"wait - you haven't played quake?"
~almost everyone who i've gushed about this to game in the past few days
a little about me: i'm partial to industrial grit, my favorite doom games favor grimly edgy atmosphere over 80s thrash worship, i'm a big NIN fan and the downward spiral is one of my top 5 favorite albums. so this should be a no brainer, right?
well - yeah, actually. that's exactly right. throughout my playthrough all i could continually ask myself was, "why the fuck didn't i play this sooner?" and rightfully so. i think the reason quake has eluded me for so long is because its holistic reputation is eclipsed at this point by a diehard multiplayer community that i frankly don't give a shit about. i'm not much of a multiplayer enthusiast for anything - let alone tech-y arena shooters - and honestly i probably would've continued ignoring this absolute fucking masterpiece if not for my pressing curiosity towards trent reznor's involvement
that'd have been a huge mistake; quake is easily the best boomer shooter i've ever played
this is where i could talk about how i adore the weapons and their balancing, the general focus on straightforward maps with powerups everywhere, the difficulty being largely driven by how easy it is to kill yourself in tight spaces - or even the god tier ambient score that has just the right amounts of otherworldly screams and metallic chords strewn about - i COULD go into those things and we could be here for a considerable amount of time - but instead of doing any of that, i'm just going to say that the shambler is one of the greatest enemy designs in any fps. in fact, my feeling towards quake 1 can be summarized roughly with my thoughts on the shambler; he's absolutely perfect. i love this giant, dopey, teethy foreskin man in all his fleshy (not furry - fuck you) glory. and i haven't even begun to MENTION his timbs yet
my mans butters be outright otherworldly
~almost everyone who i've gushed about this to game in the past few days
a little about me: i'm partial to industrial grit, my favorite doom games favor grimly edgy atmosphere over 80s thrash worship, i'm a big NIN fan and the downward spiral is one of my top 5 favorite albums. so this should be a no brainer, right?
well - yeah, actually. that's exactly right. throughout my playthrough all i could continually ask myself was, "why the fuck didn't i play this sooner?" and rightfully so. i think the reason quake has eluded me for so long is because its holistic reputation is eclipsed at this point by a diehard multiplayer community that i frankly don't give a shit about. i'm not much of a multiplayer enthusiast for anything - let alone tech-y arena shooters - and honestly i probably would've continued ignoring this absolute fucking masterpiece if not for my pressing curiosity towards trent reznor's involvement
that'd have been a huge mistake; quake is easily the best boomer shooter i've ever played
this is where i could talk about how i adore the weapons and their balancing, the general focus on straightforward maps with powerups everywhere, the difficulty being largely driven by how easy it is to kill yourself in tight spaces - or even the god tier ambient score that has just the right amounts of otherworldly screams and metallic chords strewn about - i COULD go into those things and we could be here for a considerable amount of time - but instead of doing any of that, i'm just going to say that the shambler is one of the greatest enemy designs in any fps. in fact, my feeling towards quake 1 can be summarized roughly with my thoughts on the shambler; he's absolutely perfect. i love this giant, dopey, teethy foreskin man in all his fleshy (not furry - fuck you) glory. and i haven't even begun to MENTION his timbs yet
my mans butters be outright otherworldly
quake is basically about some guys who make funny noises
ENG: The true sequel to DOOM. Now you play with mouse, you can jump and there is real 3D, all of which allows you to better visualize the scenarios for combat. Combat is much more methodical than DOOM since you have to be more careful because you have to shoot one enemy at a time and our protagonist is weaker and the enemies are more resistant.
It also has a very marked medieval scenarios, an oppressive soundtrack and a color palette that rarely leaves the brown.
ESP: La verdadera secuela de DOOM. Ahora se juega con mouse, se puede saltar y hay 3D real, todo esto lo cual permite visualizar mejor los escenarios para el combate. Combate que es mucho más metódico que DOOM puesto que hay que ir con más cuidado al tener que disparar a un enemigo a la vez y ser nuestro protagonista más debil y los enemigos más resistentes.
También tiene unos escenarios medievales muy marcados, una banda sonora opresiva y una paleta de colores que rara vez deja lo marrón.
