by MattW - December 30, 2005

In it's previous incarnations, the Quake series has been a leader in the first-person genre: the original Quake was one of the first truly 3D action games, Quake II's engine was used by tons of games (including the original Half-Life) and Quake III proved that online multiplayer was here to stay. In short, id software's little gem has been quite important to the gaming community, pioneering ideas and and producing some darn good games in the process. Whereas Quake III's main competitor, the Unreal Tournament franchise, has churned out 2 excellent sequels (with a 3rd on it's way), it's been relatively quiet in the Quake camp. Normally, that means one of two things: the developers are working on a hot new title which will once again change the way we approach games, or they've laid the series to rest in gaming history. Quake IV, unfortunately, can be marked as "None of the above."

While not a bad game by any means, QIV is plagued with an overwhelming sense of been-there, done-that. The story picks up where Quake II left off: a lone, nameless marine has infiltrated the Strogg capital and destroyed their leader, the Makron. When Earth's forces get word of this, they hastily organize an all-out assault on the Strogg home world to take advantage of the chaos following the Makron's destruction. Players assume the role of Matthew Kain, a member of Rhino Squad, who's on the front line of the assault. The first half of the game finds you accompanied by other members of your squad, often escorting and/or defending medics or demolitionists. You'll also get a chance to command a small variety of vehicles, ranging from tanks, mechs, and mounted turrets. The members of your squad all have their own personalities and voice work, complete with accents, and there are a few firefights where you wouldn't survive without them. About half-way through the game, Kain gets separated from the squad and undergoes "Stroggification", increasing his max health, movement speed, and allowing you to interact with many Strogg computers which were previously inaccessible. Aside from going it alone, you'll also encounter a significantly smaller amount of ammo, and it's this 2nd half of the game that starts to feel more like a Quake game and less generic.

All the weapons from the series are here, and largely nothing has changed about any of them. Squad members will occasionally upgrade a weapon for you, increasing its usefulness substantially (increased clip size, faster firing rate, etc), but otherwise, don't expect any surprises or attempts to do anything new. The machine gun has a snipe feature, which you rarely have an opportunity to use effectively, but when you can it works nicely. While powerful, the rail gun doesn't seem to pack the same punch as it did in Quake II, but otherwise you'll feel right at home. On a positive note, the lack of ammo in the second half of the game will force you to use whatever weapons are available, resulting in a bit more planning and strategy than you would need otherwise.

It Looks Great, But It Doesn't Look Like Quake

It's obvious that a lot of time and work has been invested in the game engine (originally developed for Doom 3), so it makes sense to use it - especially when it looks so great. The problem is, the Doom 3 engine is known for its shadows and dark, creepy atmosphere, a quality which traditionally hasn't been a part of the Quake series. Having the most defining feature of another game so prevalent in this one, no matter how well executed, just makes it feel like Doom 3 with a new skin.

But man, does this skin look good. Larger enemies, in particular, look fantastic, and the outdoor environments are a technical marvel in themselves since many in the industry were skeptical that the engine would be able to produce such large, open-ended areas. If you're old enough to remember Quake II, you'll probably appreciate the Strogg architecture, but otherwise there isn't much graphically that sets this one apart from the competition. All of the outdoor environments have a red, sandy ground (kind of like Mars...), and there isn't a whole lot to make the indoors stand out, either - lots of grays and blacks with tons of shadows. Even the menu interface and load screens look identical to Doom 3, giving it the overall feel of a mod rather than a standalone product.

At least Quake IV receives a little bit of character in the audio department. Although the marine base has plenty of generic NPCs, the actual members of your squad all have their own personalities and voices, and they converse a lot while their waiting for the action to start. Strogg soldiers announce their presence by shouting before they attack, and each weapon has it's own distinct sounds, which helps you know what you're up against if you can hear the enemies shooting at you before they become visible. The music is forgettable - and I mean that literally, because I've been trying to think of something to say about it and I'm having great difficulty recalling it at all, a great disappointment when compared to the Trent Reznor score of the original game. Overall, the audio is sufficient, but it won't make the game feel any less generic.

So is Quake IV any fun to play? If you haven't played a first-person shooter in awhile, and particularly if you haven't played Doom 3, then this game has a lot to offer. At the same time, though, it's difficult not to recommend a more worthy title, such as F.E.A.R. or Half-Life 2. Die-hard fans of the series will probably be interested enough in the story to find out what happens in the latest encounter with the Strogg to play through it, and I don't think they'll be disappointed. Likewise, Quake III fans will have plenty to rejoice about, since the multiplayer portion of the game is essentially Quake III: Source - identical weapons, maps, and gameplay from the original title, all re-done in beautiful high-end graphics. Keep in mind, "identical gameplay" means that all those vehicles that we've been drooling over since E3 are single-player ONLY. They could have done so much more with the multiplayer that it's difficult to not feel jipped that it's just Quake III with new clothes. The initial release of Half-Life 2 only contained Counter-Strike: Source, but HL2 Deathmatch followed shortly afterwards. Hopefully, we can expect something similar in an inevitable expansion pack or patch, but do I really want to spend another $30 just to play the game I was hoping to play the first time? Not really.

A Game We Have Already Played

2005 is going to be remembered as the year of the sequel. In some cases, we had games redefine a genre and become an instant classic, and in some cases, they were instantly forgettable. Heck, some games had a nearly identical sequel released a mere 7 months later! All this nostalgia leaves very little room for innovation, and you can't help but wonder that if you already played it last year or the year before that, why are you being charged $50 to play it again? Somewhere between these 2 extremes lies Quake IV. This new entry in the series is very good at what it does, but that's only because it follows a formula that has been perfected over the past decade. The rehashing of the 7 year old multiplayer is a selling point for some fans, but the lack of anything new to accompany it is a big disappointment - we want vehicles! With so many other better FPS available, it's difficult to recommend Quake IV to anyone but the biggest of fans.