Descent: Freespace is, as its name implies, an almost entirely opposite game than its distant cousins, Descent and Descent 2. It removes itself from the confines of the futuristic mines of the first two games, bringing it out into the full 3D world of free space (hence Freespace).
From first glance, the game reminds one of a cross between Origin's Wing Commander and LucasArts' X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter. In fact, it's very like the latest Wing Commander, WC: Prophecy. Regular readers would remember that I gave that game a near-perfect review when it came out earlier this year. It combined a excellent 3D action with awesome dog fighting action and 3 CD's of full motion video. However, while Descent: Freespace is certainly better than X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, it doesn't beat out Wing Commander: Prophecy (although it does come close).
Descent: Freespace is built around a very, very impressive 3D graphics engine, which fully supports the advanced features of most 3D graphics cards. The engine is amazingly versatile. The designers claim that it can render immense ships in real time (hundreds of times the size of your tiny ship), although I didn't see any evidence of that in the demo. The ships are amazingly detailed, with nice textures that don't blur, even when viewed up close. Just flying around in space is fun.Tthere is a nice blur effect when you turn your heading quickly, as well as a lens flare/glare effect when you fly towards the galaxy's sun.
As well as the engine, I also like the customiziblity of the game. Not only can you change what keyboard keys do what in the game quickly and easily, but you can also specify which on-screen displays you want to have on your screen, the color of them, and even the brightness!
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