Descent 3 / Descent 3 Mercenary Bundle (Jewel Case)

by Interplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004ZBSU
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: January 11, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,300 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #66 in Video Games > PC Games > Arcade
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Descent 3 is not your ordinary first-person shooter--and it never was. Instead of binding a player to the body of a military grunt or brawny mercenary, the Descent line puts the player in the cockpit of an agile and heavily equipped spaceship. Spiraling around the bowels of catacombs and pulling zero gs while decimating the enemy has long been the hallmark of this series. With version three, the game gets bigger.

In addition, the expansion Descent 3: Mercenary builds upon the existing backdrop of the Descent 3 universe. Centered around the dark conspiracy revealed in Descent 3, Mercenary will have you flying as the leader of the Black Pyros, hired by Dravis to carry out his evil plans.

The sky's the limit (almost, as there is a moratorium on altitude), and the players can now skim over enigmatic alien ruins and the bombed-out hulks of recent industry. Enemies are just as hard or harder to fight in open terrain, and some truly gifted behemoths will make players scurry for the familiar safety of the underground warren.

But the most challenging aspect of this milieu is its vigorous use of all three dimensions. If players are too regimented in forward, back, and sideways moves, some nasty 3-D accelerated surprises await them. Of course, there's standard play for the lone wolf, but for those who like to fly in packs, there's the Internet module, which enables players to congregate and interact. Descent 3 is the ultraworthy heir to a gaming dynasty, so put your tray table in its upright position and adjust your attitude. --Tamara Hladik

Product Description

Get into the action with Descent 3 and Descent 3 Mercenary where you will test out your piloting skills using extensive arsenal of tactics and heavy firepower. With detailed environments and multiplayer missions kick it up a notch and create your own levels to compete with power-ups, robots, and scripted events.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dont pass this one up, June 16, 2001

By 

Stephen Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Descent 3 / Descent 3 Mercenary Bundle (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

I've been playing Descent since the first installment to the series came out. It revolutionized the world offirst person shooter's as it brought true 360* 3d action and intense 4-player multiplayer to the internet. Descent 2 was nothing special...same engine, a little better multiplayer support. Descent 3, which arrived 3 years after D2, was well worth the wait. Although Descent3 was released in summer '99, the graphics are still some of the best I've seen in any game. The napalm cannon and missile arent the cheazy 2-d fire like it is in Half-life TFC; it's the real thing. D3 takes advantage of the best video cards out there, with plenty of options to tone it down for slower systems. Unlike previous reveiws, Im going to have to admit that the single player isnt all that it should be. The story is mediocre and the maps get bland after a while. For some reason, I still enjoy Descent1's single player even though it's goals were the same 'find the red,yellow,and blue access cards and destroy the main reactor.' But it's a good place to get a hang of the controls and weapons for you newbies out there. The multiplayer, however, makes up for the single player and then some. I've played just about every praised multiplayer game (Counter-Strike and other Half-Life mods, Red Alert, etc) and I can honestly say that the Descent series puts each and every one to shame. You wont be able to play an online game without breaking out a sweat and totally losing yourself in the gameplay. There's no cheezy one-shot sniping and hiding like there is in Half-Life-like games, there's hardly any lag kills since most of the weapons dont travel at infinite speed, and there's absolutely no luck involved. This is the one game where the players skill actually shows; there's no beginners luck. The best players win all the time (unlike so many other fps's out there). It's something to work towards, that pays off the longer you play. And the online community,.... people actually compliment each other on good kills, etc. Though we've lost some of the best over the years, their are still plenty of experienced players willing to help out newbies. Awesome graphics, incredible gameplay, and a tightly-knit and courteous community makes Descent3's multiplayer scene unchallenged. For [price] you're getting the steal of the century. Buy a copy for yourself and a friend... due to the poor marketing Interplay did to Descent3, they did not make near enough money to keep Descent4 in development, though it's just now starting to pick up. Once you play this game you'll realize that you should have bought this title 2 years ago when it came out!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, March 28, 2001

By 

"turquoise_" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Descent 3 / Descent 3 Mercenary Bundle (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

This game proves to be a wonderful successor to the former games in the series Descent 2 and Descent 1. It is beautifully created and the whole concept of flying a ship was flawlessly created by Volition, the game's developers. What's so great about this game is that the ship movements and enemy AI are very life-like and realistic, and the game NEVER bores you!! It's not a SUPER DUPER addictive game like EQ, thus it makes for a perfect thing to play whenever you have some spare time. The single player is very fun and the multiplayer, like always, is outstanding. If you do not have this game you are not a true gamer!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 3D Freedom (and works in Win XP), March 29, 2007

By 

Gustavo Cavallin (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Descent 3 / Descent 3 Mercenary Bundle (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)

This is a unique game in its kind. It is much more fun than shooting space ships in the open space and than being attached to the ground with a human-like being.

When I got the game -the version sold here- I was a little worried to find out it wouldn't work in XP. And the first time I run it, it didn't. After that I closed a couple of applications that I had running on background (including antivirus) and installed the Patch 1.4 (D3_1.4_NOCD_Patch.exe. [...]

It definitively requires a joystick. I've tried to play with a mouse (or the little pseudo-joystick that acts like a mouse in a laptop) but it is frustrating the little control you have over the ship (even when you can move the ship it is though to aim). So, with a joystick it feels like is heaven. :)

I remember that when I first played Descent (being a teenager), I was amazed by it. So, this new version that preserves all the concepts from the first one and it is improved in graphic quality (and other aspects, like new robots, the probe, etc) has burst my desire to sit in the cockpit and unravel the PTMC mines!