DOOMATHON entry #13/20
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
After being thoroughly impressed by MachineGames's previous Quake effort, I went into Call of the Machine expecting it to be a proportionally worthwhile addition - but I wasn't expecting it to be every bit as fantastic as its predecessor. Seeing as the scale of Dimension of the Machine's elaborate levels had more in common with Quake 2's units than the original game's mazes, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the same formula works just as well here.
What's more surprising, however, is the extent to which this is a love letter to the entirety of Quake 2, largely forgotten mission packs included. The Reckoning's Phalanx and Ground Zero's plasma beam are briefly included, the godforsaken medic commander is implemented in a genuinely enjoyable manner, and Quake 2 64's ominous Aubrey Hodges soundtrack is put to great use as well. My personal highlight of the entire campaign, once again about as lengthy as the base game, was thinking to myself "Seems like they couldn't figure out a fun use for the turrets from Ground Zero" within minutes of encountering the setpiece that did exactly that! Although I certainly don't think that Dimension of the Machine was worse off for not attempting to salvage the horribly annoying spike mines from Scourge of Armagon, Call of the Machine almost made me wish that it had.
Then again, the only reason that these once obnoxious elements work so well is because this campaign fully commits to the aggressive combat that shone brightly in the base game. The enemy counts here are obscene, often putting you in positions where a single super shotgun blast can wipe out an entire group of grunts, and where hesitating for even a moment will subject you to the railguns of multiple gladiators at once. While some near unavoidable damage inevitably results from this approach, it's remarkably well balanced on the whole.
The only time I felt that I had to succumb to my save scumming ways was in the final battle, which is more cramped than pretty much any other combat arena up to that point and was kinda deflating to experience after just how good almost everything that preceded it was. The battle is also quite underwhelming as what's ostensibly a conclusion to the hilariously disorganized Quake lore that these two new expansions were intended to tidy up. This obviously isn't gonna be a dealbreaker for anyone in their right mind (John Carmack's infamous "story in a game" quote is more pertinent to Doom and Quake then I'd like admit) and does little to undermine the excellence of what's on offer here, but it's a shame that neither MachineGames offering could break the series curse of underwhelming boss fights.
Both of these campaigns are easily the best official Quake content available as well as secretly among the best releases of 2021 and 2023 respectively; it's criminal that so few people are aware that we've functionally received two new games in the series within two years of each other! I've successfully fed some of my friends the Halo and Half-Life pills, and now Quake is next up on the agenda.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1756583440470995030
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
After being thoroughly impressed by MachineGames's previous Quake effort, I went into Call of the Machine expecting it to be a proportionally worthwhile addition - but I wasn't expecting it to be every bit as fantastic as its predecessor. Seeing as the scale of Dimension of the Machine's elaborate levels had more in common with Quake 2's units than the original game's mazes, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the same formula works just as well here.
What's more surprising, however, is the extent to which this is a love letter to the entirety of Quake 2, largely forgotten mission packs included. The Reckoning's Phalanx and Ground Zero's plasma beam are briefly included, the godforsaken medic commander is implemented in a genuinely enjoyable manner, and Quake 2 64's ominous Aubrey Hodges soundtrack is put to great use as well. My personal highlight of the entire campaign, once again about as lengthy as the base game, was thinking to myself "Seems like they couldn't figure out a fun use for the turrets from Ground Zero" within minutes of encountering the setpiece that did exactly that! Although I certainly don't think that Dimension of the Machine was worse off for not attempting to salvage the horribly annoying spike mines from Scourge of Armagon, Call of the Machine almost made me wish that it had.
Then again, the only reason that these once obnoxious elements work so well is because this campaign fully commits to the aggressive combat that shone brightly in the base game. The enemy counts here are obscene, often putting you in positions where a single super shotgun blast can wipe out an entire group of grunts, and where hesitating for even a moment will subject you to the railguns of multiple gladiators at once. While some near unavoidable damage inevitably results from this approach, it's remarkably well balanced on the whole.
The only time I felt that I had to succumb to my save scumming ways was in the final battle, which is more cramped than pretty much any other combat arena up to that point and was kinda deflating to experience after just how good almost everything that preceded it was. The battle is also quite underwhelming as what's ostensibly a conclusion to the hilariously disorganized Quake lore that these two new expansions were intended to tidy up. This obviously isn't gonna be a dealbreaker for anyone in their right mind (John Carmack's infamous "story in a game" quote is more pertinent to Doom and Quake then I'd like admit) and does little to undermine the excellence of what's on offer here, but it's a shame that neither MachineGames offering could break the series curse of underwhelming boss fights.
Both of these campaigns are easily the best official Quake content available as well as secretly among the best releases of 2021 and 2023 respectively; it's criminal that so few people are aware that we've functionally received two new games in the series within two years of each other! I've successfully fed some of my friends the Halo and Half-Life pills, and now Quake is next up on the agenda.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1756583440470995030