Quake 4 (PC)

[GamerDad]

Michael Anderson's Quake 4 (PC) article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3006

[Ploon2]

Point blank: I've really been enjoying Quake 4. A LOT. And I'm glad I am!

It's not that I have any real beef with the review, all the factual points are well said.

But I wanted to bring a kind of defense to some aspects of the game that can oft be pooh-poohed in today's gaming world. Let's begin by making it clear (and with no apologies) that this game is a "balls to wall" action game. Heavy on the action, heavy on the gibbing. It's a Steak and potatoes shooter where you don't have a nice designer napkin and grey poupon on the table... the plate's on your lap and all you got is your sleeve and tabasco. Enjoy!

First off - id/raven really did a great job with an immersive cinematic experience. And I think the multi-layered story was good - not too heavy (for an FPS) and not too shallow, either. Yes, the arching campaign is to destroy the Strogg. But this gets diced into chunks of other specific missions - destroy the hanger, destroy the nexus, and so on. And within those 'missions' you'll run the gamut of other smaller 'immediate' tasks that may involve activating/deactivating this or that, or escorting/retrieving so and so.

And there's plenty of meandering - you'll see efforts get botched up and mission/task strategies be reassessed. New orders are given. There are times where you're part of a squad, and then *you* get the honor of going ahead to secure an area or open a door for them. And that's not a good feeling (great immersion!). You want to stick with your team 'cause it's safer, easier, and not as tense. When you see certain squadmates bite the dust, there sometimes is that twang of "noooooooo!" A testament to the story telling, in my opinion. There's plenty of scripting that made me want to sit back with a bowl of popcorn.

But does it lack purpose and cohesion? I don't think so. I always felt driven for the initial mission at hand along with all the immediate small tasks that go along with it - and if the primary effort needs to be changed up, you go with it. It's the whole "fate just reshuffled the deck" kind of thing. I think they pulled off the "botched attempt, things look bad, and how do I get out of this one?" really well. Suddenly your purpose takes a left turn, and I can appreciate that. I never really felt a "why am I here?" or the doldrum of "just here to win the war and plink as many strogg as I can."

As for AI - yeah, it's nigh neolithic compared to F.E.A.R. or Half Life 2 or Far Cry. But then again, I never expect much from AI even from those games (nothing comes close to real human competition). So yeah, the titles just mentioned have made great leaps... but it's still to great a gap for me.

Anyhow: as simplistic as *most* of the Quake enemies are (there are a few enemies that use tactics, which is nice) I think it's quite forgiveable. As the environment and feel left plenty of margin for dummying up the enemies. It just felt so good to have a big gun and enemies that weren't too shy to get in its way. This ain't SWAT4 or Rainbow 6, or Ghost Recon. Neither is it Half Life 2... It's Quake 4. Happy gibbing!

Yes, the control set is limited. But again - I find this forgiveable. Leaning *sounds* great, but in every game that I've used it... it just hasn't been done well enough that I miss it. Usually - you don't know exactly how to line up against a wall "just so" in order to get a good "lean around the corner" position. And leaning really is good for peeping, not combat. Going prone? This aint that kind of game.

Another gripe I've seen come up is the linearity. I have no problem with the game being linear, either. In fact, I think the angle of the game wouldn't have lent itself to nonlinear play. I think one needs to look at the package as a whole. Look at the weapon set, the setting and mood, the enemies, and the level altogether.

The mood and setting put forth cries for "in your face" action and gibbing; as does the weapon set provided. The enemies and levels comply.

I could see a tactical approach - with weapons that are more surgical, enemies with better AI (and less of them), nonlinear levels, and an entirely different mood put forth for the game. But you're not necessarily stalking/creeping the halls and engaging enemies in elite tac-ops fashion.

You're a space marine and you're their to kick some major ass, so strap on your boots, lock and load your rocket launcher and bring a shammie - there's gonna be plenty of strogg gore to wipe off that nice chrome barrel.

As for kids? I'm not sure why anyone needs this kind of direction. I agree that it is definitely NOT for kids (I don't believe any FPS is). It has mucho gore, violence, and disturbing images. And language as well. People really should start looking at the ESRB ratings on games and consider them the same as movies. This one is for mature audiences - so seriously: treat it as a rated 'R' film.

