DOOMATHON entry #8/20
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
As a result of Nightdive's Quake remaster being shadow dropped, the inclusion of a new "episode" that's basically an entire new game that goes beyond the limits of the original engine flew completely under my radar back in 2021. I'm happy to report now that Dimension of the Machine is easily the best official Quake campaign, one that manages to have its cake and eat it as well at every turn.
Nearly every map here takes full advantage of the remaster's added visual enhancements to produce gorgeous environments that fully realize the interdimensional travel aspect of the original game better than either mission pack ever could have dreamed of; they're all massive, even featuring scripted shifts in the environment that weren't originally possible, but they're never confusing to navigate.
Everything I love about Quake is present here and the best it's ever been, but the shortcomings are carried over as well - the obligatory arduous enemy placement is pretty much entirely concentrated within Hell or Dark Water, which left me starved for ammo at a brutal juncture, and the final map, a rematch with episode 1's hilariously underwhelming boss, that's far more obtuse than it needed to be. Where the original game wowed me with what it was able to accomplish as the first fully 3D FPS, Dimension of the Machine wowed me with what it was able to accomplish within those (expanded) confines 25 years later. It's an essential addition that's been criminally overlooked, so I'll be doing my best to spread the good word from this point onwards.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1748172984261779533
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
As a result of Nightdive's Quake remaster being shadow dropped, the inclusion of a new "episode" that's basically an entire new game that goes beyond the limits of the original engine flew completely under my radar back in 2021. I'm happy to report now that Dimension of the Machine is easily the best official Quake campaign, one that manages to have its cake and eat it as well at every turn.
Nearly every map here takes full advantage of the remaster's added visual enhancements to produce gorgeous environments that fully realize the interdimensional travel aspect of the original game better than either mission pack ever could have dreamed of; they're all massive, even featuring scripted shifts in the environment that weren't originally possible, but they're never confusing to navigate.
Everything I love about Quake is present here and the best it's ever been, but the shortcomings are carried over as well - the obligatory arduous enemy placement is pretty much entirely concentrated within Hell or Dark Water, which left me starved for ammo at a brutal juncture, and the final map, a rematch with episode 1's hilariously underwhelming boss, that's far more obtuse than it needed to be. Where the original game wowed me with what it was able to accomplish as the first fully 3D FPS, Dimension of the Machine wowed me with what it was able to accomplish within those (expanded) confines 25 years later. It's an essential addition that's been criminally overlooked, so I'll be doing my best to spread the good word from this point onwards.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1748172984261779533