When Wolfenstein 3D came out in 1992, it started a gaming revolution by showing what was possible in three-dimensional development. Then we got Doom just a year later, and the world has never been the same since. However, we mustn't forget id Software's 1995 gloomy shooter Quake, which had just as much of an impact on the FPS genre as its pre?decessors.

Of course, many of us haven't forgotten the gothic-cum-sci-fi series at all. That was just a flimsy pretext to lead you into what follows. With hopes that a Quake 6 could be on the horizon, it's time to look at all? the mainline entries, listing them in order of what people thought of them when th?ey released. Sounds fun, yeah?

As always, here are a few sidenotes:

1. I'll be attempting to use PC review scores where possible, but there will be one exception.
2. I'll only be talking about the main games themselves; so, not the expansion packs.
3. The list won't encompass Nightdive Studios' remasters, but I may save room at the end for a quick shoutout.

With that, let's rank all the Quake games based on their review scores.

Quake Champions (73%)

Off to a bad start with this one, as there doesn't appear to be an aggregate score from critics for the PC version. That is to say, the only version of the game. However, this IGN entry has it down as a 7.3 from user ratings. All 16 of them. As such, that'll have to do. If we convert it into a percentage score, then 73% would put?? it at the bottom of the list. Right.?? That's the admin out the way.

Quake Champions was originally released to Early Access in 2017, becoming free-to-play in 2018. It's essentially an arena shooter �not unlike one of the many you've probably played �but very much taking cues from Quake 3: Arena. You know how games like this go. Run around, go "h'up" a lot, shoot at others until they die. I did actually play this when it first came out, and I remember it being a heap load of fun. Shame it doesn't get a lot of love in mainstream gaming these days. Or maybe it does and I'm so out of the loop, I've become a t??riangle. What does that mean? No idea.

Quake 4 (81%)

Hot off the heels of 2004's Doom 3, id launched the fourth Quake entry, perhaps one of the darkest games in the series. Using the former's engine, the latter was definitely leaning towards that grisly marine aesthetic that was becoming popular at the start of the new millennium. If you remember nothing about it, there's at least the infamous Stroggification scene, where you watch from a?????????????????????????? first-person perspective as your character gets gruesomely transformed into a half-biological, half-mechanical Strogg?? creature.

I played this briefly not long after it came out. Personally, it wasn't for me. I could see what they were going for, but it seemed a far cry from the classic games that I remember playing. I appreciate game studios were interested in deeper narratives and more serious stories, but it felt weird seeing it in the Quake univese. I can't explain why. But what do I know? Metacritic shows a score of 81% and Steam has it down as Very Positive.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (84%)

Yep, no. I can hear it. Hold your horses for a gosh-darn second before you go diving to the comments section to tell me that Enemy Territory isn't technically a mainline Quake game. I'm aware that it's more of a spin-off. However, according to the Wikipedia entry, it's set in the same universe as the second and fourth installments, and it's also considered a prequel. Therefore, I would still say it's a canonical part of Quake. Yes, despite the fact that it was developed by Splash Damage of Brink fame instead of id Software. Again, I'm aw??are. Okay, we good?

Although I'm a long-time Quake fan, this is one I have no experience with, I'm afraid. We're very much into online multiplayer territory at this point. The year was 2007, and we were starting to see more people gaming over the interblag. With Halo 3 having come out just days before Enemy Territory and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare just around the corner, it seemed the studio very much wanted a slice of that online action. Not for me, but a PC aggregate score of ??84% meant it obviously paid off.

Quake 2 (87%)

Quake 2 dropped in 1997, and it was perhaps not what people were expecting. John Romero �whose influence helped shape the first game as well as the early Doom installments �had left id Software, and the studio went through a few changes. The first being that the second game in the Quake series was a massive departure from its predecessor. For starters, it was more sci-fi than gothic horror. However, the action was still there, but things like the Nailgu??n and the moody Trent Reznor soundtrack were no longer present.

But that doesn't detract from Quake 2 being an excellent game. Yeah, the murky brown FPS look eventually became a cliché, but, for me at least, Q2 represented the next step in the genre's evolution. I absolutely love this game! I don't care that it's a meat-headed, generic action shooter involving space marines on alien worlds. It's a fast-paced experience with some interesting set pieces and memorable enemies (who can forget the Tank Commander?). Much like Enemy Territory, Metacritic doesn't show a PC score, so I pulled it from the Wikipedia aggregate instead.