It also has a very marked medieval scenarios, an oppressive soundtrack and a color palette that rarely leaves the brown.
ESP: La verdadera secuela de DOOM. Ahora se juega con mouse, se puede saltar y hay 3D real, todo esto lo cual permite visualizar mejor los escenarios para el combate. Combate que es mucho más metódico que DOOM puesto que hay que ir con más cuidado al tener que disparar a un enemigo a la vez y ser nuestro protagonista más debil y los enemigos más resistentes.
También tiene unos escenarios medievales muy marcados, una banda sonora opresiva y una paleta de colores que rara vez deja lo marrón.
Quake is perhaps better than DOOM, yet should they cross swords it's far-fetched to determine which is the better game. Nine Inch Nails collaborate with id Software to offer the world an industrial stygian hellscape, with slaughterhouse aesthetics. Much more atmospheric than DOOM due to its ambient soundtrack. Quake's theme is all about the unknown, a monochrome, medieval yet industrial, it's hard to describe its atmosphere; the important being - it works.
Quake emphasizes a little more directly on recklessness, with much more health kits scattered around, more verticality, more rocket jumping, more risk/reward, as well as being a return to simpler, close-quarter level designs. Every enemy; grunts, ogres, fiends, and even zombies, can pose a different threat, and it's refreshing that melee enemies are all equally as menacing, rather than cannon fodders.
It's clear that the game has a mechanic built around its weapon management, with each weapon being viable in different situations; each of them cycling instantly. Map designers clearly wanted you to sidestep some enemies, as to save ammo or get out of avoidable death traps. Maps are much longer than DOOM, each map is a test of endurance.
There's something that really grabs me about these games, how each map is a separate challenge of their own, with thematics so expressive, and each so well classified; it's easy to start a conversation about a specific map, or episode of Quake without losing someone who's familiar with the game in the progression.
Quake is not without its fault, while technically faster, and more atmospheric than DOOM, suffers in its enemy count and freneticism; enemies are fewer and feel like tanks compared to DOOM, which threw hundreds of glass canons to the butchery. DOOM was definitely the more brutal game; gorier, and more "in-your-face" to Quake's uneasiness. Luckily, Quake 1.5 more than solves this dilemma, and without breaking the game's pace with reloads and iron sights like its sister mod.
With its newest upgrade to the Kex Engine, we were able to revisit the Mission Pack once again, after marathoning through the Doom game once again, and while Quake starts slowly coming from DOOM 2, a simple playthrough up to the end of Scourge of Armagon should prove to anyone that this shooter is worthy of its hysterical praise.
Quake emphasizes a little more directly on recklessness, with much more health kits scattered around, more verticality, more rocket jumping, more risk/reward, as well as being a return to simpler, close-quarter level designs. Every enemy; grunts, ogres, fiends, and even zombies, can pose a different threat, and it's refreshing that melee enemies are all equally as menacing, rather than cannon fodders.
It's clear that the game has a mechanic built around its weapon management, with each weapon being viable in different situations; each of them cycling instantly. Map designers clearly wanted you to sidestep some enemies, as to save ammo or get out of avoidable death traps. Maps are much longer than DOOM, each map is a test of endurance.
There's something that really grabs me about these games, how each map is a separate challenge of their own, with thematics so expressive, and each so well classified; it's easy to start a conversation about a specific map, or episode of Quake without losing someone who's familiar with the game in the progression.
Quake is not without its fault, while technically faster, and more atmospheric than DOOM, suffers in its enemy count and freneticism; enemies are fewer and feel like tanks compared to DOOM, which threw hundreds of glass canons to the butchery. DOOM was definitely the more brutal game; gorier, and more "in-your-face" to Quake's uneasiness. Luckily, Quake 1.5 more than solves this dilemma, and without breaking the game's pace with reloads and iron sights like its sister mod.
