Other new features are more interesting puzzles and secret rooms. You'll see plenty of computer panels on the walls of the more normal sections of a level. These generally unlock a door, open up a new area, or remove a forcefield from nearby. One way to tell what they have done is to check the arrows on the panel. These tell you in which direction the door (or whatever) was that you just opened. Secret doors are also much harder to spot, some look no different to a normal wall and they are usually only found by accident.

Descent 2 boasts plenty of new weapons, of course. Your normal bog-standard laser can now be increased up to Level Six; the Vulcan cannon can now be upgraded to the splendidly effective Gauss cannon, both using the same ammo; the Helix cannon is similar to the Spreadfire cannon except that if fires five shots simultaneously instead of three; the Phoenix cannon blasts fireballs that bounce off walls (and initially, you will often accidentally shoot yourself with this - so don't use it to open doors, okay); and the omega cannon which I didn't find (sob). Plus! There are several new secondary weapons too - the best being the Guided missile (when fired, the screen in your cockpit shows the view from the missile and you use the normal ship controls to steer it, although it moves swiftly and takes some getting used to) and the Smart mine (which you drop them shoot from a distance, sending many smaller mines careening into any nearby enemy robots - perfect for the cowards amaong us, like me).

A couple of other new things will have you sighing with blessed relief and tearing your hair out in inexhaustible irritation, respectively. The Guidebot is heaven-sent. You can find him fairly close to the start of each level, and once you do he'll lead you to the various keys, the main doors, energy centres, hostages, and finally the reactor. Essentially he's there because the Descent 2 map is still virtually incomprehensible. On the other hand, the Thiefbot will really test your patience. He pops up on (I think) every level and his one aim is to steal your power-ups by ramming your ship and scarpering away. Keep your rear-view screen on at all times, because he always tries to sneak up behind you. Luckily, despite his high speed and agility making him tough to track down, once you've got him in your sight (particularly with the rapid-firing Gauss cannon) he's not too much trouble.

Basically, Descent 2 isn't a huge advance over Descent, but it feels like a deeper, better constructed, more professional and well thought-out game. The higher resolution graphics look amazing, but are painfully slow even on a Pentium 100. I spent most of my time using the basic 320x200 mode with the cockpit turned off, yet had no complaints. And you won't either. The optional CD soundtrack by industrial nose-bleeders Skinny Puppy will really get your adrenaline going. Or give you a splitting headache. I preferred it turned off, letting the excellent ambient sounds and the ferocious FX take a deserved pride of place.

Descent 2 is a magnificent game. If you haven't played Descent before, get this. If you already have the original, there's no reason not to own both.

D.W