[txa1265]

Thanks for the opinions!

I largely agree with you - here is a quote from my review:

Quake 4 is simultaneously one of the better PC games of the year and one of the most disappointing.

My major complaint is that the game feels like Quake II updated for 2006 graphics without updating the gameplay - and our expectations for gameplay *have* evolved. Doesn't mean it isn't a blast, though.

In terms of linearity, most games are - HL2 & F.E.A.R. certainly are - but this game gets to be just too much - I detailed some stuff here.

Mike

[Freakhead]

Ploon2 I agree almost 100% with you on nearly all, if not all, your points.

Specifically your points about Linearity, Leaning, AI, and the story.

LInearity doesn't equal not-fun. Non-linearity is over-rated.

Leaning is over-rated too. I've never thought leaning was ever done right and it's never really been 'fun' either. REally leaning is basically the same as popping out from around the corner to shoot a guy and then moving back except instead of holding down 'Q' to lean and then letting go to get back you are pressing 'A' to pop out and then pressing 'D' to go back.

AI is either kill or be killed to me. Move your guy as fancy as you want like in FEAR or HL2 or FarCry, but in the end if it's too easy or too hard then it's all for not. And as you said it's still so far below human competition so that any small improvement doesn't much matter.

Story. I thought Q4 did a great job of mixing it up. I felt involved. I always had a little mission to carry out. Nothing too fancy. But it was almost always different. And almost always short so as to not bore you.

Ultimately I thought Q4 just did a great job of mixing things up. There was a good variety of enemies to kill and guns to use. It threw in some turret and vehicle parts to mix things up. And last you were always given a little mission to do. I don't think it did anything revolutionary, but it was a very solid action game and I'd recommend it.

[eric874]

the game you wont recomend for a teenager like me of 16 years old right?
i am not mad nor sad
this is just a question because i want to buy it but i don't know

[txa1265]

the game you wont recomend for a teenager like me of 16 years old right?
i am not mad nor sad
this is just a question because i want to buy it but i don't know

I would leave that as a judgment call for your parents - personally I say "no" ... but it really depends on the situation.

[eric874]

that is fine thanks i do not mind when you say your own opinion
my pearents do not know about video games that much they know the
what is in the back of the content but you know later on they can't believe
they authorized me a game
lol

[txa1265]

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I visited with both of my nephews (wife's sister's son and my brother's son) who are 17 going on 18 ... I'd have no problem with either of them playing anything. My older son is 10 and *NO WAY* do I want him near Quake / Prey / VtM:Bloodlines / etc ... but in between there is a gray area I just don't know about yet. My answer isn't a cop out but pure lack of knowledge.

My advice would be if your parents already freak with some stuff you play, just skip this for now (of course, since you can get it so cheap now it becomes more attractive ... )

[Freakhead]

Well what other games do your parents let you play?

If they let you play Gears of WArs, Half-Life 2, Doom3, FarCry or games like that then Quake 4 wouldn't be a problem.

[eric874]

they let me play half-life 2,counter strike source, oblivion, bf2

[Freakhead]

they let me play half-life 2,counter strike source, oblivion, bf2

Well I'd put Q4 in the same category as those games so your parents can feel relieved that Q4 is just as violent as HL2 and Oblivion and BF2 and CS, but not more so imo.

[eric874]

thanks

[eric874]

the only game that ypu metion they did not allowed me is doom 3
for zatanism

do you still think they would still allow me?

[satchmo]

I feel bad for reviving such an old thread.

But it's relevant to me.

I am thinking about buying Quake 4, finally.

Now that the game is selling for less than ten dollars at Fry's, I'm really tempted to get it.

The reviews are great, and I appreciate the additional input also.

Sometimes I enjoy the old-school Quake 2 action. It's a simple test of reflexes. No thinking or puzzling involved.

Dumb AI? No problem. They're just fodder for my cannon.

Sometimes at the end of a long day, all I want to do is shoot things without thinking much. And the Quake series provide me with just that.

[GamerDad]

Find an old copy of Serious Sam 1 or 2 then. Seriously.