Quake

"Good, but not as good as the PC version"

I've always wanted Quake for an actual console instead of just on the computer, since PC gaming always seems less fun somehow... so, when I found a copy of Quake for the N64 for $10, I knew I had to get it. Since ports are almost never as good as the original, my expectations were fairly low, but the game turned out to be better than I expected.

Keep in mind that Quake is a pretty old game, so it's probably a bad idea to judge it against games like Perfect Dark or Half-Life. Nothing was really added to Quake in this port either, so know that you're getting a fairly old game when you get this. However, I generally prefer when they don't screw around with a good thing. I loved Quake on the PC, and it's basically the same thing on the N64 (Minus the obvious lack of online gameplay and game mods).

For those new to this game, Quake is another rather mindless first person shooter game. There's a storyline, but it's mostly inconsequential (Something about an evil force of monsters that are invading via the new slipgate (aka teleport) platforms that were installed in an army base). You alone have to blast through all the monsters and eventually destroy the head monster. There's also a lot of clever traps in the levels, as well as a lot of rather simple find-the-key or find-the-switch puzzles. Occasionally there's something a little harder, where you have to accomplish multiple objectives before a door will open (like shooting a couple of switches that are on the other walls of the room). Don't expect stuff like sniper rifles and peeking around walls, this isn't Goldeneye. This is a game you play when you just want to pick up a rocket launcher and blow sh*t up.

Before I bought this game, I'd tried to find some information about it on the net. Specifically, I wanted to know how it compared to the PC version. I couldn't find much, so I should probably provide a comparison here. Basically, the game hasn't changed all that much. All the monsters and weapons are still there (no additions though). This includes the crazy boss monsters of course. All the power-ups are here too, including the pentagram of protection (I'm surprised Nintendo didn't complain about that one). However, a few of the levels were lost in the conversion unfortunately... and some of the better ones too I might add. The Gloomy Grotto is missing, as is The Installation and one of my favorites: The Wind Tunnels. There's 25 levels in total including the end level, which is enough I suppose (The PC version had 31 I believe, and the Saturn version actually had more). One thing you'll notice though, is that some of the levels have been altered slightly. Nothing major was changed, and you can still expect the same secrets as before... but hardcore Quake fans will notice some different architecture where a pillar was removed, or some of the room was simplified. I'm not sure why this was done really. I can't imagine that the extra complexity would cause much trouble, as the game doesn't slow down at all. As I said though, the alterations are minor, and won't be noticed unless you played the PC version a lot. Another thing I didn't notice at first is that the intro hall is gone! Instead of choosing your difficulty and episode via the three hallways, you just get a menu to choose your difficulty. This doesn't seem that major, but I think it kind of sucks. Without this hall, the levels don't tie together as well, and the storyline isn't stressed as much (all you get of the story is a short blurb when you finish an episode. By the way, there's four episodes in total). I would think that this would have been a small thing to add, but I guess if space was limited so much that they had to remove levels, than I'd rather sacrifice this intro hall for a real level... but it still kinda sucks. It also makes the game more linear, since you can't choose which episode you play.

Graphics: 7/10

I have to say that I wasn't really prepared for the graphics in this game. They're not necessarily bad, but they're weird. There's an option in the game called ''Filter'', which is turned on by default. While it's on, all the textures in the game are smoothed out a LOT. This looks okay at a distance, but at a medium distance it makes things looked blurry and smudged. If you turn it off, things are a lot sharper, and you still get some smoothing that the N64 forces on everything anyways (N64 owners know all about this already). Although I've probably made it sound bad, it's actually kind of a neat effect... but I'm glad they made it an option.

Another thing that you'll notice really fast is the colored lighting. Yes, that's right... they added colored lighting into the game (This wasn't in the PC version). Although this sounds like it would be a good thing, it's overused... plus the lighting is too strong, and it sometimes ruins a lot of the atmosphere of the game. All the textures in the game are the same drab, dreary textures from the PC version... but when you slap a big blue patch over things because they're near water, it just looks strange and out of place. This looses a point for graphics right here. Personally, I'd rather have seen them add transparent water (Or some of the missing levels) instead of colored lighting, but oh well.

One final change that I noticed is that the dead bodies and monster gibs disappear slowly after you kill something. They fade away slowly, so it's not like they disappear suddenly. I guess the N64 couldn't handle all the dead bodies littering the screen or something. No big deal though (Although I'm pretty sure the PC version didn't do this)

Sound: 9/10

I was pleasantly surprised by the sound in Quake. As far as I can tell, every sound effect was ported from the PC version, and it sounds exactly the same. Nothing is missing at all. There's actually some music during the levels too. Well, if you can call it music anyways. It's there only for atmosphere, and it's quiet and dreary (No, it's not Nine Inch Nails... it's more like orchestral or something). It does a good job of adding to the mood of the game, and you almost can't tell it's there. However, during the end-of-level screen where it tallies up your secrets and kills and such, this weird rock tune plays that isn't at all like the in-game music. I'm not sure why they did this.

Control: 9/10

The most important part of the game in my opinion, and it's done very well! Everything is very configurable, and you can change the action of every single button on the controller. There's default layouts that you might want to try, but ultimately you'll probably end up configuring some of the buttons yourself. Personally, I like to use the analog stick for looking around, and the C buttons for movement. You can also set the sensitivity of the stick (Seems a little high by default), and do other things like invert the stick (so up is down and down is up), and display a crosshairs on the screen. Of course, the N64 controller is a poor replacement for a keyboard+mouse combo... but you'll get used to it.

Replay: 5/10

Well, there's not much to say here really. There's a lot of secrets in the game, including a few hidden levels (Yep, the low-G Ziggurat Vertigo is still there). Unfortunately for me, I already know them all from the PC version, so Quake fans (which will be the ones most likely to buy this game) will probably end up playing it the least... but oh well. The later levels get really hard (Did I mention there's 4 skill levels?), where there's tons of enemies, and not a lot of ammo to find. Luckily, there's both a save feature (requires a memory card), as well as passwords (requires paper and a pencil, they're long un-memorizable things). The cheats are still in the game as well, but they're done before you start the game, so you can't really turn them on or off during tough parts. There's also a two-player mode. Note that I didn't say four player. To be honest, if you want multiplayer, I'd suggest you find a better game for it. I hear Quake II has a good multiplayer... Another problem I have with the replay value is actually due to the original Quake, and that is the weapons. Here's what you have: Axe, Shotgun, Double-Barrel Shotgun, Nailgun, Super Nailgun, Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Thunderbolt. Notice that half of the weapons are just copies of each other? That's right, once you get the Super Nailgun, the normal Nailgun is pretty much useless (unless you're worried about running out of ammo). Duke Nukem 3D (which came out around the same time) had much cooler weapons, like the shrink ray and the freezethrower. If Quake had more innovative weapons, I think it would have made it a lot more fun to go through over and over again, but the limited weapons lead to a limited game.

Overall: 7/10

I know. The other categories don't add up to this number.. but I can't give this game any higher than a 7, the stuff it's missing from the PC version hurts it, and the odd graphics hurt it some more. However, it's still fun, and it's still Quake at heart, so if you can find it for cheap like I did, then I say go for it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/02, Updated 08/16/02