Descent once again has pushed the envelope. The team at Outrage has managed to create an intelligent game that proves to be one of the most visually and involving shooters on the market today. Descent has managed to create almost its own little genre with the past two titles in the series, but there have been a few challengers. Forsaken tried to capture the intensity of 360-degree combat, but ultimately failed at this. Descent 3 makes this solid series even more difficult to be outdone.

This has to be one of the most beautiful titles I have ever played on my computer. It looks as if Outrage has thrown in every visual effect in the book, and in doing so, removed the monotony of the previous Descent level designs. Every level looks so different from the last, but still retains the feel of the descent universe. For instance the first level takes place in a small installation, later changing to a small trip to the outside, then back into the installation. The trip outside is very notable mind you, for this takes no loading whatsoever. Outrage's Fusion Engine allows you to move from inside to outside and back again without that tedious loading. The simply huge levels are one huge experience, only broken up by between mission briefings.

Descent 3 was played on a PII 350 with 64MB of RAM. For the first few days with the game, I had a Voodoo2 as my 3D accelerator. The game ran pretty well and was satisfying to look at. Not 'til I stuck in my new TNT2 did I notice what I was missing with 16 bit rendering. I did have a drop of framerate with 32 bit rendering activated, but only the FPS junkies will really take notice. The Explosions are more than adequate, shaking you, more or less, depending on proximity. Also nice to see is the variety of the explosions. While one enemy might short out before it explodes, another will slowly be engulfed in flames before it breaks apart. It is so nice to see this kind of variety.

The quality of the sound impressed me too. The new robots actually have distinguishable voices - one bot may tell you to freeze, another may simply screech as it is alerted to your presence. If you really pay attention, you should be able to instantly recognize which enemy is nearby simply by the sound you hear. The developers also managed to add a nice shattering sound to those deep explosion effects. It really sounds great when blowing up all those baddies. The music, on the other hand, is pretty average fare. I sort of miss the music from Descent 2, as it was some really rocking stuff.

Now we move to what really makes this game shine - the gameplay. Yes, I am happy to report that the AI is as good as promised. This is some wicked stuff too. Not only have I been fooled, but I have been ganged up on, chased, and ultimately destroyed by these goons. I actually found a use for the headlight (which now can be left on without a drain on energy) when trying to find bots lying in wait in some dark corner. When you attack the bots they swerve left and right, advance, call for backup or even retreat when wounded. I have even seen them use obstacles for cover. It simply is some of the best AI I have come up against.

Not all bots hate your guts; you always have your little friend from Descent 2 along for the ride. Guide Bot has a new and improved smaller model. He can now be stowed away in your ship when you don't need the little guy. He even has sort of a personality, which can be quite endearing. Once, he accidentally shot a flare which hit me and he actually apologized and moved on. The Guide Bot's functions have been increased dramatically. Now he can do a multitude of things. He can guide, escort and even find power ups for himself. Yes, the guide bot now can outfit itself with neat, new gadgets, which include a speed enhancement, a fire extinguisher, and a neat temporary anti-virus to turn an enemy to your side for a few seconds. Later in the game this little robot will become one of your best friends.

The environment now plays more of a role in game than in the previous two installments. On the second stage there is an underground cavern that you have to make a run through to break into an installation. . Doing battle in these caverns was very intense, and I even saw a bot fall victim to the burning acid within. Littered about the installations are explosive containers of all sorts. Caution must be taken when fighting around these as I have been killed by an exploding canister that a bot triggered when it missed its shot. Lighting proves a valuable tool for you and your enemies, as hiding in wait can be a big part of the game if your ship isn't in the best condition.

The control is very reminiscent of Descent 2's. I have always played the title with a joystick, but I have been informed it is not the most effective control method. Mouse users have been less than happy with the mouse control in Descent 3 thus far. PXO had people complaining about the Mouse Look and how they hoped it would be fixed with a patch. I tried playing the game with a mouse and I still don't know how they do it. I think I'll stick with the joystick.

Descent and its sequel didn't do too well in making each level connect completely with the story. You simply were thrown from mine to mine with a few cut-scenes thrown in to advance the story. Descent 3 advances the story far beyond the point where you are rescued from crashing into a sun. Every mission is now driven beyond simply destroying something. Retrieving data and rescuing people are major parts of the objectives.

There are fewer levels in Descent 3 than in Descent 2, but these new levels are really large - and with the improved AI, very challenging. Outrage has also placed multiple objectives in each level, as you can be updated during a level through communications. This seems to have worked a lot better than the simple shoot and destroy, as I suspect another run with that single minded objective would have killed the series.

Multiplay in Descent 3 is as smooth as Descent 2 was. I used PXO to try out Descent 3 multiplay on my 33.3k modem. My ping time hovered in the 300s, which isn't too shabby at all. I am sure many Descent 3 players are itching to make some maps of their own, but Outrage decided against shipping the title with the map editor. Instead, they decided to release the editor as download whenever it reaches the quality they're aiming for. I was told the Map Editor should be released sometime in the next two weeks.