Quake IV

Quake 4 feels an awful lot like Doom 3, and that’s a good thing. It’s always good to be a one man army against an evil army with enough weapons to level a nation. Quake 4 might not have the same horror aspects as Doom 3, but it manages to be scary in its own way. If you have ever played pervious Quake games, you know who the Strogg are (for those of you who don’t, imagine the Borg with a bit of Cenobite flavoring). Well, spoiler alert, in the opening level, you are captured and converted into one in an extremely disturbing scene, but you are saved before you are fully brainwashed, so now you get to turn their own weapons and machines against them. Oh classic over-the-top FPS cheese, how I have missed you. As previously mentioned, Quake 4 feels a lot like Doom 3, picking up weapons, armor, and health, having no automatically regenerating health, a somewhat barebones story that is secondary to the main action of the game, which is shooting guns at enemies until they die. Quake 4 is all of this and not much else, but it still takes a lot of skill to play, unlike many modern FPS games. Quake 4, alongside Doom 3, is an excellent time-capsule containing old-school FPS design. If you have never played an old-school FPS game, play Quake 4. Or Doom 3. Or both. Either way, either one is worth your time.

First of all, this game aged really bad. I mean, even tho it's almost 10 years since Quake 4 was released, it's gameplay is much worse than for much older games. Every Quake game had something unique - sadly, Quake 4 is missing something which would make it unique. It doesn't feel like Quake game at all. Sure, it looks nice (graphics in Q4 are similiar to graphics in Doom 3) but that's all. Story is at most decent, there are annoying AI companions, and it's rather short. If you want to play something amazing then play Quake 1 and 2. If you are looking for great multiplayer game then get yourself Quake 3. Sadly, Quake 4 have rather boring single player and multiplayer mode. Also, there will be hardly any players to play with together.

Quake IV is the last entry in the famous FPS series of futuristic fast First Person Shooter. The story takes place directly after the events of Quake 2. This time Mankind is attacking the Stroggs' home planet : Stroggos. You are Matthew Kane, one of the many soldiers who are invading the planet. While the game is more story-driven than the second episode, it's still a pretty old-school shooter. It's fast. It's fun. It's a bit beautiful (for its time : it's DOOM 3's Engine) and there are tons of stroggs to kill. The plot is not that great but it has a few twists to offer. However the campaign is a bit to easy to beat. The multiplayer is somewhat similar to Quake III Arena. A decent shooter but it's not that good.

Straight to the point, this game is a classic. I remember playing the original doom games on my school computers when no one was looking, and this game brings back all the nastalgia of the classic shoot-em-ups. Though quake has never been horror bases as, say, doom 3, it definitely keeps up with that classic shooting gallery feel. I blasted through this in just a few hours, but it is always worth another run through.

The Strogg are one of my favorite enemies. They capture enemy soldiers and "Strogify" them. The process is messy, painful, and full of gore. In Quake 4, you're a space marine who ends up going through the process. You're rescued before they could take control of your mind, but your body is Strogg. Faster, stronger, and able to use Strogg regeneration stations. Some of the enemies are very bullet sponge like, but that's pretty typical in FPS games. The guns you acquire happen one by one through the various levels. Many weapons can be upgraded to add features, like homing rounds or ricochet. Combat feels great and responsive, instead of the lifeless hitscan gunfire of today's shooters. You can find torsos laying around, hooked up to machines like they're just organic components for the building. What's not to love about that? Unfortunately, the game is too short. I beat it in 5-6 hours.