"Before
Halo. Before 007. Before Unreal. Before all of these
famous FPS a game was born that shattered the genre and
became the basis for all FPS for years to come."
Intro
When contacted to participate in a write-off pertaining
to "my favorite game", although the topic is a
bit obscure, Quake was the first game to come to
my mind. Is Quake still viable in 2002? By no
means at all. Will this review persuade you to go out
and make a purchase? Not a chance. What I intend to do,
is simply participate in this review and give a brief
history for those who possible might not be aware of
gaming foundations.
In 1996 3D gaming was at a pivotal point in the gaming
timeline. Previous to Quake games such as Wolfenstein,
Doom and Heretic were released and a
pseudo-3D world was introduced to the world. While most
games were limited to 2D graphics in a 3D world, you
were highly limited to viewing. Moving consisted of
forwards, backwards, left and right. This all changed
when ID Software released Quake to a
hungry PC gaming community.
Quake was the first in the genre in many aspects.
The biggest first, was the fact of true 3D
movement. Not confined to linear views, the Quake
engine allowed you to use the mouse and look around you
in every direction. I still remember the first time I
played the game, and looked up and saw a swirling purple
sky and my jaw dropped. Quake was also the first
to have a true sense of freedom within a game, blowing
away the previous notion that a game had to be linear to
be enjoyable. With fairly large explorable levels and an
onslaught of enemies, all of our senses were on full
alert.
The premise behind the game was simple... blow up
everything in sight. Acquire keys to open doors, fight
through hordes of enemies, and destroy the end boss at
each level. Weapons ranged from a double-barreled
shotgun, to a high-powered rocket launcher. The weapons
were inventive, unique and maddening fun.
Another big "first" for the game was the
introduction of GL. Being one of the few games
that took advantage of the once powerful 3dFx
board, and adding a patch to the game, turned a fairly
dull and lifeless game into a vast, beautiful world.
Running GL Quake, truly revolutionized gaming
from then on. Unfortunately, 3dFx died as nVIDIA
took to power a few years ago. But then, the added
graphics card (usually Voodoo powered) made Quake
look more like a picturesque piece of art, rather than a
video game. With added patches, water became transparent
(another first) and smoke trailed from rockets (yet
another first). While I only played the original Quake
for a few days, I continued to play the game with GL
for years thereafter.
In 1996, the graphics were top-notched and nothing could
really compare in anything within the genre (or
outside of it). Few games could match the framerate,
graphics and even the sound. Quake had some of
the best sound effects and music ever produced.
Recruiting the talent from the brilliant mind of Trent
Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, the soundtrack
was hard-core and powerful. Weapon fire was
realistically portrayed, and the ambience given by the
monsters was truly haunting. If you look close at the
green "nail box" (ammo for the nail gun)
you will see the unforgettable "NIN"
imprinted on the box itself... a tribute to Reznor.
The real engine behind the game is one of the most solid
and performance driven creations ever produced.
Controlling your character was nearly flawless. The
balance behind simulation, arcade and precision was a
beautiful thing that few games since have ever been able
to fully capture. To be honest the only two games that I
think that have equally good control would be Halo
for the XBOX and Unreal Tournament for the
PC. The timing between movements and shooting is
perfectly in sync. This made the game really incredible.
Shooting a rocket at a baddie a few hundred feet away,
and strafing to face your next opponent just to watch
the previous target explode is unforgettable. Overall, Quake
had the best control on any platform ever.
Genesis
Sure Quake introduced many venues for the
hard-core gamer, but there was nothing more
life-changing than the introduction of real
online game play. Until then, online play was limited to
serious geek types (myself included) and
with the Internet still not world renown, setting up
games was quite difficult. Quake had the first
online game option. You could connect via a network, and
more importantly, via IP address. Simply by inputting a
server IP (WINS included), you could connect to a
game and BOOM yer in.
The first few months of online play was quite decent.
Limited to only "Deathmatch", the chaos was
incredible. I would estimate that there were under a
thousand online playing at the time, simply because
"everyone knew everyone else". This all
changed when mastermind David "Zoid" Kirsh
introduced Threewave's CTF. Of all the people in
the world who are responsible for revolutionizing
gaming, Kirsh is on the top of my list, and I would do anything
to meet him. Kirsh created some amazing CTF (capture
the flag) levels that will go down in history as
being the best ever. Instead of battling it out in a
free for all deathmatch, now you could team up and play
the old game of capture the flag. This modification
spread like wildfire. This free modification was
so addictive, that I have literally spent hundreds of
hours playing it. Not only did it introduce a new way to
play games online, it also became the staple foundation
for all FPS since then. While many have been imitated,
the intensity was never duplicated (only Unreal
Tournament came close).
Soon thereafter, a multitude of mods came out. Some were
good, some were just plain horrible. Probably the best
mod was a simply patch that allowed you to use a
"grappling hook". This grappling hook took CTF
to a whole new level. It allowed you to attach to walls
and ceilings and go where you thought never possible.
This added even more strategy. Sure you could hang in
the shadows somewhere sniping people as they strolled
by, more advance players used it a whole new way. Timing
your grapple across the room could propel you at 10
times the speed of running. If you were good enough, you
could grapple, cannon ball, and shoot enemies that were
lingering around. This method was simply perfect. For
all of you old-schoolers, no longer would we have to
nearly sacrifice our bodies with the infamous rocket
jump.
By the second release of Threewaves CTF, Quake
was at an all time high. Clans formed around the
country, Quake-cons popped up everywhere and
competitions were nearly everywhere. The third (and
final) Threewave release ended up fizzling out,
because many have moved on to other FPS's. The dismal
release of Quake II came out, and many Quakers
abandoned the series. Other games like Half Life,
Duke Nukem and Unreal came out and Quake
faded into the night. While myself and a handful
continued to play, the competition became dominated by LPB's
(low ping bastards). Those of us with 28.8
connections were getting run out of the scene, fragged
beyond imagination and starved from gaming brilliance.
66 Says:
I know this review is a bit unorthodox, but hey, I'm
reviewing a game way past it's prime. I hope that
you enjoyed this bit of gaming history, and those of you
who were in the middle of this game at the time stand
proud. Do I recommend this game? Of course I do. I think
all serious gamers should have this in your library for
karma alone.
I truly wish everyone could have had the same experience
that I had with the game, and how it really did change
my life. I played this game more than any game past or
present. Many newbies might call me 86 and outdated, but
so be it. Just remember youngin's, when you play your
fancy new FPS, you would never have it without the birth
of Quake
Side Note: The picture of
the box isn't the original of the Quake series.
When compiling the review to the site, I found this for
under $30 for all three games. Talk about
bargains.
10.0
