Quake

"Very fun, though rather short"

Introduction

The reason I got this game was because I lived in a house with two guys who were constanty playing one of this game's sequels, Quake 3: Arena. I enjoyed the game a lot and went out to buy a triple pack including Quake, Quake 2 and Quake 3 arena. I soon found myself spending a lot of time playing these games.

Gameplay - 8/10

Right from the start, you are presented with three separate halls taking you to the three difficulty ratings. Once you select a difficulty, you must choose from four dimensions, each featuring a number of worlds through which you must traverse.

The goal in each world is mainly to survive while grabbing a number of weapons and shooting monsters. You will mostly be searching through mazes to grab keys, but there are a number of diversions, mainly searching for cunningly hidden secret areas, which are usually worth looking for. You can get some cool items, such as "Quad Damage", which allows you to damage enemies four times as much as normal. You will also have to watch out for other dangers in the terrain, such as lava and lethal acids - and a few rather unpleasant traps found on certain levels.

Enemies are very inventive, and range from simple dogs to savage monsters, including "fiends" and "shamblers", the latter of which can deal large amounts of damage if you're not careful. There are also zombies, which can only be killed by being blown up.

Once you've completed all four dimensions, you unlock the final boss, which looks impressive, but to be honest, it's a bit anticlimatic. The big problem with the boss is that the first time I played, I actually killed it by accident, something that suggests to me that this game is maybe somewhat flawed, and this rather spoils the ending to what it otherwise a very impressive game.

The only other problem is that after a few tries, the game just seems too short.

Story - 4/10

There isn't exactly a story here - you travel through dimensions, killing monsters, and then fight a big boss at the end. That's it.

Graphics - 7/10

Okay, the graphics look kind of patchy, but they're good for the time when the game came out. The enemies are impressive looking, especially the polar bear - esque Shambler. The Fiend looks like a freakish nude version of Dr. Robotnik/Eggman from the Sonic series. The landscapes are designed nicely, although in some places there are problems with the levels looking a bit too identical to each other. At some points, it seems just a little too dark, and you may be squinting at the computer monitor.

Sound - 8/10

Well, it's not exactly great because there is hardly any, but what you do hear actually deserves an 8/10 just because it's effective. On most of the levels you will be unable to walk around a corner without hearing a rather ominous-sounding guttural noise that shows that one of the monsters is nearby. The zombies' moaning is very effective, as well as the noises made by the weapons (the pinging sound when an ogre fires a grenade at you, for example). The character voice is neat too, even though when you step in lava, you may get the impression that you are playing as Homer Simpson.

Play Time/Replay Value - 10/10

Finally, something that actually makes this game worthwhile. This game is immensely fun to replay, as you search for all of the unlockable secrets. In addition, there are a number of very enjoyable secret levels. There is a nice game save feature, which can be used at any time, saving you from replaying difficult parts.

Final Verdict

Buy this if you're into shoot-em-up games. This is like an early version of Resident Evil 4 and if you liked that, you'll probably like this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/28/05