Quake II

"THIS is what you call a party game!"

--Introduction--

This game is about Multiplayer, not one player (even though it does have a one-player story option.) If you are looking for a one player action game than go get Goldeneye or turok 2. Why do I say that? because the story sucks, the enemy animation sucks, and it's too darn easy once you the grenade launcher. The way I see it this is strickly a party game, especially with 4-players!

--Story------Score: 5 out of 10

It sucks!! Enough said!

--GamePlay-----Score: 9 out of 10

The multiplayer modes rock! It has a better "Tag" game then Turok 2.

Turok 2's "tag" game made the person who was "it" a monkey and therefore you couldn't use weapons to defend yourself. The other players have to shoot the monkey before the monkey makes it to a platform that chooses a random "it" player. This ruins the whole point of playing a "tag" game.

Quake II's "tag" game is a much better version in my opinion. It's called Deathtag. At the beginning of the game nobody is "it". There is a flag somewhere on the level that you have to find. Whoever finds it is "it". To make the person with the flag more recognizable you'll see the player leaving a trail of sparkling lights (cool by the way). The one that holds the flag for the longest time period wins. You can set the number of minutes for the game. The "it" player can still defend himself using weapons.

This mode is very fun.

Another rocking mode is Flagwars. This is a team mode. it could be 2 on 2 or 3 on 1 (for skilled players only!!!!!). You can choose to be in the red team or the blue team. Each team has their own "base" where the team's color flag will be. You have to capture you opposing teams flag and bring it back to your base and this will make your opponents blow up and you'll get a point. but here's the catch: You have to have your own flag on your base in order for you to put the stolen flag that you just took. You'll find many times that you still the flag from the other team and they still your flag so you must find the guy that has your flag and try to kill him to return your flag to home base but be careful, because if you are carrying the opposing team's flag and you are trying to kill the guy with your flag, he may kill YOU and take both flags and therefore the other team would win! This is where your partner comes in. You should tell him to go get the guy with your flag while you hide safely in a spot until he gets it.

As you can imaging this has a lot of strategy to it and that makes this mode very fun. This is the mode that is played more often at my house.

There is the usual every-for-themselves mode and the regual team mode with no flags or base.

You can chage your characters name, color, appearance, and control style.

--Controls-- 9 out of 10

There are 6 preset layouts!! plus you have the option to customize your very style!!

You can jump, rocket jump, swim, and strafe.

--Graphics-- 7 out of 10

This is the part where the game suffers. Goldeneye has better weapon animations, Turok 2 has better enemy death animations and moving animations.

The framerates on the other hand are better than Goldeneye's or Turok's. Especially in 3-player mode.

Overall I think the sacrifice of animation for faster framerates is a worthy one. Remembe Turok 2? I like the game and it has superb animation but it's hard to control whe the framerates start jumping so I'd rather play a smooth game than a game with lots of animation.

With the expansion pak I give the graphics an 8 out of 10. It gives it more lighting effects weapon effects. Pluse the framerates go even smoother!!!!!

The explosions could have used some work though.

--Replay Value-- 10 out of 10!!

Trust me, you'll be playing this game's capture-the-flag mode for a long time!!

--Sound-- 8 out 10

A lot of standard stuff here but the eerie music sets the righ move when you are trying to rip your friends to pieces.

--Last Notes--

Overall I think this is a great Party game. More diversity than Goldeneye or Turok 2 and goes head to head with Battletanx (another great Party game).

Remember I'm basing all my opinions on the Multiplayer side of the game because frankly the one player game sucks.

Any comments? email me at argelis@webtv.net

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99