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Descent 2

Descent 2 Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:music, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:story, grinding
91% User Score Based on 135 reviews
Critic Score 92%Based on 1 reviews

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LinuxPCMac OSWindowsPlayStationMs Dos
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Descent 2 Game Cover

About Descent 2

Descent 2 is a single player and multiplayer shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Parallax and was released on February 19, 2014. It received very positive reviews from both critics and players.

You're going down... again. If you thought Descent went to the edge of 360° 3D power-blasting sensory insanity, then prepare yourself. You're about to plunge over the edge, and into the depths of Descent II. Suddenly warped into the outer reaches of the Zeta Aquilae System, your new mission sends you into the black depths of treacherous alien mines. You blast through enemy robots with powerful ne…

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Descent 2 screenshot
Descent 2 screenshot
Descent 2 screenshot
Descent 2 screenshot
Descent 2 screenshot
Descent 2 screenshot
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Reviews

91%Audience ScoreBased on 135 reviews
music13 positive mentions
grinding2 negative mentions
  • Exceptional 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) gameplay with smooth and challenging navigation in a full 3D environment.
  • Large, complex levels with engaging level design featuring secrets, hidden areas, and intense boss fights.
  • Fantastic weapon variety and AI behaviors, including unique enemy types like the intelligent Guide Bot and the challenging Thief Bot.
  • Outstanding atmospheric soundtrack with industrial and heavy metal influences, enhancing the immersive experience.
  • Strong multiplayer mode that offers frantic and enjoyable competitive gameplay.
  • Extensive replay value with many secret levels and a variety of fan-made mods and source ports improving graphics and usability.
  • The official Steam version is an unmodified DOSBox port with low resolution capped at 640x480 and lacks modern enhancements or QoL improvements.
  • Control issues and persistent view bobbing can cause discomfort and make aiming difficult, especially without mods or source ports.
  • Multiplayer is disabled or poorly implemented in the Steam release, and the game is prone to occasional crashes under DOSBox.
  • Outdated graphics that have not been updated for modern resolutions, making visuals feel dated and sometimes grainy on large displays.
  • Sound mixing issues with the CD audio tracks being significantly louder than other sounds and limited volume control.
  • Level design includes frustrating elements like one-time doors with unclear indicators and secret levels where saving is disallowed.

  • music

    34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    38% positive mentions, 53% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions

    The game's soundtrack is widely praised for its intense industrial and electronic music, featuring contributions from notable artists like Ogre and Type O Negative, which adds depth and atmosphere to the gameplay. While some find the heavy, grungy tracks occasionally overpowering or distracting, the music is considered timeless and a major highlight, with many fans eager to own various soundtrack versions. Overall, the soundtrack is regarded as a key strength that enhances the classic 3D shooter experience.

    • “Soundtrack is timeless!”
    • “The game also has a fantastic soundtrack, consisting of an industrial-like metal sound with some electronica as well.”
    • “They are a collection of industrial artists that collaborated in the making of Descent II's music to great success, adding a whole new depth and intensity to the overall game.”
    • “In a videogame however, the soundtrack is way too heavy and distracting for background music, plus the volume slider seems to do nothing.”
    • “The music is loud and grating heavy metal.”
    • “Each enemy has their own sound, but the music can drown that out at points.”

  • graphics

    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    19% positive mentions, 68% neutral mentions, 13% negative mentions

    The graphics in this game are dated by modern standards but were impressive for their time, featuring detailed textures, particle effects, and innovative lighting. While some fans prefer the original visuals for nostalgia, many recommend mods or remasters to enhance resolution and smoothness. Overall, despite clunky controls and low resolution, the game's strong environmental feel and gameplay compensate for its aging graphics.

    • “Thankfully a lot of good stuff from the first game has been carried on, alongside great improvements in graphics and textures to create areas with a strong sense of environmental feel.”
    • “There also are great new missions available for D2X-XL, breathing new life into Descent with diverse, detailed levels, improved graphics, new level mechanics, and non-standard objectives.”
    • “Descent II was the first game of the Descent series I had ever played and it was captivating how truly remarkable its visuals were and still are for such a classic game.”
    • “Old game, poor graphics (only 600x800 resolution, runs in DOSBox), sketchy framerate, but most importantly... non-stop mayhem!”
    • “The visuals have indeed aged badly, but you can usually see the baddies easily enough.”
    • “Graphics are really, really dated.”

