What do you get when you pluck out all the best parts of id Software's legendary Quake series, give them an extreme makeover, and put them all together into one title? You get a new sequel from id and Raven Software: Quake 4. Quakecon 2005 is the venue of choice that Raven and id Software have decided to first show this game to the public - with dozens of machines running the multiplayer game for anyone to check out, plenty of gamers are getting first-hand experience with this new addition to the classic Quake series. First, let's start off with the multiplayer mode, which was playable at the Activision, Nvidia, and Intel booths at Quakecon.
This event is the perfect place for the big multiplayer unveiling - Q4's deathmatch resembles that of Quake 3 which is still a huge mainstay for Quakecon gamers. That's not to say this is just Q3 with better graphics, though, as Raven has tweaked the weapons, made plenty of new maps, and have expanded on the art style seen in Quake 2 and really pushed it over the edge for this title in both single- and multiplayer modes. So to get this straight: Quake 4 has a single player campaign that continues the Quake 2 storyline, while the multiplayer mode channels Quake 3. The art style expands on the Quake 2 theme, and this all uses id Software's DOOM 3 engine. Any questions?
Speaking of the DOOM 3 engine, you'll find that Q4's multiplayer gameplay is much better suited for the hardcore multiplayer gamer. Gone are the dozens of pitch-black spots (at least, they were gone on the maps being shown at Quakecon), and the frame rates and overall speed of player movement are faster than I expected to see from a DOOM 3 engine game. What I saw is much more colorful than the first two Quake games, but the color doesn't go so far as to become tacky.
Of course, a major part of any multiplayer first person shooter is how the guns work together, and it seems Raven has spent quite a bit of time on this part of the game. Many of the classic Quake favorites are back, like the gauntlet, lightning gun, hyperblaster, and a reworked nail gun. And id Software wouldn't let this one out the door without a machine gun, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, or shotgun, either. All of these weapons are very useful in the right situations, so it's less of Quake's rocket-oriented gameplay and more of Q2's balanced weapon style. The lack of a double-barreled shotgun was a little disappointing, but then again, the single-barrel version was actually very effective.
While I'm not a multiplayer Quake expert, Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is, and I got the chance to ask him about what he thinks of Q4's multiplayer mode. He agreed with me that it's got a lot of potential, although he seemed to be reluctant to put his stamp of approval on it since most of the maps weren't shown here at Quakecon. His matches against all comers at the Creative Labs booth this year were in Quake 4, though, and he was able to effectively use all of the weapons to destroy everyone he came up against.
Animations are for the most part excellent in Quake 4 - while the team-based games will pit human soldiers versus Strogg soldiers, we only got to see the human models here at Quakecon. (The differences will only be cosmetic for the game's multiplayer mode: you'll need to wait for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars to see the sides get different weapons and abilities in mulitplayer.) The ragdoll physics make for some hilarious death sequences, especially when they are combined with the Quake 3-esque jump pads. Weapon animations are beautiful as well, with the rocket launcher sliding a new shell into place after you fire each shot.
As far as the feel of the multiplayer mode goes, Quake 4 seems like a much prettier, moderately tweaked Quake 3; even the weapon icons and pickups look similar to the the third game's (although with higher-quality textures and a little added flair). And just like in Q3, you get that audio feedback when you hit someone for any amount of damage, and the jump pads really solidify this game's roots in the third game. But there's something else here, some aspect of the gunplay that in my opinion gives Quake 4 a charm in the multiplayer mode that I never saw in Q3. I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what it is, but after talking to a few random Quakecon goers about it, they seemed to agree with me.
Raven Software plans on supporting Quake 4's multiplayer mode quite a bit more than id themselves did with DOOM 3. There will be the requisite deathmatch and team DM, but there will also be a Capture the Flag mode with several maps included, as well as the possibility of some other modes as well. While DOOM 3 didn't really take off with mods like I expected it to, I'm very hopeful that the mod community will take Quake 4 and do some great stuff with it.
Now, let's turn to the single player mode. This was demonstrated to the press behind closed doors, as it still needs a good chunk of polish in order to be ready for the public to see. id Software's Tim Willits played through several sections of the game, and the overall feel was a bit like that of Call of Duty but applied to the Quake universe. That is to say, you're invading a land controlled by the enemy (in this case, the Strogg homeworld) and are just another soldier in the middle of this war. You'll be issued orders by your squad leaders, but the gameplay follows you, so your squad will stay with you. There's no need to issue commands to squadmates, as they'll try and be intelligent enough to stick with you and help out as much as they can.
Despite the single player campaign with some unfinished areas and a few rough edges, it's clear that Quake 4 will deliver a cinematic experience that's unique for gamers yet still familiar to Quake fans out there. The guys at id and Raven have a few tricks up their sleeve, though, as about a third of the way into the game, you actually become a Strogg - at least, you do in physical form. You're still fighting for the humans, but your half-breed status allows you to interface with the Strogg's computers and installations. Beyond that, you'll be faster and tougher, even if your soldier buddies are now thinking of aiming their guns at you every time they see you. The Strogg know the difference, though, so you won't be able to just walk up and pat them on the back and have a round of Strogg beers.
Vehicles will be a major part of the Quake 4 single player experience - two of the four areas we saw were maps that were designed for vehicles. The first one is a light hovertank, with some nice guns and a powerful large-caliber shell that could be fired. This map was large and took place almost entirely outdoors (which some people still say is not feasible, or is downright impossible, on the DOOM 3 engine), and had the player taking out several high-tech Strogg drones, larger enemies, and other soldier fodder if they managed to get in the way.
The other vehicle map was in a larger Mech-style monstrosity which lumbered along slowly but had much more firepower. Willits was mowing down plenty of stuff until something even bigger than him popped in and basically destroyed the mech - and that was the end of the demonstration. While this demo showed mostly outdoor areas, there are a few DOOM 3-style claustrophobic and dark spots, but these won't take up near as much of the gameplay as in id's last title. Instead, they really are focusing on making the player a part of an epic, futuristic war. I've got to say that from what I'm seeing, they will likely be very successful at that.
After the PC demonstration was over, we got to see a bit of the Xbox 360 version of Quake 4 - while its 1280x720 video mode was a lower resolution than the PC version we had just seen and the game was running slower (due to the reduced processing power in the development Xbox 360 on hand), it still looked great. This is the first console game id's worked with where the PC graphics, sounds, and other media will be kept at full fidelity in the porting process. The controls closely mimic the Xbox port of DOOM 3, which itself is an homage to the basic Halo controls.
Willits was quick to talk about how great the Xbox 360 is to work with, and assured us that the slight graphical issues and lagging frame rate will be fixed after the final hardware is sent to them and they go through the process of optimizing the game. He mentioned that Quake 4, like all Xbox 360 games, will be Live! aware. id and Raven plan on working with the makers of the best Quake 4 PC mods, getting them through Microsoft's rigorous certification, and making them downloadable Xbox Live! addons for the console gamers out there.
When asked whether Q4 will become a launch title for the Xbox 360, Willits was non-committal. It's probably because Microsoft still hasn't actually announced a release date for the 360 itself, so it's a little tough promising a moving target. Despite all that, they're still shooting for a release during the holiday season this year for both PC and 360, so that should give you a pretty good idea of when to expect Quake 4 on store shelves.
