Descent: Journeys in the Dark Review

Descent: Journeys in the Dark is the latest big box game from Fantasy Flight. Coming in a huge, heavy box filled with a bewildering array of components and miniatures, it may seem a little pricey at first but there’s no doubting that you get superb value for money considering what is inside the box.

Based on an updated version of the rules of Doom: The Board Game, Descent casts one or more players as heroes infiltrating a dungeon that is controlled by another player – known as the Overlord. Unlike Doom, Descent’s heroes are not generic marines, but characters with names and individual abilities.

Much like Doom, quests are chosen from a scenario guide included with the game (players are also free to create their own). The object of the game can differ depending on the scenario, but the first scenario sees players attempting to find and destroy a powerful giant named Narthak, for example.

As the heroes are assumed to have a map of the dungeon, the full dungeon layout is created before play begins (although only the room that they start in and any other areas that they have line of sight to are populated with items, enemies and so on). The Overlord player lays out items and enemies as the players move into new areas, as well as reading out any necessary flavour text from the guide. The Overlord player also has the job of spawning new creatures into the dungeon and generally making the proceedings much more challenging for the heroes.

Descent plays – unsurprisingly – a lot like Doom, although the game is much refined and seemingly less challenging (although many people would agree that Doom is less ‘challenging’ than it is ‘nigh-on impossible’ for the marines). The heroes are far harder to kill than the marines of Doom, and consequently it doesn’t feel like one side has a particular advantage over the other, even given the resources available to the Overlord player. Length-wise, it’s a little quicker to play than Doom as the dungeon is laid out from the very beginning, so the game is only stopped to lay out monsters and items on the already existing map, rather than building it piece by piece as the game is played. Veteran Doom gamers will welcome the fact that the superbly implemented custom dice are back in a slightly modified form (and these dice have the numbers and symbols indented into the face rather than just printed onto a flat side of a die – this means that the faces won’t rub off with repeated play, which is something that plagued the Doom dice), and work just as well in resolving combat as they did in Doom.

There is a stunning array of components and miniatures included – the huge box really is filled to the brim with superbly crafted plastic miniatures (with lots of large, impressively daunting creatures for the heroes to face) as well as many different, well designed and lavishly produced cardboard counters. The cardstock used for some of the decks of cards are a little thin, however, and seem very easy to mark – the treasure chest decks in particular seemed to get scratched incredibly quickly despite the care that was taken with them while playing.

In short, Descent is an immensely satisfying dungeon crawl for hero and overlord alike, with a solid and enjoyable games system that is far more balanced and slightly deeper than it’s older sibling, Doom. The similarity that this game shares with Doom works both for and against it though - if you already own Doom and enjoy it, there is little point shelling out for another game that is very similar, albeit in fantasy clothing. It does have many welcome extra features that Doom doesn’t have, but the actual game itself isn’t too dissimilar in practice. If you don’t own Doom because you were put off by the theme or the perceived frustration of the incredibly high difficulty level, Descent will be right up your street.

Summary

Presentation: Component quality is high, and the miniatures are breathtaking both in size and number. 9.7/10

Clarity of Rules: The rules are clearly laid out, and the game is not hard to play once learned. Moderate complexity. 8.8/10

Game Length: Games typically last just over 2 hours but this can depend on the scenario played. Players are kept involved at all times and the length seems very well judged. 8.2/10

Value: Quite expensive, but the sheer volume of components and the replayability of the game more than compensates for the high price. 9.4/10

Overall: A hefty package containing lots of dungeon crawling fun. Lots of scenarios with more available on the publisher’s website, as well as user created ones on http://www.boardgamegeek.com/. The only disappointment comes from the fact that the rules are merely an update of an already existing game – which may be a problem for those that already own Doom. 8.3/10 (not an average)

Review by Jason M. Brown