Quake 4
November 24,2005 - The Xbox 360’s launch line up is made up of numerous genres, but one in particular; the First Person Shooter genre, makes a strong appearance. Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2, and obviously Quake 4 are all contributions to the FPS category of the 360’s launch, and more are set to come down the pipe in a matter of weeks and months. Quake 4 would seemingly have a disadvantage here seeing as how Quake isn’t quite as popular as it was in its prime, and with the hype surrounding Perfect Dark Zero, what chance would a PC port have at succeeding at the 360’s launch? Well, despite the fact that the game has already been out for over a month on the PC, the 360 port is one great game, but it’s not without its share of problems.

Continuing the story of Quake 2 (Quake 3 took the story in a different direction, Quake 4 is the true successor to Quake 2), Quake 4 begins with the main character and his squad of fellow Marines assaulting a Strogg installation. The Strogg being a hybrid alien race of machines and machine enhanced organic creatures (mainly humans). Things quickly turn sour for the squad, and without spoiling too much of the story, the main character eventually takes the fight behind enemy lines in a bizarre and unexpected way that not only effects the story, but the core gameplay as well. The twist happens roughly a third of the way through the game, and changes the game drastically.

As always, Quake 4 continues the fast paced run-and-gun shooting tradition of its predecessors. There’s usually little in the way of thought provoking gameplay, but any Quake fan would know that going into the game. Clearing out a room single handedly isn’t as hard as it would be in a game like Brothers in Arms or Call of Duty 2. While you will have teammates and other allies accompanying you every so often, they offer minimal help, as most of the time they’re simply lollygagging around shooting blindly at walls or sporadically around their intended targets. Every so often they get a few shots in, but most of the time you’d be better off killing everything yourself. However, medics and engineers do come in handy as they can replenish your health and armor respectively.

With over a dozen different weapons available, Quake 4 offers a load of different ways to dispatch enemies. Ranging from standard machine guns and pistols to rip saws and rocket launchers, the gameplay never gets tired due to a lack of variety. Vehicles are also present, and they add to the fun as well. Early on the only vehicles available will be ride along transports that are nothing more than glorified on-rails shooting, but eventually you’ll rank up to fully controllable tanks and mech units

Enemy variety is something that many First Person Shooters have trouble with for some reason, but Quake 4 manages to offer just the right amount of different enemy units to keep things interesting. At the beginning of the game you’ll face some fairly easy opponents, but as the game progresses, new enemies come out of the wood work. Everything from Fat Strogg, Beast-like Strogg, Formerly Human Strogg, as well as bomber jets, mech units, and a multitude of different gun turrets and other mechanical death dealers will attempt to rip the main character limb from limb.

The multiplayer in Quake 4 is a fun diversion from the single player campaign, but for some reason the campaign is just more addicting. Multiplayer over Xbox Live or LAN is limited to 8 players maximum, and the levels are a bit small and unforgiving to new players, but eventually it grows on you. It’s not nearly as fun as the multiplayer in Halo 2, Call of Duty 2, or especially Perfect Dark Zero for that matter, but it’s still a nice diversion from the constant Strogg hunt of the single player game.

Visually, Quake 4 is a mixed bag. While the game has some glaring technical flaws, the overall look and feel of the game doesn’t disappoint. Mainly near the beginning of the game, and at times of large scale battles, Quake 4 experiences some harsh framerate difficulties, slowing down to what seems like 15 FPS at times. These instances are rare indeed, but it should be noted that they are present, and that’s not something one would expect from a next-gen console. Aside from this though, the game looks stunning, aside from a few sloppy textures and some ho-hum and repetitive environments.

The audio is probably the game’s only true weak point. The voice work is very well done, but it’s difficult to hear what the characters are saying over constant mechanical sounds from the environment, gun fire, and just about every other sound in the game. It’s a shame that this had to be the case because the voice work truly is good stuff, and some of it is necessary listening for objectives and such. Aside from voice work though, there’s little in the way of music, which is fine because it adds to the creepy and solitary feeling that the game does such a good job of creating. Overall, the game has some impressive audio, but technical flaws may leave gamers reaching for the mute button.

Quake 4 may be available on the PC, but if your computer can’t handle it, or if you’re just looking for a great FPS experience on Microsoft’s new console, you may want to pick up this game. If you’re a Quake fan, or if you’re just looking for a way to uncover the story if you missed the past Quake games, the full version of Quake 2 is included on a bonus disc packaged in with Quake 4 along with a “Making Of” feature for Quake 4 and a bunch of other nifty little extras. With the online multiplayer mode, a fun single player campaign, and a full copy of Quake 2 for a second helping of FPS goodness, Quake 4 has a tremendous amount of value and replayability. This may not be the star of the 360’s launch, but don’t count it out, as it’s still a very solid game.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More