Quake 3: Arena (93%)

Do you write it out like Quake 3 or Quake III? No matter. I consider this part of the golden age of the series. Casting my mind back to 1999, I recall playing this game absolutely to death. The fact that it was an arena shooter with enemy bots for those who didn't want to play online was very appealing to me. The internet was still in its infancy back then, and I just didn't have a steady enough connection to be able to pew-pew-pew with others in deathmatch ?glory. Bots were my f?riends, and that is probably the saddest sentence I've ever written.

Anyway, I admit having cheated a little here. Remember earlier when I said about using PC scores except in one instance? This is said instance. See, while Wikipedia shows a score of 84% on PC, Metacritic gives the Dreamcast port a mighty 93%. I know I should stick with my original rule, but the difference between the two scores is worthy of note in this case. I only ever played it on PC and I found it to be hugely enthralling, so you can imagine playing a 9% better version of it. No, I'm not just making excuses so I can put Quake 3 higher on the list. How dare you!

Quake (94%)

The original Quake from 1996 is not only considered the absolute best in the whole series, it's arguably one of the greatest first-person shooters in gaming history. What made it such a hit was it not only used advanced development techniques for the era (including full real-time 3D rendering), it was also a huge proponent of the early deathmatch scene. True that Doom may have popularized it, but it was Quake that leaned heavily int??o it as online multi??player started to become more popular.

I've played this countless times over the decades, as well as the host of custom maps you can get for it. It is, without hyperbole, a timeless classic, and for good reason, too. It's a fast, intense, uninterrupted FPS experience, all wrapped up in a brooding and gothic aesthetic with creatures to match, which actually renders the game slightly scary when you first play through it. With a Metacritic sco??re of 94%, it's typically held up as a shining beacon of what a game could be back in the 1990s. It was also proof that id Sof??tware were capable of making huge strides in the industry.

Honorable mentions

Of course, I couldn't just leave it there. While Quake's future is ?not certain at this stage, the series remain??s in the limelight. As such, I think it's only right to give a shoutout to a couple of games that didn't make it onto this list, but are worthy of praise:

Nightdive Studios remasters

We know that Nightdive Studios is responsible for some well-received remasters of late. For instance, we got their modern take on Quake back in 2021, and then Quake 2 in 2023. Both of which have not touched what made the originals such great games, but they have tweaked them with a visual spit polish and some quality-of-life impr?ovements.

In short: we get to play classic Quake again, but on modern machines. Nightdive has done right by the source material, ??a?nd these releases probably are the best way to experience the OGs in this day and age.

Quake 2 on Nintendo 64

It's common for games to get ports to other systems, but they are typically just copy-and-paste jobs, perhaps with a bit of tinkering to make it more suitable for the platform it's being played on. Not so with Quake 2.

See, when it was ported to the Nintendo 64, it wasn't just a case of taking the PC version and condensing it down to a cartridge-based console that wasn't known for first-person shooters. Instead, "Q2N64" was its own thing. It had its own levels and missions, and even newly added real-time lighting effects, according to this IGN review. Sure, it w?as shorter than its PC equivalent, but it did what it could with the limited capacity of the Nintendo machine. That alone is not an easy feat for an FPS.

The post Ranking all mainline Q?uake entries by review score appeared first on Destructoid.

I’ve never really gotten elbow-deep into the Quake series. Before the 2021 Quake remaster by Nightdive Studios, I was actually most familiar with Quake 4, and I really don’t remember that much about it. In 1996, I was into Duke Nukem 3D. And then after that, it was Goldeneye 007. I at least played Quake 2�The N64 version.

But after the first Quake was remastered and introduced me to the series, I held off on any more series exploration, anticipating the second one would eventually get the same treatment. My patience paid off, and the Quake II ??remaster has ar??rived. Once again, it’s a terrific introduction.

[caption id="attachment_396573" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Quake 2 (PC [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch)
Developer: id Software, NightDive Studios, MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Released: August 10, 2023
MSRP: $9.99

After the development of the first game in the Quake series was beset by creative ?differences, many members of id Software departed, including Sandy Peterson and John Romero. This is considered by many to be the end of classic id Software, as it seemed like the heart had ?left the brain with an empty bed.