With its newest upgrade to the Kex Engine, we were able to revisit the Mission Pack once again, after marathoning through the Doom game once again, and while Quake starts slowly coming from DOOM 2, a simple playthrough up to the end of Scourge of Armagon should prove to anyone that this shooter is worthy of its hysterical praise.
an actually impeccable game -- as both a single-player experience, as a multiplayer phenomenon and as a platform for usermaps
darker and more dynamic than doom 2 -- the enemy roster trades off being able to command large, open playfields for having much more of an upper hand in close quarters. the player arsenal, in response, is more reflexive and freeform.
the renewed focus on melee enemies, cool powerups and close-quarters battling means the 4 episodes can get lots done with comparatively little
full 3d makes it a much more natural experience for new players, while also encouraging a level of intimacy with maps that is rarely seen (show a quake player a small sloped surface on the decorative trim of a hallway, and they will spend ten minutes trying to launch theirselves off it in the hopes of a secret. absolute mountain goat people)
it may seem like a confused jumble of a game, but it's a lot more well-rounded than people give it credit for!
darker and more dynamic than doom 2 -- the enemy roster trades off being able to command large, open playfields for having much more of an upper hand in close quarters. the player arsenal, in response, is more reflexive and freeform.
the renewed focus on melee enemies, cool powerups and close-quarters battling means the 4 episodes can get lots done with comparatively little
full 3d makes it a much more natural experience for new players, while also encouraging a level of intimacy with maps that is rarely seen (show a quake player a small sloped surface on the decorative trim of a hallway, and they will spend ten minutes trying to launch theirselves off it in the hopes of a secret. absolute mountain goat people)
it may seem like a confused jumble of a game, but it's a lot more well-rounded than people give it credit for!
nightmare labyrinths. sprawling, focused and concise. four disparate realms of enclosed torture, each with their own take on a set of explosion tools and nasty, nasty fiends. the paragon of abstract, less-linear first person carnage. beautifully brown.
after decades of first person shooting games, many of which just blur into an indiscernible soup of drab real life murder machines, the drab fantasy realms of quake still casts the shadows in which they reside.
forever the most first person shooter. the best game id will ever make.
after decades of first person shooting games, many of which just blur into an indiscernible soup of drab real life murder machines, the drab fantasy realms of quake still casts the shadows in which they reside.
forever the most first person shooter. the best game id will ever make.
I've not a clue how that final boss died
Between its dark and gritty aesthetic, its Trent Reznor soundtrack and its intimate relationship with the pop-culturization of the Internet, there may not be a more distinctively 90's game than Quake. There may also not be a more influential one, and while that can be readily debated, the one thing you can't debate is that Quake is everywhere.
It's really hard to find other games that have had such a profound effect on gaming as not only a hobby but an art form. This was where having that fancy extra dimension really started to make sense. The shareware version of Quake dropped one day before the original Japanese release of Super Mario 64. More than a quarter of a century later, both of these games not only continue to be The Guy To Wanna Be for their respective genres, but also serve as platforms upon which speedrunners and other sick, twisted individuals can demonstrate their digital wizardry. That's before mentioning Quake's hand in popularizing speedrunning and the online deathmatch. And of course, there's all of the other classic titles directly inspired by it or based off of it, such as the OG Team Fortress and Half-Life itself (with GoldSRC being a modified version of the Quake engine). While I didn't grow up with Quake, I've been feeling its influence my whole life.
It's especially remarkable because Quake is a far cry from the original vision its creators had for it, designed first as a more fantastical and RPG-ish third person action game. The title stemmed from the player's key weapon, a mighty and magical hammer that could blow away foes with the sheer force of its swings. The name Quake ended up being a terrifically apt title regardless of this departure, not only for the way it shook up the industry, but also the way its troubled development fragmented id Software. How many success stories like Quake do you know of that effectively killed the company they spawned from? It's also another great example of how taking the "safest" path arguably led to the greatest returns. While it might be interesting to see what would have happened if Quake had stayed true to its earliest concepts, I'd be deeply concerned as to what the rest of the gaming landscape would look like in the absence of Quake as you and I know it.
And, y'know, it's still pretty fun to play. So there's that.
If quad damage were real I'd use it to cook a chicken with one slap.
