Descent: The Enemy Within is a mission modification of the renowned Six Axis shooter Descent. It was spearheaded by Dark Flame Wolf and was supported by quite a large roster of level designers from among the Descent community. Among the laundry list of level designers are Darkhorse, Sirius, Pumo, Wishmaster and of course, Dark Flame Wolf.
What sets this mission set apart from most others released on the net for the game is tri-fold: 1) It houses 26 main levels with 6 secret levels giving it a whopping total of 32 levels to play through, bigger than the official game the mod is based on. 2) It has a completely new robot cast that replaces almost every Descent 2 robot, including six new boss robots. 3) A brand new soundtrack was made for all 26 levels by Alter-Fox.
You can download it all here
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Tropes present in this game:
- A Winner Is You: Typical of missions within the Descent franchise, however this one defies the trope by painting you as the enemy for all the work you've done and ending the game with you on the run from the authorities.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: Not a complete example but in the latest release of the mission, the robots are so nerfed on Trainee and Rookie difficulty settings that they might as well not be there. Their reactions and shots fired are so low/minimal that even a novice to the franchise can beat the level set with ease.
- Excuse Plot: Although cleverly dragged out for 26 levels, the basic premise of the story still revolves around the production of a new line of robots and who they are being built for. There is a small twist at the end but it doesn't justify how simplistic the plot is.
- Locked Door: You'll find a lot of these in every level. Sometimes the key for opening them can be fiendishly hidden.
- Outside-the-Box Tactic: The boss of level 25 is one of those annoying boss robots that can only be harmed from the backside. With it constantly facing you and firing homing flash missiles to blind you, the only real option at hitting its backside is firing earthshaker or smart missiles at a wall behind the robot and hope its homing globules hit it before it warps away.
- Palette Swap:
- There are quite a few enemies that get various palette swaps over the course of the mission. The most notable is the Mantid which goes from green, to brown to grey by the end of the mission. The green Mantid typically is your 'standard' version with a static energy pulse; the brown lacks this energy pulse but spawns annoying Echoes upon death; the grey is like the green but it generates almost triple the amount of energy pulses when fired upon and is generally faster.
- The Mule, Piper, Gatling, Acolyte, Legionnaire and Warlord each have their own palette swaps but it doesn't seem to come with any additional upgrades to their weaponry or AI.
