Quake 4
October 21,2005 -

When the original Quake came out in 1996, it was not only a revolutionary step for first-person shooters, but for video gaming as a whole. Though 3D gaming oftentimes is mistakenly credited to Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64, it was actually id Software’s Quake that broke the ice and took the step no game had taken before. Once id had laid that monumental groundwork, they decided to expand on it impressively; twice, actually. Both of the two major Quake sequels, II and Arena, were two of the best games in their time frame and rendered virtually every game in their field obsolete. Now after five years and far too many delays, Quake 4 is finally on store shelves. With such an incredibly flawless and action-packed pedigree backing the series, does Quake 4 live up to its predecessors and the enormous hype surrounding it? It’s a tough call, and depending on what you’re looking for in Quake 4, you could walk away from the experience either extremely pleased or pretty disappointed.

This time around, id Software didn’t develop the installment. In fact, seasoned first-person shooter developer Raven Software, responsible for Jedi Knight II and Soldier of Fortune, amongst many others, was in charge of the game, with id Software taking a back seat executive-director-type role. As many of you know as well, this is the first time for a game in the series not being modeled around its very own game engine. Quake 4, in fact, was built around the Doom 3 engine and is far better optimized than id’s own title was.

Quake 4 starts right at the end of Quake II. Quake II was about a lone marine who crossed planet Stroggos and destroyed Makron, the Strogg leader. Now, as Matthew Kane, an elite member of the Rhino Squad, you're finishing what he started at what is now the almost inevitable end of the Strogg war. The story in Quake 4 is relatively simple in, communicating very little actual plot, and when you try to sum it up, comes across as very shallow. While it definitely isn’t a deep story with mythology, background, or any literary worth, the manner in which it’s told through the gameplay and action will keep you interested, much like a popcorn action flick you’d see at the movie theater. Though formulaic and slightly generic, the plot is still the best one yet seen in any Quake game.

There’s very little about Quake 4’s gameplay that should surprise you. If you played last year’s Doom 3 or any Quake game before this one, you’d be hard pressed to find anything original or out of the ordinary. That is where the divisive split begins: whether or not you’ll love or hate Quake 4. The FPS genre has matured a lot since the days of Quake II and III Arena. When Quake II came out in 1997, it was possibly the best single-player focused FPS yet made, and games like Half-Life and Jedi Knight had not yet standardized the cinematic, epic style of story we’ve some to expect. Since the release of Half-Life, which is often credited as one of the biggest steps for the genre in the past ten years, FPS games have matured ten-fold. Shooters like Halo: Combat Evolved, The Operative: No One Lives Forever, Far Cry, and even IGO’s very own game of the year for 2004, Half-Life 2, have pushed the genre to new heights that weren't fathomable at the time of Quake’s glory days. Quake 4 seems to turn a blind eye to that evolution and it suffers because of its somewhat "been-there-done-that" feel.

While the progression from Quake III to Doom 3 to Quake 4 is undeniable, it’s hard to say Quake 4 is all that it could have been. While the potential for Quake 4 to be more than it is right now is untapped, it’s not to say that Quake 4 isn’t necessarily what it should be. Quake 4 stays so true to the Quake formula that it almost feels as if Quake 4's single player is the true sequel to Quake II and the multiplayer is almost a remake of Quake III: Arena. If you want more out of your first-person shooters than that, skip Quake 4. If you loved those and have absolutely no problem reliving your past with one of the best looking, most action- intensive, and technically stunning games ever made, keep on reading to find out just why Quake 4 is really one of the most enjoyable experiences this year.

When you look at the gameplay of Quake 4 and compare it to Doom 3, you’ll find a lot of what Doom 3 did wrong made much better. The action is less redundant and far more interesting, and there are many different locales in the game that are visibly different. Not just that, but there are several vehicle missions that smashingly break up the action and show everyone that Quake isn’t totally stuck in the 90's--like Oakley sunglasses and Smash Mouth.

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