It's really hard to find other games that have had such a profound effect on gaming as not only a hobby but an art form. This was where having that fancy extra dimension really started to make sense. The shareware version of Quake dropped one day before the original Japanese release of Super Mario 64. More than a quarter of a century later, both of these games not only continue to be The Guy To Wanna Be for their respective genres, but also serve as platforms upon which speedrunners and other sick, twisted individuals can demonstrate their digital wizardry. That's before mentioning Quake's hand in popularizing speedrunning and the online deathmatch. And of course, there's all of the other classic titles directly inspired by it or based off of it, such as the OG Team Fortress and Half-Life itself (with GoldSRC being a modified version of the Quake engine). While I didn't grow up with Quake, I've been feeling its influence my whole life.
It's especially remarkable because Quake is a far cry from the original vision its creators had for it, designed first as a more fantastical and RPG-ish third person action game. The title stemmed from the player's key weapon, a mighty and magical hammer that could blow away foes with the sheer force of its swings. The name Quake ended up being a terrifically apt title regardless of this departure, not only for the way it shook up the industry, but also the way its troubled development fragmented id Software. How many success stories like Quake do you know of that effectively killed the company they spawned from? It's also another great example of how taking the "safest" path arguably led to the greatest returns. While it might be interesting to see what would have happened if Quake had stayed true to its earliest concepts, I'd be deeply concerned as to what the rest of the gaming landscape would look like in the absence of Quake as you and I know it.
And, y'know, it's still pretty fun to play. So there's that.
If quad damage were real I'd use it to cook a chicken with one slap.
has a Grenade Launcher hooked directly into the human nervous systems to allow for perfect bank shots every time.
Uma revolução técnica, cultural e artística praticamente sem equivalentes no mundo dos games. Chega ao extremo de Quake ser influente demais para seu próprio bem, com suas conquistas nos dois primeiros aspectos sendo tão grandes que acabam ofuscando seus méritos artísticos. Mas Quake não é "apenas" um marco tecnológico: é uma experiência lúdica incrível que ainda vale a pena ser jogada hoje em dia e, como prova a recente popularidade dos "Boomer Shooters", ainda pode inspirar e muito o gênero de FPS.
Quake é, antes de tudo, a consumação de toda a experiência e ambição da id Software. Mais do que um mero "Doom 3D", o jogo reflete o quanto o estúdio mudou e como seu potencial criativo estava longe de se esgotar. O salto tridimensional não é uma mera mudança de perspectiva. Os níveis abusam da verticalidade agora possível pela nova dimensão e há um grande foco na movimentação e gerenciamento de espaço. Os ogros, inimigos mais comuns do game, dão o tom de como se deve jogar Quake: armados com um lança granadas e uma serra elétrica, a melhor estratégia é sempre manter uma distância média, longe o suficiente para não ser atacado pela serra, mas não tão longe que você ficará onde caem as granadas. Todos inimigos do jogo seguem um princípio parecido, obrigando você a se movimentar e estar ciente dos espaços que ocupa a todo momento.
A pura visceralidade de Doom dá lugar a um sentimento de angústia e raiva típica dos anos 90 (a famosa angst) que permeia toda a atmosfera orquestrada por um dos melhores trabalhos de Trent Reznor. É essa atmosfera que consegue reunir as várias influências visuais, estilos arquitetônicos e princípios de level design díspares num pacote funcional que se fortaleça devido sua aparente falta de coesão, não a despeito dela. Quake não é scifi, não é medieval, não é gótico, não é lovecraftiano. Quake é Quake.
Quake é, antes de tudo, a consumação de toda a experiência e ambição da id Software. Mais do que um mero "Doom 3D", o jogo reflete o quanto o estúdio mudou e como seu potencial criativo estava longe de se esgotar. O salto tridimensional não é uma mera mudança de perspectiva. Os níveis abusam da verticalidade agora possível pela nova dimensão e há um grande foco na movimentação e gerenciamento de espaço. Os ogros, inimigos mais comuns do game, dão o tom de como se deve jogar Quake: armados com um lança granadas e uma serra elétrica, a melhor estratégia é sempre manter uma distância média, longe o suficiente para não ser atacado pela serra, mas não tão longe que você ficará onde caem as granadas. Todos inimigos do jogo seguem um princípio parecido, obrigando você a se movimentar e estar ciente dos espaços que ocupa a todo momento.
