Developer: id Software, Nightdive Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS4
Quake – Review
One of the first 3D FPS games turns 25, and to celebrate this, Bethesda has released a 4K version of Quake, the classic shooter. This is the ultimate homage that the game could have received, as Bethesda is the proud owner of the Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein franchises. These three series were the founding fathers of the First Person Shooter genre as we know it today. When playing modern-day shooters, we tend to forget how hard the original games were and Quake is no exception.
Story
Quake is a simple shooter where you clear episodes to progress through the game. You don’t really have a storyline but there are five campaigns to play through. Each campaign plays out in a different location. You will go to hell, to space stations, to the Middle Ages, and other interesting areas. While playing, you will just try to find the exit on each level, killing dozens of enemies along the way. There isn’t any story or progression in the game, but that isn’t all too bad as the game focuses on quick fun shootouts.
Graphics
The game has received a graphical update after 25 years, making it 4K ready for PC and consoles, allowing the players to customize their experience with a wide array of visual settings. A few of these new things are depth of field, anti-aliasing, and dynamic lighting. The graphics are upscaled to look great on higher resolutions but the overall feel takes you back to the early nineties. Most enemies are re-used in most scenarios except for the Middle Ages zone.
Sound
Aside from the graphics that have been improved, the sound has been updated as well. Most people will remember Doom and its iconic music, and might think that Quake is exactly the same. However, the biggest difference between both is that in Quake there is only some action music playing during enemy encounters. Guns sound loud, enemies die in pain, you scream it out when you are hit, making the game a great audiovisual experience.
Gameplay
Quake is a First Person Shooter where you must kill enemies and find the exit of each level to progress to the next one. This gameplay formula is pretty simple but that was how the first FPS games were back in the day. You start with selecting one of five campaigns. Each campaign is divided into three difficulties, but even playing on easy is proven to be a challenge. The old games were really unforgiving and even when playing on easy, you will die a lot. Enemies will die quite easily, but you can only take some damage before dying yourself. When exploring, you will find better weapons and armor upgrades that give you a better fighting chance.
The great thing about this game is that you can just start up any campaign, save and exit, and then still start another one. This means that you aren’t bound to completing one campaign before starting another one. If you really want to go on a nostalgia trip, then we suggest playing the campaign mode with up to three friends online or locally (just like Doom). You can also duke it out against each other online with up to eight people.
Playing an old FPS game on a console can feel a bit tricky at first. Recently some other older games that were ported to consoles had built-in aides to make the experience more pleasing for the player. An especially interesting feature of the PlayStation version is that you can use the gyroscope in the controller to give you the same accuracy as using a mouse. Other than that, you only need a few buttons to move around and swap weapons. It’s a simplistically designed game that anyone can play and enjoy (even though it is tough as nails).
Conclusion
It is great to see a slightly forgotten title get a new lease on life thanks to the Studio that also owns the Doom and Wolfenstein franchises. Quake plays just like how it was 25 years ago but has received the needed graphical and audio updates to make the game ready for modern media. The game is hard, so it’s best to grab a couple of friends and play through the five available campaigns. Quake has some replayability if you want to complete each campaign on each difficulty, or if you want to play the online modes. As a whole, we think this game will be appreciated the most by a more mature audience.
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