You can sort of feel that in Quake II. There was something of an anarchic directionlessness in Quake that is replaced with something a lot more cohesive. Quake still felt like a first-generation shooter like Doom. Quake 2 is a lot closer to Half-Life.

You can see this clearly in the narrative. Earth has been under attack by the Strogg and hasn’t been faring well. So, the meaty humans launch a counter-attack, taking the fight to the meat substitute Strogg’s homeworld of Stroggos. Quake II and all the expansions are set around this counter-attack as you take contr??ol of different space marines attempting to hinder the enemy’s ability to wage war on humani?ty.

The first Quake really didn’t have much of a narrative, and this is definitely not a continuation. This comes with its pros and cons. The biggest positive is that a more defined narrative gives you purpose that helps drive you through the game. The downside is that the Strogg don’t care much for interior d?esign, and there’s little v??isual diversity throughout the campaigns.

//youtu.be/cyxBE163n20

Out of item

Nightdive’s remaster is similar to their approaches to the original Quake and the recent Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition. They have gathered all the expansions into one package, added a newly created campaign, and transported everything to their? more modern KEX Engine, bringing with it a number of extra visual and gameplay options. And then, after already doing more than mo?st would expect, they continue on to polish up the graphics and gameplay without tampering with the overall feeling and aesthetic of the title.

It’s extensive. They even upscaled the cinematics. Then, somehow, they ported all of the N64 version of Quake II’s levels. For whatever reason, when Raster Productions handled the N64 port, they wound up remaking almost all of the levels. It’s just as much its own campaign as the other expansions. It seems like it would be quite an effort to re-port the N64 version back to PC, but it ??was very worth it. It contains visual flourishes that make it, at the very least??, aesthetically worth exploring.

The two expansions by Xatrix Entertainme??nt and Rogue Entertainment are necessary inclusions, even if they mostly just feel like added content. Wh?ich, to be fair, is essentially what they were when they first released.

Meanwhile, the new campaign, Call of the Machine, by MachineGames is a great way of showing off the many successes of Quake 2 while minimizing its deficiencies. Visual variety is a lot better?? here, depicting a lot of differen?t and interesting locales based on the Strogg War story but in places not shown in the games. It’s an effective way to demonstrate the outstanding gunplay, fast action, and interesting enemies without eliminating the unique flavor of the base game.

[caption id="attachment_396572" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Someone hang a poster

Which to be fair, as much as I hassle Quake 2 for its repetitive brown corridors, I do enjoy it. The main campaign is maybe a 6-8 hour romp. It kept my attention through to the end, even when similar games with shinier corridors failed to. Games like Dusk have demonstrated the lasting appeal of the clunkier and more straightforward games of yesteryear, and Quake 2 is an essential example of that.

But beyond that, Nightdive's remaster makes things a little more pleasant. One great feature is the compass, which draws a path to your next objective. It’s not that Quake 2 was ob??tuse beyond reason. Each of the “units�of the game is composed of a handful of small levels, so you’re destined to trip over what you’re looking for. It’s just a matter of how much backtracking you’ll have to endure?.

For example, you might finish a secondary objective and see the message “turbine disabled.�Perhaps you won’t realize it’s talking about the fan that you just passed and can now bypass. So, you continue on your merry way, and then when you finally circle back, you say, “Ooooh. It was talking about this turbine.�/p>

So, I mostly used the compass w?henever I came back to a familiar-looking ro??????????????????????????om and wanted to make sure I wasn’t just going in circles.

[caption id="attachment_396574" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

That's a lot of screens

As usual for Nightdive remasters, their all-encompassing approach to Quake II makes it the definitive way to play the game. Beyond just compiling all the expansions, certain features, such as AI, were buffed up, and cut content was restored. And then there’s also the multiplayer, whi?ch in some versi??ons supports 8-player split-screen local. Or you can play online, if you don’t like sharing your screen.

But i??f, for whatever reason, none of that sounds good to you, the original versions are still available.

For me, it was a great introduction to Quake II. The PC version, I mean. It’s an oppressively brown shooter, but it still carries the speedy, lightweight combat that makes older FPS games still pop today. The changes that Nightdive brought in for the remaster make it even more enjoyable and accessible. It may not have the same experimental charm as Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, but it more than makes?? up for it with its tight and gory gunfights.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Quake II (2023 Remaster) appeared first on Destructoid.