A pura visceralidade de Doom dá lugar a um sentimento de angústia e raiva típica dos anos 90 (a famosa angst) que permeia toda a atmosfera orquestrada por um dos melhores trabalhos de Trent Reznor. É essa atmosfera que consegue reunir as várias influências visuais, estilos arquitetônicos e princípios de level design díspares num pacote funcional que se fortaleça devido sua aparente falta de coesão, não a despeito dela. Quake não é scifi, não é medieval, não é gótico, não é lovecraftiano. Quake é Quake.
While it is a groundbreaking game and a classic for a reason, the more spongey enemies and samey environments brings it down for me.
Sleep fan when they have nightmare omg scary. Quake fan when they have a nightmare wow that was a great mappack
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
JOHN CARMACK TRAFICANTE!!!
Einstürzende Neubauten - Redukt
It's always so nice to be pleasantly surprised by playing one of these undisputed classiques for the first time, and not have to grapple with the caveat of "you had to be there at the time, aged 9". Quake instantly became my favourite first person shooter from a pure kinetic standpoint, it just feels so good to skate around at mach speed - bouncing grenades around corners and rockets at the feet of goonies.
Amazed by how little I learned about this game through like, osmosis. Every enemy and sleight of hand trick of the levels was completely fresh new n excitin. Had to Google how to beat the final boss after beating my head against the wall for like ten minutes and it's a psychotic method I respect a lot.
Too stupid to get the soundtrack working, so all I had was pure ambient noise & sound effects. The spirit of Trent still manages to resonate within these rusty iron corridors, amazing sound effects that are as toothy and fulfilling as crunching in2 a protein bar.
Amazed by how little I learned about this game through like, osmosis. Every enemy and sleight of hand trick of the levels was completely fresh new n excitin. Had to Google how to beat the final boss after beating my head against the wall for like ten minutes and it's a psychotic method I respect a lot.
Too stupid to get the soundtrack working, so all I had was pure ambient noise & sound effects. The spirit of Trent still manages to resonate within these rusty iron corridors, amazing sound effects that are as toothy and fulfilling as crunching in2 a protein bar.
Quake 1 is the greatest FPS of all time and it was made essentially on accident by a group of extremely skilled people who could not stand eachother anymore cobbling something together. Quake 1 is the Fleetwood Mac - Rumours of videogames
God damn is this game fun, the new free update remaster thing brings this game to the next level with the visuals and the killer soundtrack from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and all the expansions being offered for free aaaand amazing optimization on modern hardware with all the options you'd possibly need included.
The fact the game is still only 10$ on steam and a lot less when grabbing it from key selling websites makes this a steal.
Now lets talk about the game because in a lot of ways this is the last classic to come out of the original ID team and its a fantastic send-off for that glory era of the company. This game is 25 and yet hasn't aged a day gameplay wise imo, the movement and combat are really fast, in some ways even faster than in Doom.
I wouldn't say this game is better than Doom but it does fix the one singular issue that I have with it and it's that whenever you aren't shooting its just walking around looking for stupid keycards while trying not to fall asleep, now its...well the same thing but with the improved movement and the higher speed, the time it takes to find that damn keycard is much shorter and when simply walking around is this fun (especially with bunny hopping) you tend to not mind it as much.
The game feels unique even now with its dark fantasy aesthetic and I think the fact that each episode was made by a different person gives each episode a different feel and makes the level design feel distinct between each other. I like the emphasis on having tougher enemies with the trade-off being that there's a lot less than in their previous games.
Idk what much else to say because this is one of those games that speaks for itself, ugh only complaints are that sadly there weren't many bosses (only 2) and the last one is like...c'mon how the fuck was I supposed to figure that one out without a google search?
But even then the boss fight didn't last that long once I figured it out.
All in all, quake rocks, if u haven't played it then now it's the perfect time to jump in and see what this game is all about.
The fact the game is still only 10$ on steam and a lot less when grabbing it from key selling websites makes this a steal.
