Forsaken is a futuristic 3D shooter, in the same vein of Descent. The player guides a hoverbike in a full 3D environment with six degrees of freedom and must navigate and shoot his way to complete the levels.

Along with a singleplayer campaign, the game offers networked multiplayer, local or online, with common game modes such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and more.

The player can select a character from more than 10 options, each one with a hoverbike with different acceleration, top speed, shield and hull strength. The player may also choose a computer voice of his choice, which will shout warning about shields and other feedback.

The game is known by its high difficulty and the PC version was one of the first games to embrace the use and need of 3D-acceleration cards.