A great space combat sim, even for today. Because of the FSO project, graphics are updated, and campaigns are plenty.
The setting for Freespace 1 is outer space in a distant future. The subtitle suggests a long and epic war (The Great War) - also the name Descent has nothing to do with the Descent games but was used only to avoid trademark issues with another company software of the same name Freespace. From the beginning of the game, you play on the side of the Terrans who are at war with the Vasudans. Several missions later, the technological more-advanced Shivans show up, and then all hell breaks loose.
Throughout the game you will fly various fighters and bombers (depending on the mission) so the majority of the time your view will be of the HUD of your controls and the void of space. What creates a feeling that you are just a spec on a heavenly map is when you have to race to a jump node (a warping point usually to exit a mission) while dodging and destroying enemy ships or when attacking/defending a space port or capital ship that are easily hundreds times bigger than your fighter. Despite being in space, the environment has a rich detail of color when encountering the multitudes of ships and sometimes backdrop to planets and nebulae. The game really shines during mission briefings where voice-overs and music get you into the mood of wanting to accomplish every primary and secondary objective. One particularly great mission is when you have to infiltrate the Shivan fleet with a stolen Shivan fighter and take scans of various capital ships - you feel as if you will be found out as a spy at any moment as you continue making scans as quickly as possible, also getting to view many beautifully-designed capital ships.
A nice feature is that you can customize what is a multitude of controls that are broken down to Ship, Weapons, Targeting, Shield, and Squad Commands. Missions are based on simple objectives such as Destroy, Defend, Recon or Stealth but the game does a great job using variety and plot twists throughout the campaign to keep you guessing. Not only are missions interesting but the combat is its greatest aspect, where you will have many opportunities to destroy Capital Ships by knocking out its subsystems while dodging fire from its turrets and having to dog-fight other fighters trying to protect it. The game is also missile-intensive, which creates an atmosphere of large explosions, and you constantly find yourself spinning, using afterburners and launching countermeasures to dodge. The ability to create a player that earns stats, badges and promotions gives the game an epic feel from campaign to campaign, so that you will have the satisfaction of fighting in every major battle using the same pilot.
I rate the game high but not perfect. Despite graphic upgrades and a large variety of user-made campaigns, the game slightly shows its age in that there are no planetary or surface-based battles, giving the impression that everyone fights only in space between occupied planets (although there are a few missions where you fight inside a nebula that messes with your targeting and navigation equipment, and on occasion will fight in subspace where shields are useless). The physics of space flight also follow a loose interpretation of maneuvering in outer space so that dog-fighting is more exciting. Even then, it is still a great game; and as a whole, Freespace 1 and the FSO universe is worth checking out for space-sim combat fans.