Now lets talk about the game because in a lot of ways this is the last classic to come out of the original ID team and its a fantastic send-off for that glory era of the company. This game is 25 and yet hasn't aged a day gameplay wise imo, the movement and combat are really fast, in some ways even faster than in Doom.
I wouldn't say this game is better than Doom but it does fix the one singular issue that I have with it and it's that whenever you aren't shooting its just walking around looking for stupid keycards while trying not to fall asleep, now its...well the same thing but with the improved movement and the higher speed, the time it takes to find that damn keycard is much shorter and when simply walking around is this fun (especially with bunny hopping) you tend to not mind it as much.
The game feels unique even now with its dark fantasy aesthetic and I think the fact that each episode was made by a different person gives each episode a different feel and makes the level design feel distinct between each other. I like the emphasis on having tougher enemies with the trade-off being that there's a lot less than in their previous games.
Idk what much else to say because this is one of those games that speaks for itself, ugh only complaints are that sadly there weren't many bosses (only 2) and the last one is like...c'mon how the fuck was I supposed to figure that one out without a google search?
But even then the boss fight didn't last that long once I figured it out.
All in all, quake rocks, if u haven't played it then now it's the perfect time to jump in and see what this game is all about.
Like visiting your Grandpa and finding out exactly why your family is fucked up in the ways they are. For its slight imperfections and occasional frustrations, this is the ooze I crawled out of, the reflection staring back at me when I look in the mirror. The incoherent but indelible monsters, that soul-pounding Reznor score, the gorgeous industrial-gothic landscapes, the goofball chapter-ending paragraphs, these are the neurons that intertwine to create my mind. Quake is too definitional to what I love. It barely registers as a game. This is a divine manuscript by which the heavens bestowed onto us mortals a most holy of artefacts, the rocket jump. John Romero may be chained to a boulder, destined to have his spleen devoured by an Emu every day for the rest of time, but it is a small price to pay for such enlightenment.
Shambler's a fleshy abomination and his body looks veiny. If you think he's got fur then you must seek help. #FLESHAMBLERNATION
While Doom let me have fun from the beginning, Quake took some warming up to. Doom starts you off gently with low numbers of weak enemies, but the basic enemies in Quake can tear you to shreds and require concentrated fire. Trying to play in a slow, methodical way will get you killed, even when you feel like you're not making any mistakes. Enemies seem to come from random corners, grenades are bouncing everywhere, and the levels are so complex that it can feel random and overwhelming. The key thing to realize is that while sprinting around enemies in Doom was a careless way to play, it's what you have to do just to survive in Quake. The basic enemies using powerful but slow grenades was meant to inform you that the best way to handle an enemy is to be in constant motion and maintain fire as you pass. Once you get the hang of the combat’s momentum, this game really gets amazing. The high speed mixed with enemies that demand careful reaction placed within intricate levels makes for an experience that simultaneously rewards instinctive skill and observational intelligence. As much as it’s become a video game boomer meme to say, I have to admit that Quake really does hold up beautifully.
A fun, breezy time with intriguing yet simple level design that no doubt would have felt revelatory at launch. I felt it important for me to play this, to better understand the influences of some of the games I love if nothing else. The incredibly lightweight, smooth dynamics of motion make for engaging gameplay. When your primary from of defense is the environment, this is SO helpful. Oh, to be a mid-90s Cybergoth/Punk fucking around with friends in this game for hours, writing our own crude code, blasting NIN, Ministry, and Skinny Puppy! Onto Quake 2.
I'm glad I don't live in the quake world. It seems a little too dark and dreary for its own sake and would not be good for my seasonal depression. Say what you will about Doom but at least that game implies that there's a hell separate from our world and it's just the doors of hell opening and spilling out onto us. But to be in quake world, to actually inhabit a whole realm that just refuses to ever turn the frown of its own gloomy gestalt upside down? To have to set your alarm and wake up to a life of mowing down ogres with your nail gun amid non-Euclidean buildings and an eternally cracked and fiery sky? There are no happy montages set to "walking on sunshine" to be had here. Do you think they even know about Katrina and the Waves in quake world?
