"Descent II" was a finalist for CNET Gamecenter's 1996 "Best Action Game" award, which ultimately went to "Quake". The editors wrote that ""Descent II" offered even more insane vertigo action than the original, plus an added bonus that set the tone for computer gaming in 1996--a multiplayer mode". In 1996, "Computer Gaming World" declared "Descent II" the 123rd-best computer game ever released. It was also ranked  46 on "PC PowerPlay"s list of the 50 games of the century, due to the game's "schizophrenically devised" maps, robots' artificial intelligence, and atmosphere whose intensity the magazine considered to be previously unparalleled. Later in 2000, the same magazine ranked it No. 90 on their list of the top 100 games of all time, calling it the best of the "Descent" series.