  • gameplay

    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    33% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    The gameplay of Descent 2 is praised for its smooth, challenging, and fast-paced action with full 360-degree freedom of movement in zero gravity, offering a unique and skill-rewarding experience. While graphics may feel dated, the game's intricate maze-like levels, varied missions, and creative combat keep gameplay engaging and enjoyable, solidifying its status as a classic and standout 3D shooter.

    • “Gameplay mainly revolves around exploring vast maze-like mining facilities located on planets and moons, clearing out the robotic enemies, rescuing hostages spread throughout the levels, and ultimately destroying the facility by initiating the self-destruct sequence.”
    • “Descent's gameplay is very unique because of the full freedom of movement in all three spatial axes.”
    • “It greatly rewards skill, offers a huge variety of explosive gadgetry, and allows for creative gameplay.”
    • “Depending on your point of view, gameplay of the first two titles of the series can seem bland or refreshingly straightforward, which is largely due to the abstract and artificial nature of the levels and lack of unique and varying tasks and goals in different levels.”
    • “In regards to the changes of visuals and mechanics of the game, it remains much like how it was in the first game but with added particle effects and a few graphical tweaks.”
    • “The gameplay is the same as Descent 1 but the story continues where, after you destroyed all malware-infected mining colonies from Mercury to Pluto.”

  • story

    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    30% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 30% negative mentions

    The story continues directly from the first game, focusing on stopping a virus-infected robot threat, but is generally seen as minimal and typical of 90s shooters. While not deeply developed, it’s supported by improved presentation through animated cutscenes and some minimal yet engaging voice acting. Overall, the narrative serves primarily as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a central element.

    • “Apart from that, story text boxes were replaced with full animated cutscenes.”
    • “The plot continues from the ending of the first part and is still interesting to follow.”
    • “The minimal voice acting the game has is really good while it's around, along with its minimal yet interesting story.”
    • “I'm not sure the story writers care.”
    • “For an old game it's well thought out for the gameplay, not so much the story.”
    • “Story is... um... the robots are infected with a virus and you're a mercenary who is supposed to stop them, or something.”

  • grinding

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is streamlined by the guide bot, which alleviates the tedium of navigating through complex labyrinths. While some tasks can feel repetitive, the added time pressure injects a sense of excitement into otherwise monotonous gameplay.

  • humor

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor is noted as amusing, particularly due to the unexpected mention of an earlier remaster effort for the first game on the Wii.

  • stability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Users find the game's stability lacking due to reliance on DOSBox, reporting bugs and poor resolution issues that detract from the experience.

  • atmosphere

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users praise the game's atmosphere for its immersive and engaging quality, noting that it effectively draws players in despite early polygon graphics.

    • “Great atmosphere (even though it's early polygon, I got sucked right in.)”

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers high replayability thanks to its extensive number of levels, challenging boss fights, nostalgic cutscenes, and numerous secrets and hidden stages that encourage multiple playthroughs.

    • “Lifespan is long, there are so many levels, with challenging boss fights at the end of every chapter. The cutscenes are full of true nineties charm, and there are plenty of secrets and hidden levels for replay value.”
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Critic Reviews

92%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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Play Times

1000h Median play time
1000h Average play time
1000-1000h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Descent 2 is a shooter game with science fiction theme. Common tags for Descent 2 include science, first-person, classic, soundtrack, old school and others.

Descent 2 is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows, Linux and others.

On average players spend around 1000 hours playing Descent 2.

Descent 2 was released on February 19, 2014.

Descent 2 was developed by Parallax.

Descent 2 has received very positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked Descent 2 for its music but disliked it for its story.

Descent 2 is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Descent, Overload, Overload, Wolfenstein 3D, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster and others.