On dark nights when I'm home alone, I load my Quake shareware version and recite the TOME.
love NIN
Wow. It is just insane that they let Trent Reznor do that.
A lot of people like to call this "full 3D Doom" but I think that's only due to the fact that it was made by iD, who popularized the genre. But in actuality, this is a very different game in almost every aspect.
While Doom makes you feel like a powerful menace punching, sawing, and blasting your way through the demons of hell. Quake goes out of its way to create a much more tense and oppressive atmosphere.
Aside from being able to jump, the Ranger is considerably weaker than Doomguy. He's able to take much less punishment and aside from the grenade and rocket launcher, the weapons hold much less 'oomf' than Doom's weapons. Thanks to the brand new 3D engine, the combat has a lot more verticality to it like more flying enemies and ambushing ogres from tall ledges, you have to focus on every direction during combat. It's incredibly engaging and almost just as well built as Doom was.
If you've seen other reviews from me on here, you probably know that I like to analyze music in games much more so than the average player. And this game is certainly no exception. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, (who I'm sure you know were HUGE back in the 90's) approached iD during the development of Quake and offered to do the music for free, and he did just that.
The soundtrack is a blend of heavy industrial noise and dark ambience. Which was something NIN excelled at the time, so they were able to make it work effortlessly with Quake's dark atmosphere. Personally, I think it sounds quite modern for the time. It would really fit in perfectly with something like Doom 2016, which goes to show how well the music has aged. There are so many tricks done with the audio, stuff like certain frequencies being played that makes it feel like something is tickling the back of your throat or visceral meat sloshing sounds. There so much about the music that goes out of its way to disturb and discomfort the player, and it's incredibly well executed.
Gameplay wise, I think Quake is a mixed bag in my personal opinion but there is no denying the amount of talent, programming wizardry, and artistic expression that went into crafting this. Quake fully deserves the status it has videogame history.
While Doom makes you feel like a powerful menace punching, sawing, and blasting your way through the demons of hell. Quake goes out of its way to create a much more tense and oppressive atmosphere.
Aside from being able to jump, the Ranger is considerably weaker than Doomguy. He's able to take much less punishment and aside from the grenade and rocket launcher, the weapons hold much less 'oomf' than Doom's weapons. Thanks to the brand new 3D engine, the combat has a lot more verticality to it like more flying enemies and ambushing ogres from tall ledges, you have to focus on every direction during combat. It's incredibly engaging and almost just as well built as Doom was.
If you've seen other reviews from me on here, you probably know that I like to analyze music in games much more so than the average player. And this game is certainly no exception. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, (who I'm sure you know were HUGE back in the 90's) approached iD during the development of Quake and offered to do the music for free, and he did just that.
The soundtrack is a blend of heavy industrial noise and dark ambience. Which was something NIN excelled at the time, so they were able to make it work effortlessly with Quake's dark atmosphere. Personally, I think it sounds quite modern for the time. It would really fit in perfectly with something like Doom 2016, which goes to show how well the music has aged. There are so many tricks done with the audio, stuff like certain frequencies being played that makes it feel like something is tickling the back of your throat or visceral meat sloshing sounds. There so much about the music that goes out of its way to disturb and discomfort the player, and it's incredibly well executed.
Gameplay wise, I think Quake is a mixed bag in my personal opinion but there is no denying the amount of talent, programming wizardry, and artistic expression that went into crafting this. Quake fully deserves the status it has videogame history.
Completed: August 2, 2021
Time to beat: uhhhh idk i emulated it in DOSBOX like a NERD
let's say 10ish Hours?
Platform: DOSBOX
This is like the second or third boomer shooter I've ever beaten, depending on if you count Jedi Knight as a boomer shooter, and it's the only one I've finished with that classic id software maze-like level design, and... turns out that level design is pretty damn great!
Despite the way forward occasionally being too unclear for my liking (really? a grenade jump? to end the level???) there was no shortage of moments where, upon figuring out the way forward, I felt the way point and click games are supposed to make you feel lol. Clever and out of the way but hey, if you look around long enough (which never feels bad thanks to how much fun just running around is!) you'll figure it out.
