This is part of a series of bloody matches to the death. Show support for your favorite game so it will do better in the fight. You can support it by writing why you think its the better game and more importantly by betting (i.e. voting for) it. Please make it clear for when I check the bets later. You have until Friday when I tally the bets and declare the winner. I will reserve my bet for any tie-breakers.
Although you should be familiar with both games, there is no rule that says you have to have played both of them. The only rule in Trashdome is this;
Nice matchup. I've also played them both once. DOOM is more frenetic, no one's glyphing back to town, so the LoS management needs to be a lot more defined. There's more ~game~ in DOOM in this regard. Ammo management is such a pain in the ass though--THAT is a well done aspect of the translation from FPS to BG.
DESCENT, even if just JOURNEYS IN THE DARK is a great D&D replacement. People that claim the RPG element is missing are just being jerks. This makes them touhg to directly compare--they are after different experiences, and it's amazing how well they do it when you actually play them, rather then just flipping through the rulebooks.
I'm going to go with DOOM, just because it more immediately accessible. The rabbit hole is deeper with DESCENT, but DOOM can get things going fast faster.
DOOM is more accessible, and is really great at pulling off the "survival horror" feel.
That said, I'm sticking with Descent. I like the variety offered in Descent, and the heroes actually have a fighting chance in most Descent games. I also find designing unique scenarios in Descent to be far more fulfilling than in DOOM.
And this is for basic Descent and/or non-RtL expansions. Screw RtL - great in theory, but just not worth it in actuality.
You can complain about expansions fixing base games, but the expansions in Descent REALLY get things going.
Yes, in the base game of Descent the heroes will walk right over the overlord every single time. Especially in the first quests. But even in the later Journeys in the Dark quests things get a lot tougher.
Well of Darkness really starts to switch things up. The monsters get harder. The traps more devious. The quests more dangerous. Throw in the treachery cards and the Overlord starts turning into a hero grinding machine.
And since when did you guys start caring about "fast" and "ease of entry to play"? This is F:AT!
And since when did you guys start caring about "fast" and "ease of entry to play"? This is F:AT!
Whoa. Just whoa. No further comment required, I think.
People that claim the RPG element is missing are just being jerks.
It's there, it's just a different kind of RPG element. It's not the "talk in funny voices" kind of RPG (which I fucking hate to no end- sorry, but that really is kind of for ex-drama club folks), it's the kind of RPG where you have a character with particular advantages and disadvantages and you play to those. No, you don't answer stupid riddles and shit like that, but you do have a sense of ego, position, and ability and I think that sells it as an RPG.
It is interesting to see DOOM so well-regarded a few years on...I reviewed it pretty highly at Games International at at the time, it was the only SPACE HULK-style game on the market. But there was definitely mixed notices at the time, mostly from crybabies who couldn't get over the fact that the game was tough and didn't like having limited ammo. I wonder if DOOM is due for a "rediscovery". I never played the expansion.
And since when did you guys start caring about "fast" and "ease of entry to play"? This is F:AT!
Dude, when I was in grad school and had some fucking time to kill, I'd be with you, DESCENT++ is probably better than DOOM. But to figure it out you've gotta play 900 hours. I want to have fun -right now-. DOOM delivers.
Octavian wrote:
And this is for basic Descent and/or non-RtL expansions. Screw RtL - great in theory, but just not worth it in actuality.
-MMM[/quote]
Have to disagree here -- RtL is what makes Descent worth playing, IMO. It introduces several key points in the game where decision making is very important, for both heroes and overlord. People bitch about balanced, but we found it to be very balanced throughout (and we even introduced feats at the end of Silver); however, to maintain balance it requires shifting strategies by overlord and heroes at different phases of the campaign.
I wonder if FFG switched their focus from Doom to Descent simply because they had to pay licensing fees related for Doom but not for their own Descent/Runebound setting. And I suppose the potential market for a D&D-style dungeon crawl is huge compared to the market for a Space Hulk-type adventure.
I wonder if FFG switched their focus from Doom to Descent simply because they had to pay licensing fees related for Doom but not for their own Descent/Runebound setting. And I suppose the potential market for a D&D-style dungeon crawl is huge compared to the market for a Space Hulk-type adventure.
I've always suspected Descent was originally to be Diablo: The Board Game, but like you say they ultimately didn't want to pay licensing fees when they can use their own free setting.
The underdog, DOOM, is putting up quite a fight so far against a game more than twice it size. We'll see if it can pull off a fatality on Friday or if Descent can make a comeback. This is still anybody's match.
Descent: Journeys In The Dark
metalface13
Michael Barnes
Space Ghost
Octavian
DOOM: The Board Game
Schweig!
Shellhead
dysjunct
Juniper
Aarontu
Ken B.
jeb
I'll put the final votes in the first post on Friday. This is just an update to bump the thread.
Last edit: 11 Feb 2009 14:22 by ChristopherMD. Reason: spelling correction
Doom's a cool game if you fix some of the ammo issues with 2-3 marines. However it was always going to be limited by its license and FFG could not create anything that wasn't in the video game. Still, it can play faster than Descent and it's pretty nail-biting. I haven't tried the capture the flag or other pvp modes however.
But my vote has to go to Descent for all of the added options and choices. Granted, some of the choices of equipment are ridiculous (never see anyone buy daggers or those other crap missile weapons from the expansions, or even bows unless they get the appropriate skill), but all the same it's an awesome game.
metalface13 wrote:
Yes, in the base game of Descent the heroes will walk right over the overlord every single time. Especially in the first quests. But even in the later Journeys in the Dark quests things get a lot tougher.
Some of the later quests from the base game are really tough on the heroes. Quest 5 for example, where I'm 4-0 as Overlord against the same group of players. Quest 7 is also notoriously difficult and my buddies haven't really progressed at all in that dungeon in 2 tries (and don't care for trying it again). Quest 6 is ridiculously easy for the heroes though, and I'd say quests 8-9 are pretty well balanced.
Somebody mentioned earlier that the monsters in Doom stick around longer than the ones in Descent (ie. you actually have to track wounds on the guys), is this true? if it is, I might be tempted to pick it up/try it out.
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