Reimagining classic 90s video games is something crowdfunding platforms seem cut out for. Ah, nostalgia, what a wondrous thing. It's been some 15 years since a Descent game reached our telly screens, and 21 years since the first - a pioneering space shooter with six degrees of freedom - did the same.
After barely succeeding on Kickstarter earlier this year, the multiplayer-focused Descent: Underground [official site] has now arrived on Steam Early Access.
]]>While not the only Descent-style revival of recent times, the six-axis floaty base exploration genre is still woefully underfed. Sublevel Zero [official site] arrives to help with that, taking a more rogue-lite, randomised approach to the notion. Am I spinning with glee, or nose-diving with disappointment? Here's wot I think:
]]>I've only spent around an hour playing Sublevel Zero [official site] but that's enough for me to predict that it might become one of my favourite games released in these final months of 2015. It's the Descent spiritual successor that I assumed I'd be playing within a fortnight of the great Kickstarter revival period, offering precise combat with six degrees of freedom. The controls are tight, it looks lovely and the procedural levels appear to use finely tuned generation tools. A new trailer informs us that it'll be out on October 8th, for Windows and Mac, with Linux to follow shortly.
]]>As genres go, 6 Degrees Of Freedom Descent-em-ups haven't quite had the same crowdfunding-fueled resurgence as other 90s classics. They're fast paced shooters, offering free movement in a 3D space usually by means of spaceship or other zero-gravity craft exploring a complex. Sublevel Zero [official site] is no exception, with the added spice of procedurally generated levels, permadeath and VR support. Originally an entry into the Ludum Dare game jam under the Beneath The Surface theme, it's now being funded by publisher Mastertronic into a commercial release. Trailer, more details and thoughts on the Ludum Dare version below.
]]>