Actually, speaking of movement, damn this feels so good! Your walking speed is approx 50mph, and when you start running it basically doubles. Just running and jumping around these hallways was about as much fun as any 3D platformer's movement, and I always felt like I was in complete control of where I was gonna land too, which is a wild feeling in first person. After playing this I'm not surprised at how many games thought they could do the first person platforming thing and have it be fun, even though it rarely was.
On top of the pure ecstasy of just running around, the style of the game is oh so perfect. Levels are never as bright and colorful as DOOM's were, instead opting for moody browns and greys, sparsely lit and punctuated by pools of green and red. It's an aesthetic that had been done to death pretty quickly afterwards, but here it's hard to describe it as anything besides an atmospheric triumph. Trent Reznor's score definitely helps that as well, being eerie and minimal but somehow unnervingly robotic at the same time? It's great fun, never outright scary but just so flavorful.
My only real gripe is with the difficulty, and I'm not sure there's much point complaining about how hard a 90s fps is? Like, I played on easy, and still had to retry each level 3 or 4 times, usually more for the last levels in an episode. It doesn't help that, running in bare dosbox because I don't make good decisions, the save feature was bugged, so the save anywhere feature that could've been my savior was just unusable for me. Luckily the levels aren't long at all, usually 3-5 minutes if you get lost, so just running through them once you know what you're doing isn't too bad.
Still though, a game like Quake that isn't hard, where the joy of exploring these dingy hallways isn't predicated on remembering the sequence of pickups so you can run through the whole thing again when you die? That's the real dream.
Even with the difficulty though, this was a great time. But you already coulda guessed that ha
Time to beat: uhhhh idk i emulated it in DOSBOX like a NERD
let's say 10ish Hours?
Platform: DOSBOX
This is like the second or third boomer shooter I've ever beaten, depending on if you count Jedi Knight as a boomer shooter, and it's the only one I've finished with that classic id software maze-like level design, and... turns out that level design is pretty damn great!
Despite the way forward occasionally being too unclear for my liking (really? a grenade jump? to end the level???) there was no shortage of moments where, upon figuring out the way forward, I felt the way point and click games are supposed to make you feel lol. Clever and out of the way but hey, if you look around long enough (which never feels bad thanks to how much fun just running around is!) you'll figure it out.
Actually, speaking of movement, damn this feels so good! Your walking speed is approx 50mph, and when you start running it basically doubles. Just running and jumping around these hallways was about as much fun as any 3D platformer's movement, and I always felt like I was in complete control of where I was gonna land too, which is a wild feeling in first person. After playing this I'm not surprised at how many games thought they could do the first person platforming thing and have it be fun, even though it rarely was.
On top of the pure ecstasy of just running around, the style of the game is oh so perfect. Levels are never as bright and colorful as DOOM's were, instead opting for moody browns and greys, sparsely lit and punctuated by pools of green and red. It's an aesthetic that had been done to death pretty quickly afterwards, but here it's hard to describe it as anything besides an atmospheric triumph. Trent Reznor's score definitely helps that as well, being eerie and minimal but somehow unnervingly robotic at the same time? It's great fun, never outright scary but just so flavorful.
My only real gripe is with the difficulty, and I'm not sure there's much point complaining about how hard a 90s fps is? Like, I played on easy, and still had to retry each level 3 or 4 times, usually more for the last levels in an episode. It doesn't help that, running in bare dosbox because I don't make good decisions, the save feature was bugged, so the save anywhere feature that could've been my savior was just unusable for me. Luckily the levels aren't long at all, usually 3-5 minutes if you get lost, so just running through them once you know what you're doing isn't too bad.
Still though, a game like Quake that isn't hard, where the joy of exploring these dingy hallways isn't predicated on remembering the sequence of pickups so you can run through the whole thing again when you die? That's the real dream.
Even with the difficulty though, this was a great time. But you already coulda guessed that ha
WOE THIS HORROR BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF MORTAL MAN HAS YET TO BE INTRODUCED TO FUCKING BUCKSHOT
this is the game behind everything I love it