THE DESCENT

About

THE DESCENT is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Celeritas Games and was released on January 5, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"The Descent" is a first-person psychological horror walking simulator set in the haunted Rockwell Mine. As an investigator, delve into the mine's chilling past, documenting your investigation through a camera to unravel the mysteries of its numerous accidents and disappearances. Evade the terrifying dangers lurking within while experiencing the harsh realities of a miner's life. Immerse yourself in this atmospheric, short horror game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 71 reviews

story16 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

The game features an excellent atmosphere and sound design that effectively immerses players in a creepy environment.
Many players enjoyed the variety of jump scares, with some being particularly well-timed and effective.
The story, while simple, is intriguing and unfolds through notes and collectibles, adding depth to the gameplay.

The game suffers from pacing issues, with excessive backtracking and reliance on trigger events that can frustrate players.
Some jump scares feel cheap or predictable, diminishing their impact and leading to a sense of repetitiveness.
Technical issues, such as bugs and performance problems, detract from the overall experience and can hinder gameplay.

story
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
54%
7%
The game's story, while initially intriguing and supported by atmospheric notes and clippings, ultimately falls into a predictable and clichéd narrative, particularly in its paranormal elements. Players appreciate the depth provided by the lore and the immersive environment, but many express frustration with the disjointed storytelling and the reliance on jump scares. Overall, the story is seen as a mixed bag—promising yet marred by execution issues and a rushed conclusion.
- “The story of the game is pretty substantial considering the length of the game.”
- “The backstory of the forsaken mine ignites intrigue and leaves players yearning for further exploration.”
- “The story unfolds through various newspaper clippings and notes strewn around the mines.”
- “I have to say, it's a shame that the narration of the story is based on an AI voice.”
- “The jumpscares are predictable and are on a low budget game type of style, and much of the story is based on the notes or newspaper clippings scattered around.”
- “The ones that haven't made it through would likely require a rework of the entire framework – somewhat generic writing and plot presentation, bad case of ludo-narrative dissonance (the gameplay elements – the jump-scares – do not really correspond narratively to what you read about in notes – it all feels awkwardly disjointed).”
atmosphere
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
32%
11%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, effectively combining chilling audio, visuals, and storytelling to create a suspenseful horror experience. While some players noted frustrations with gameplay mechanics, the overall ambiance successfully draws players into its haunting environment, making it a standout feature of the game. Despite minor graphical issues, the atmospheric design and sound effects contribute significantly to the tension and enjoyment of the experience.
- “Great game with an awesome spooky eerie atmosphere that had me on the edge of my seat throughout it.”
- “The combination of the scares along with the audio effects creates a good horror atmosphere in general throughout the entire journey.”
- “The atmosphere of the mine is top notch; it feels claustrophobic and as if it might collapse at any moment.”
- “The atmosphere felt promising and the game started off creepy, quickly just turned to frustrating with the walking speed and having to wait for triggers for doors to open.”
- “This game has a very high potential, in terms of atmosphere, sound, and tension.”
- “Way too much to create a subtle atmosphere.”
graphics
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
23%
18%
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users praising the hauntingly beautiful visuals and atmospheric design that enhance the horror experience. While some noted minor bugs and issues with settings, the overall aesthetic quality is considered impressive, often compared to titles like Outlast, and effectively contributes to the game's tension and engagement. The use of various illumination methods adds to the visual appeal, making it one of the standout features of the game.
- “The visuals are hauntingly beautiful, creating an unsettling ambiance that sets the perfect stage for the horror to unfold.”
- “The graphics are gorgeous, the sound effects are solid, and the atmosphere is spot on.”
- “This game has really nice graphics and assets used and purchased on the Unreal Marketplace.”
- “Some bugs with the graphics settings not sticking to what you set them at, and v-sync on/off and frame rate limiter does not seem to work at all. There are a bug or two in the game, but the developer does seem to listen and fixes bugs quite quickly.”
- “The graphical quality of the game is at an indie standard, and some of the animations looked a little odd, especially with moving entities. However, the game managed to create some tension and trepidation with eerie noises and weird events.”
- “Heavily leans on the 'Outlast' night-vision camcorder aesthetic to see everything. Maybe this could be limited to certain sections to ramp up tension.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The gameplay in "The Descent" is primarily a walking simulator focused on item collection and puzzle-solving, with players searching for objects to unlock doors and progress through the story. While the pacing is generally well-received, many reviewers criticize the lack of innovative mechanics and the reliance on jump scares, which can feel disjointed from the narrative. Overall, the gameplay is seen as decent but somewhat generic, with calls for more engaging mechanics.
- “The jumpscares in 'The Descent' are nothing short of surreal, and streaming the entire gameplay allowed me to share those intense moments with my audience.”
- “Gameplay itself is very much a walking sim, though the pacing is excellent so I never once felt like I was moving too slow.”
- “You'll search for items to unlock doors or use objects, read notes, and that's the primary gameplay loop.”
- “There are no game mechanics other than walking, picking up things, and using them at the place they belong.”
- “An interesting lore only made worse in the last minutes and the final outcome, mixed with an ungodly amount of key findings and event-based gameplay that will leave you wandering for quite a while until the game decides you can go through a door you've been through half an hour earlier.”
- “First and foremost, this is a walking sim with 'collect object A to make object B work' mechanics - there are quite a few jump scares throughout the course of the game, a couple of which did have an impact, but others could be telegraphed if you've played these types of games before.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Players appreciate the effort put into collectibles and achievements, which enhance the game's replayability. However, some reviews suggest that overall replayability is limited, with a score of 4 out of 10 indicating room for improvement.
- “It's nice to see the amount of effort put into this game, and the way they implemented collectibles and achievements actually gives it a nice amount of replayability.”
- “The game lacks meaningful choices, making replayability feel pointless.”
- “Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to play again.”
- “The limited variety in gameplay mechanics means that replaying feels more like a chore than a fun experience.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The game's optimization is generally good, with a playable state despite being resource-intensive, and many players report a satisfying 60 frames per second. However, there are some performance issues noted, particularly on the first map. Overall, it receives a strong performance rating of 9/10.
- “Performance is rated 9/10.”
- “The optimization has significantly improved the overall gameplay experience.”
- “I encountered some performance issues on the first map, but subsequent updates have addressed many of them.”
- “As for the optimization of the game, it's not perfect - the game is very heavy, but it's in a very playable state, and for some reason, 60 frames feels really good in this game.”
- “Performance issues on the first map.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music and sound design are highly praised for their ambient quality, effectively complementing the gameplay and enhancing the overall experience. The soundtrack and sound effects are well-integrated, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere.
- “The graphics are good, and the soundtrack and sound effects complement the gameplay.”
- “The sound and music design fall into the ambient zone, and it's perfect in all the ways it needs to be.”