like descent, you will LOVE this site. -
The Official Interplay DESCENT II Page
official game page at Interplay's website from 1997, preserved by the Wayback Machine
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Accatone.
Linux added by Plok. Macintosh added by Scaryfun.
Additional contributors: Zaroba, tarmo888, Patrick Bregger, MrFlibble, Abhisit Chanmana.
Game added January 8, 2000. Last modified April 7, 2024.