![]() ![]() Quake is still a game worth experiencing, even after all these years. In some ways, the game is complemented due to its sparse story moments. The story is almost non-existent but that is to be expected from a shooter of a bygone era. On the whole, the original Quake holds up surprisingly well in terms of its gameplay, movement, music, and atmosphere. Once all runes are collected, the final level is unlocked for the conclusion of the game. The order in which they are to be played is stated by the game. These episodes can be selected in whatever order the player wants in a physical episode and difficulty select hub worlds. All of these can be played on four difficulties. Quake has four episodes with the goal of collecting runes from the end of each of them. The only change made to the gameplay in the remaster is the addition of a weapon wheel similar to that of the newer Doom games which doesn’t really change the flow of the combat and just makes it flow more fluidly, in my opinion. The levels, even though a bit maze like, is very easy to navigate and are really well paced. There are many more ways in which weapons interact with enemies and movement that are worth discovering for yourself if you have never played the game before. Different weapons work better on different enemies with nail guns and lightning guns staggering most enemies while the super shotgun can make many of the rushing enemies fall down quick, giving more opportunities for the player to counter them. It becomes a beautiful game of dodging enemy fire while dealing damage yourself. All the guns feel beefy and great to fire as the player’s fast movement and agility allows for the dodging of the mostly projectile based enemies. But Quake does not falter in this regard at all. For me, the closest someone has come to recreating this atmosphere is with the retro inspired shooter, Dusk, back in 2018.Īll the atmosphere in the world cannot make a game good if the gameplay sucks. All this along with the environments of the level give the game a moody and visceral atmosphere which still stands as a very unique experience. This is only enhanced tenfold by a phenomenal sound track from Trent Reznor and his band, Nine Inch Nails. And the blocky graphics of the game compliment its themes as perfectly as we, the players, can recognize each enemy but the details are left to the imagination. The enemies in the game have a Lovecraftian theme of unnamable and unimaginable horror to them. But this is where the game becomes something unique without just being a 3-D Doom clone. The game is also vague with its story only that we play as an unnamed protagonist sent into a portal in order to stop an enemy codenamed “Quake”. Just like original Doom, there are labyrinthine levels with health packs, ammo pickups, and key hunting as one discovers secrets. This remaster is the first time I really explored the game and its various expansions. Personally, I have only played the base game once and barely remember anything about the others. The remaster incudes enhanced graphics, original expansion packs, crossplay and online multiplayer, split-screen and co-op with a few more add-ons. This remaster was developed by Nightdive Studios and had new content from Machine Games added for this occasion. This is the environment in which the remaster of the original Quake was announced by id Software and Machine Games at Quakecon 2021. Even though the legacy of the game is still more alive than ever, the series itself has not been active as of late. The last Quake game was Quake Champions, a free to play multiplayer game which barely maintained a thousand active players per day and the game has been in early access for five years now as of 2021. Quake has a massive and enduring legacy, a legacy that sometimes overshadows the game itself.Ģ5 years have passed since the original’s release and the series, for the most part, is fragmented and dormant. Quake and its deathmatch essentially invented online multiplayer which is something that still dominates the video game industry to this very day. The game spawned a franchise with six games with many expansions and countless mods. When the game was released back in 1996, it was one of the first real 3D games ever released. ![]()
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