
There’s much more to admire about Quake’s re-emergence in 2021 than just the visuals, too.
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Boasting 4K support on PS4 Pro and PS5, full widescreen mode (the original only supported a boxy 4:3 display ratio) and improved lighting, id Software and MachineGames have done a good job of polishing up this otherwise crusty venture. However, this by no means a cash grab or lazy effort.

As such, this means that Quake still looks like a product of its time, with relatively simplistic looking levels and enemies when put up against the shooters of today. A Sterling Remaster That Simultaneously Preserves And Builds Upon Its Compelling Design BedrockĪs mentioned at the top of the review, Quake is a remaster rather than a remake. From the spaced out booms of the double barrelled shotgun to the bouncing thud of grenades fired from their launcher and the rattling roar of the Super Nailgun, the weapons of Quake are as timelessly thrilling as the game itself. Like any shooter worth its salt, there’s a palpable joy to cutting loose with Quake’s selection of firearms. In Quake, the level itself as much an enemy as any of the monsters are. Made possible by Quake’s fully 3D levels, you can routinely expect to be smashed by falling ceilings from above, dropped into lava pits from below, crushed from the side by massive spikes and generally messed up in all manner of ways that you might not necessarily expect. From the chainsaw-fisted ogre that fires a grenade launcher at you, to the blood encrusted Shambler that just Hulk smashes its way through everything to get to you, each of Quake’s encounters can feel genuinely terrifying.Īdditionally, when you’re not spending your time ripping and tearing (sorry) through Quake’s gallery of nihilistic foes, you’ll be attempting to dodge the many, many traps that Quake throws at you. Per level, there are far fewer enemies to contend with in Quake, but yet, the enemies you do tangle with are resolutely challenging. Other differences between Quake and DOOM also abound. Sure enough, Quake perhaps does overindulge in brown and greens when it comes to colour, but ultimately, Quake’s dark worlds are a joy to explore and blast through thanks to their heady design.

Sure enough, all of this might seem trite to folks who take this sort of movement for granted and have long been weaned on more current shooters, but for the time Quake was absolutely revolutionary and even today, the movement and hyper-kinetic combat feels like it hasn’t lost a step.Įlsewhere, another point of significant distinction between Quake and DOOM is that the former eschews the full-tilt satanic themes for a more broader range of grim themes, taking in influences from Lovecraft and others that results in towering cathedrals, foreboding stone keeps and ruined castles that all feel a world away from the usual destroyed bases and hellscapes that characterised DOOM.

Players could now jump off of ledges and aim at all angles with the sort of grace that just wasn’t possible previously. Indeed, this evolved level design found its way into Quake’s excellent split-screen and online multiplayer mode too, where tight corridors, chambers rich with verticality and cunning traps all combined to make Quake’s deathmatch feel like a furiously visceral dervish interlaced with a level of skill like nothing I had ever played before.Īnother boon of Quake’s more complex level design and full 3D graphics engine was that combat felt much more satisfyingly kinetic than anything else. Timeless Level Design That Defined A Genreĭevelopers id Software knew just what to do with the much more powerful toolset at their disposal too – fashioning fiendishly creative levels stuffed full of secrets and traps in a way that DOOM could only dream of.

Much more than just a generational leap in geometric complexity, texture detail and lighting, Quake’s embrace of a fully 3D game engine allows players to explore every level completely, as the newfound ability to completely look up and down feels immensely freeing after the head-locked shenanigans of DOOM, while the more sophisticated game engine also allows for far more complex level design to boot. Arguably the biggest change that Quake brings over DOOM is the graphics engine.
