Quake 4 Review

8.4

Format PC

Developer Raven Software

Publisher Activision

Genre First Person Shooter

It's official, Quake deathmatch is back and it's faster and better looking than ever, pitting you and up to 15 others in a furious futuristic joust. Never before has there been a multiplayer shooting experience like it, a challenge of skill that's so utterly pure and unadulterated. All of the chaos, all of the anger and every last drop of mayhem from Quake III has been siphoned out and rammed into an engine so sublime that it practically sucks you through your monitor and spits you out into another world, where a split-second can separate the vanquished from the victor.

But enough about Quake 4's multiplayer... For now anyway. Why? Because, my frag-frenzied friend, unlike its predecessor, Quake 4 isn't being sold as a multiplayer game. Y'see, some people whinged about Quake III: Arena's lack of single-player action. They moaned and they complained - then went off and made some tea - then they came back and moaned some more.

And so, in an attempt to alleviate their bleating, and in an effort to bring the best parts of Quake II and III into one unified and all-conquering whole, id and Raven decided a return to the single-player campaigns of yore to complement what is undoubtedly the purest deathmatch experience in the known universe. Including Wigan town centre on a Saturday night. Yes, that pure.

A NEW CAMPAIGN
So, what's the single-player game like? Well, you play as Kane - a soldier embroiled in the seemingly never-ending Human/Strogg conflict (from Quake II), sent to an enemy planet to execute a daring raid that could turn the tide of the war. What follows is a rampaging ride of destruction, punctuated by periods of exposition and some slick cut-scenes that build the tension and raise the stakes ever higher as the campaign progresses, while a surprising plot twist halfway through adds some extra spice.

Your adventure is further enhanced by the stupendous Doom 3 engine, which makes your dark, sinister surroundings look more drop-dead gorgeous than Elle McPherson on a bed of cold meats, though admittedly, outdoor areas are still a problem. The physics are also almost beyond reproach, conveying a true sense of weight and realism to Quake 4's alien world, despite the occasionally erratic tumble taken by a felled opponent.

As for the combat, it's also a winner. Visceral, intense, challenging... Every bit the blood-caked battlefield we'd hoped it would be. From the opening mission to the final titanic confrontation, your trigger skills are tested to breaking point, especially on the higher difficulty levels that'll have even the most hardened FPS-nut pounding his (or her) fists in frustration.

WORLD OF HURT
Straight from the off, you're submerged into a world that genuinely looks and sounds like a warzone. Incessant, panicked radio chatter from other strike teams bursts through your headphones, and new orders filter down from command HQ as you scythe your way through wave after wave of pug-ugly nasties. Medics and technicians heal you and restore your armour - perhaps a little too often if truth be told - while certain specialists even beef up your weapons and make them more powerful and versatile.

The feeling of isolation so prevalent in Doom 3 is nowhere to be seen, with solo missions often morphing into team=based affairs, pitting you and AI-controlled comrades against overwhelming enemy forces. Plus, with a well-judged soundtrack - satisfyingly booming effects beefing up the atmosphere still further - you're never in any doubt that this is a world at war.

ENEMY WITHIN
Of course, all the atmosphere in the world is for nothing if a shooter's AI isn't up to scratch; and while Quake 4 is unlikely to win any awards for this, it doesn't disappoint either.

Strogg grunts in particular, harness their surroendings with lifelike intelligence, resulting in subtly strategic firefights as you and your AI-controlled comrades take cover and play cat and mouse against an equally ensconced enemy. And while other enemies' more direct, head-on attacks aren't so impressive, there's just about enough variation for things never to get too stale during the six to ten hours it'll take to complete the game.

Top bad guy billing must go to the muchvaunted Gladiator, a towering warrior armed with a shouldermounted laser and an energy shield, who's so mean he'd probably spit his lead fillings at you if he thought they'd do you some damage. These boys are no easy kill - especially once their shield is up - and without lashings of skill and speed you'll soon wear the reload key down to a stump.

SIZE ISN'T EVERYTHING
Quake 4's collection of mammoth (health bar-toting) bosses are somewhat of a disappointment, though. Brilliantly introduced through ever rising tension and lush cut-scenes, the majority of them turn out to not only be less intelligent than a garden rake but also incredibly easy to dispose of.

And let's not forget the much-vaunted, all-new vehicular sections, which see you either manning stationary weapons while someone else takes the wheel, or piloting the likes of hover tanks and walkers. What are they like? Well, I'm sorry to say, they're also a bit of a letdown. Despite these sections' obvious appeal, they're likely to leave you flatter than a catwalk model's chest that's just had a nasty encounter with a trouser press. They just feel as though they've been lifted straight out of a console game - more Halo than Quake - and as a result are often little more than mildly entertaining distractions that break up the on-foot shootouts. Pity.

So, despite a few shortfalls, everything you'd expect and wish for from a singleplayer Quake campaign is here. Frenetic action: check. Huge end-of-level bosses: check. Lots of satisfying weaponry: check. Zombies: check. Yup, it's all there.

Then of course there are the staples of any modern day FPS. Vehicular combat: check. Scripted moments that depict the hideous deaths of your comrades: check. Ambient conversations between periphery characters that fill in background information: check. Again, all there.

So why is it, despite all this, I can't help but feel that Quake 4's solo campaign is fundamentally lacking something? Perhaps it's because there's such a fine line these days between harking back to past glories through intelligently-judged homage, and blatantly recreating what's come before; Quake 4 never even comes close to pushing any FPS boundaries.

Beneath the high production values, lashings of veneer and excellent combat, the single-player campaign feels incredibly derivative. Why - for example - 15 years after the birth of the FPS, are we still being dished up scores of strategically positioned exploding barrels, and bosses with health bars over their heads that are easier to outsmart than a toddler?

What's more, it's a sad day when one of the founding fathers of the PC firstperson shooter genre is watered down with console-style vehicular sections, simply because they bare a resemblance to Halo and therefore are very likely to appeal to the Xbox market. This propensity to imitate rather than innovate doesn't make Quake 4 a bad game - far from it in fact - but it does make it a lesser game than it could and should have been.

FIGHT!
Which brings me back to multiplayer - the part of this package that really shines, standing out like a beacon of such brilliance that most other deathmatch (and CTF, TDM and Last Man Standing) experiences are dazzled into submission. The new levels are masterfully created, each one requiring a subtly different approach than the next, while never losing the exhilaration factor. And if that's not enough, there's even a return for a few old favourites such as DM17. Sure, you could argue it's much the same as Quake III, but the point here is that no-one else does pure seat-of-your-Y-fronts deathmatching quite like Quake.

By all means, enjoy the single-player game, marvel at its visuals, groan at its clichés and enjoy its firefights. However, I can guarantee that six months from now, as you fly through the air firing rockets and screaming in rage in an attempt to take out that railgunning bastard who's just fried your brains five times in quick succession - while all around bodies explode into a thousand blood-caked giblets - you'll have forgotten all about it. That's the beauty of deathmatch. That's the beauty of Quake 4.

PC Zone Staff