Descent 3 (stylized as Descent³) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Outrage Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows in North America on June 17, 1999. Descent 3 is the third game in the Descent video game series and a sequel to Descent II. The game takes place in a science fiction setting of the Solar System where the player is cast as Material Defender, a mercenary who must help an organization known as the Red Acropolis Research Team to stop robots infected by an alien virus.
Unlike in standard first-person shooters, the player must control a flying ship that has a six degrees of freedom movement scheme, allowing the player to move and rotate in any 3D direction. In addition to a single-player campaign mode, Descent 3 features an online multiplayer mode where numerous players can compete against each other in eight different game types. The game features both indoor and outdoor environments, made possible with the use of a hybrid engine that combines the capabilities of a portal rendering engine with those of a flight simulator-like terrain engine.
Descent 3 received positive reviews from critics, holding a score of 89 out of 100 at review aggregate website Metacritic. The most praised aspects of the game were its graphics, artificial intelligence of enemies, and outdoor environments. An official expansion pack, Descent 3: Mercenary, was released on December 3, 1999. The expansion pack includes a new series of missions, multiplayer maps, and a level editor. After its release on Microsoft Windows, the game was subsequently ported to Mac OS and Linux platforms.
Gameplay
Like its predecessors Descent and Descent II, Descent 3 is a six degrees of freedom shooter where the player controls a flying ship from a first-person perspective in zero-gravity. It is differentiated from standard first-person shooters in that it allows the player to move and rotate in any 3D direction. Specifically, the player is free to move forward/backward, up/down, left/right, and rotate in three perpendicular axes, often termed pitch, yaw, and roll. Aboard the ship, the player can shoot enemies, turn on the ship's afterburners to temporarily increase its acceleration and speed, and fire flares or turn on the ship's headlight to explore darkened areas.
In the game's single-player mode, the player must complete a series of levels where multiple enemies controlled by the game's artificial intelligence will try to hinder the player's progress. The game primarily takes place inside labyrinthine underground facilities, but the player can occasionally travel over the surface of the planets where the facilities are buried to reach other nearby areas. The underground facilities are composed of a set of tunnels and rooms separated by doors. Most of them can be opened by either firing weapons at them or bumping into them, but others require special actions to be performed first before entry is allowed. For instance, some doors require special keys that must be collected. To finish a level and proceed to the next one, the player must complete a set of objectives that range from collecting items to activating switches, defeating enemies, and destroying objects.
As the player progresses throughout the game, two additional ships become available for use. Each of the game's three ships offers a different balance of speed, weapons, and maneuverability. Within the levels, the player may collect power-ups that enhance the ship's weaponry. Weapons are categorized into three different types: primary weapons, secondary weapons, and countermeasures. Primary weapons range from a variety of laser weapons to the Plasma Cannon and the Napalm Cannon, which projects a stream of burning fuel. Secondary weapons include different types of missiles, while countermeasures range from proximity mines to portable turrets. Most primary weapons consume energy in different rate, but some, such as the Napalm Cannon, use their own type of ammunition. In contrast, all secondary weapons and countermeasures require their own ammunition suppliers.
The player's ship is protected by a shield which decreases when attacked by enemies. If the shield is fully depleted, the player dies and must start the game again from a previous section of the fight without any collected power-ups. Nevertheless, the player can reclaim the missing power-ups from the ruins of the destroyed ship. Shield, energy, and ammunition suppliers are dispersed among the levels to help players increase their resources. The player can also collect equipment items which grant special powers. For example, the Quad Laser modifies the laser weapons to fire four shots at once instead of the standard two, while the Cloaking Device renders the player invisible to enemies for 30 seconds. During the game, the player may also deploy the Guide-Bot, an assistant that keeps track of the next objective and shows the player the way to a specific target.
Multiplayer
In addition to the single-player campaign mode, Descent 3 features an online multiplayer mode where numerous players can compete against each other in eight different game types. Notable game types include Anarchy, where the objective is to kill as many opponents as possible, Capture the Flag, where two to four teams compete against each other to capture opposing flags, and Monsterball, in which players must shoot and guide a ball into their opponents' goal. Aspects such as time limit, number of players, map to play on, and selection of what weapons are allowed, among others, can be customized to match player preference. The game also features an observer mode which allows players to watch a multiplayer game as a spectator and a co-operative mode that allows players to work together to complete campaign missions. Multiplayer games support the DirectPlay, IPX, and TCP/IP protocols. Online gameplay was also possible over Parallax Online, an online gaming service which kept track of players' statistics and rankings.
Plot
Descent 3 takes place in a science fiction setting of the Solar System where the player is cast as Material Defender MD1032, a mercenary working for a corporation called the Post Terran Mining Corporation (PTMC). The game begins moments after the events of Descent II, with the Material Defender escaping the destruction of a planetoid where he was clearing PTMC's robots infected by an alien virus. He was about to return to Earth to collect his reward, but a malfunction occurred with the prototype warp drive in the ship he was piloting, making it drift towards the Sun's atmosphere. At the very last moment, the Material Defender is rescued via a tractor beam by an organization known as the Red Acropolis Research Team.
