Descent Maximum is a 360 degree space-based shooter that is played from the first person perspective. You are the pilot of a space ship and you're mission is to destroy reactors in each level, resulting in the destruction of each world. The game lacks any real story, but that's not generally the focus in these kinds of games anyway. The game itself is fun to play, albeit clunky in more than one aspect. But now on to the details.Graphics - The graphics in this game are probably the biggest issue in my opinion. The enemy sprites can be extremely hard to tell apart from the environment at times, which makes the game more frustrating than fun at times. Also considering the 360 degree aspect, the games environment can be extremely vague and hard to follow. Considering the time it was released, the graphics themselves aren't terrible. The enemies are basically different colored blocks, the same with their projectiles (the projectiles themselves are well enough done).Sound - The sound is decent. The music is pretty much just rock instrumentals on a loop. And it's the same song constantly playing, so it can get old rather quickly. The sound effects are less than mediocre. The weapons firing are basically your stock laser, missile, and explosion sound bytes. There's nothing here in the audio department that deserves any special recognition.Addictiveness - This game seems like a one and done to me, maybe coming back for a play through a few years down the road. There isn't a whole lot of diversity to be offered, so in a way it leaves you wanting more. Any game can be a shoot'em up, and this one feels no different. The only unique aspect is the aforementioned 360 degree pivoting and maneuverability, which may be appealing for a select few. And there is zero incentive to replay the game as far as I know.
Story - Nonexistent .
Depth - The depth of this game is pretty shallow. Other than backtracking after finding keys, the game is as linear as they come. Shoot everything along the path, rinse and repeat. There was no bonus or "extras" content to speak of either. In my play through I found no secrets, Easter eggs, "hidden" areas, or alternate paths / choices. Even the variability of weapon choices seemed poor. Primary weapons were basic lasers with unlimited ammo, and an occasional chain gun. And there were a few types of different missiles (which could barely be called "different") as secondary weapons, which once again left me wanting more. The only up side here is the level count, offering 6 worlds with 36 missions to go through. But even at that, the levels themselves are quite short.
Difficulty - First of all, the controls. Being a 360 degree shooter without dual analog control is rough to say the least. If you use an emulator that supports using a mouse to aim and keyboard to maneuver, then it can flow quite smoothly. Getting the controls down is half the battle concerning difficulty. Otherwise the game is pretty standard in the slope of increasing difficulty as you go. Enemies get tougher the more worlds / levels you conquer, as well as having to fight more at one time.
I hope you enjoyed the review Descent Maximum is a 360 degree space-based shooter that is played from the first person perspective. You are the pilot of a space ship and you're mission is to destroy reactors in each level, resulting in the destruction of each world. The game lacks any real story, but that's not generally the focus in these kinds of games anyway. The game itself is fun to play, albeit clunky in more than one aspect. But now on to the details.
Graphics - The graphics in this game are probably the biggest issue in my opinion. The enemy sprites can be extremely hard to tell apart from the environment at times, which makes the game more frustrating than fun at times. Also considering the 360 degree aspect, the games environment can be extremely vague and hard to follow. Considering the time it was released, the graphics themselves aren't terrible. The enemies are basically different colored blocks, the same with their projectiles (the projectiles themselves are well enough done).
Sound - The sound is decent. The music is pretty much just rock instrumentals on a loop. And it's the same song constantly playing, so it can get old rather quickly. The sound effects are less than mediocre. The weapons firing are basically your stock laser, missile, and explosion sound bytes. There's nothing here in the audio department that deserves any special recognition.
Addictiveness - This game seems like a one and done to me, maybe coming back for a play through a few years down the road. There isn't a whole lot of diversity to be offered, so in a way it leaves you wanting more. Any game can be a shoot'em up, and this one feels no different. The only unique aspect is the aforementioned 360 degree pivoting and maneuverability, which may be appealing for a select few. And there is zero incentive to replay the game as far as I know.
Story - Nonexistent .
Depth - The depth of this game is pretty shallow. Other than backtracking after finding keys, the game is as linear as they come. Shoot everything along the path, rinse and repeat. There was no bonus or "extras" content to speak of either. In my play through I found no secrets, Easter eggs, "hidden" areas, or alternate paths / choices. Even the variability of weapon choices seemed poor. Primary weapons were basic lasers with unlimited ammo, and an occasional chain gun. And there were a few types of different missiles (which could barely be called "different") as secondary weapons, which once again left me wanting more. The only up side here is the level count, offering 6 worlds with 36 missions to go through. But even at that, the levels themselves are quite short.
Difficulty - First of all, the controls. Being a 360 degree shooter without dual analog control is rough to say the least. If you use an emulator that supports using a mouse to aim and keyboard to maneuver, then it can flow quite smoothly. Getting the controls down is half the battle concerning difficulty. Otherwise the game is pretty standard in the slope of increasing difficulty as you go. Enemies get tougher the more worlds / levels you conquer, as well as having to fight more at one time.
I hope you enjoyed the review |