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Improved Doom system, unimproved Doom storyline

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Quake is a fast-paced, first person combat game that combines an improved Doom-style system and monsters with unimproved Doom-style weapons and storyline.

Four "dimensions," or game sections, each divided into five to eight levels, comprise the world of Quake. These sections, "Dimension of the Doomed," "Realm of Black Magic," "Netherworld," and "The Elder World," are dungeon-like settings infested with a wide variety of monsters, traps, secret areas, and hazards. Players must locate keys, typically two per level, in order to progress to the finish. No "action" button(e.g., the space bar in most Doom-style games) is required to open doors or push buttons; such feature are automatically activated when the character is in proximity. Looking and shooting in all directions, including up and down, and swimming are some of the improvements upon the Doom-style system.

A unique interface at the start of a new game allows a player to select different hallways for "Easy," "Medium," "Hard," or "Nightmare" difficulty levels (although the entrance to the latter is actually hidden, so people don't wander into it accidentally). Once difficulty level is selected, the player can enter any of the dimensions. While it is recommended that the dimensions be played through in order, this sort of interface essentially allows players to switch difficulty level in between levels, if desired.

Characters start off with an axe--decidely less dramatic than the Doom chainsaw--and a shotgun with 25 shells, and rapidly acquire an arsenal of progressively deadlier weapons, including a double-barrelled shotgun, a "nailgun," a "perforator," a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and a "thunderbolt," as well as ammunition, armor, and various power-ups, such as health, protective suits, rings of invisibility, pentagrams of protection, and a rune that temporarily quadruples your damage, turning you into even more of a killing machine. When a new dimension is entered, your character once again starts off with a shotgun and 25 shells (and the stupid axe).

Monsters include rottweilers, grunts and enforcers (basic soldier types), knights and deathknights (heavily armored, sword-wielding fiends), rotfish (to make the water hazards even more hazardous), zombies that won't stay dead, scrags (sort of like flying worms), ogres (armed with chainsaws and grenades), spawns (big ugly bouncing blobs), fiends (demonic werewolves), vores (spidery monsters), and shamblers (huge beasts that sling lightning). According to the manual, grunts are "goons with probes inserted into their pleasure centers, wired up so that when they kill someone, they get paroxysms of ecstasy." Gratefully, no evidence for this is provided in the game.

Unfortunately, for all that it has going for it, many aspects of Quake also suffer from a marked unoriginality. "You get the phone call at 4 a.m. and by 5:30 you're in the secret installation," the introduction to the game begins. Oh no, not 4 a.m.! Horrors! It then goes on to explain how you are a top notch government agent that must keep some evil being from opening the gates of hell and overrunning the world. Sound familiar? It should, seeing as it is the plot for fully half the Doom-style computer games on the market, including Doom. For a game that clearly required many months of work to produce, it is a bit sad that only about 20 minutes went into developing the background.

And while the weapons are pretty neat, they are not overly original. Essentially, you get two types of shotgun, two types of machine gun, two types of grenade launcher, and an energy weapon. Oh, and that damned axe, which does not even go "swish" or "chunk." In short, a selection that does not measure up to the weapons arrays of Doom or Strife. And some of the monsters, such as the grunts and enforcers, seem repackaged from earlier games.

Overall, however, Quake is a very worthwhile, challenging game that is certain to be a hit with most people who like this style of game. Its hackneyed elements do not really detract from play; a bit more originality, however, might have made this game even more enjoyable.

--Michael Varhola for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

Gloomy, brutal - cool

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: July 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

"Quake" is the game to buy if you want good, low-cost, solid, gory fun on your computer. First time I played it I was quite bored, so I layed it aside for quite some time. Then I felt again like wreaking havoc, played "Quake" again - and I was completely taken in. This game simply IS fun. The enemies look pretty eerie - I probably wouldn't want to meet with a grunt at night... The weapons are awesome (I prefer the super nailgun! ) - you can choose either to toast, spike, slice or shoot the baddies. Good old shotgun isn't missing as well. The levels are kind of mazes altogether, but none of them are too difficult to finish. You really get to know while playing what fun the designers must have had with creating "Quake"!

id does it again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Quake is dark, incredibly atmospheric and just palin cool. The graphics engine was revolutionary for its time, which is id Software's tradition. As usual, John Carmack and his minions blend astounding new technology with their trademark nightmarish art to create an incredible gaming experience. While the later single-player episodes are somewhat inferior to the first, the real fun is to be had 'fragging' your friends in multi-player mode.

Another high point is the excellent ambient musical score by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails)

Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Excellent Game! You get to use 8 different and unusual weapons, and kill monsters that can use those weapons against you, such as the ogre and his grenade launcher! I recommend this great game to anybody who likes FPS games, and everybody who doesn't!

Me like... ME LIKE!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 22
Date: July 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Me find QUAKE very fun to play. Me like use neat-o guns to kill bad soldiers and monsters. Me put on death metal CD, get in mood. Me like rocket launcher and zap-gun best. But me warn you... be sure be far away when using launcher. You no want own flesh chunks flying about. And never fire zap-gun in water. Me learn hard way more than once. Me like frying other thingees, not self. Me know you no like too.

Sometimes me lazy, put in cheat codes. Me play God mode, kill without hurt. Sometimes me like fly around, go through walls, and ammo that no run out. Me let you know, cheat codes last only a level, then must type again to use next time. Like zap-gun, me learn hard way this.

Me hope help you make decision about QUAKE...

'Late

A Cool Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If Quiver, the macintosh editor for this game, had never been released, I would rate this a 2. This is the only fully 3D game with a mac compatible level editor in existence (Marathon is 2.5D). Unfortunately, Quiver is shareware and costs 20 bucks. I still have no idea what the storyline is (being a marathon addict, I expect a storyline), but the gameplay is okay. What really boosted my opinion of the game is the fact that a program that converts maps made for quake to quake 3 has been released. Now it is possible to make Q3 maps on a mac.

Quake... a cool game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is awsome, I played it I beat it and I still love it! It's not as gory as some people say but it's not exactly a "no blood" game... so you won't have your mom banning you from the game. this is a really fun game with 7 awsome weapons and 15 types of monsters to pump some ammo into. with three diffrent levels of hardness an one secret nightmare level there is no way to hate this game, so get out there and buy it!

I hope it's always a classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I've owned Quake for the PC since late 1999, but I have been playing Quake since it's release three years before that.

The story is kind-of dry, but I think it's safe to say this won't matter to many folks. Aliens are invading Earth through dimensional slipgates, or something to that extent.

There are four main dimensions, each with about seven levels to them (I don't keep track). It's good that the guys at ID released the source code to the public; that allowed rune-quake, capture the flag, and a myriad of other fun add-ons to be implemented. Trent Reznor should've won an award for the sound & music, which are extremely well done.

A highly recommended program for those who slam the graphics is called "GLQuake" (also known as Quake Pro Plus). It adds Quake3-style graphics to Quake. Another thanks to the folks at ID for allowing (and even assisting in) the production of this add-on. How many other companies would take time out to add to a product, several years after it's been released?

Playing single player gets boring fast. You're better off downloading Gamespy3D and playing online against other players. Everyone knows everyone else who plays, it's a family atmosphere. This game is what makes guys like American McGee my idols, and the people at ID software legends, as well as filthy rich.

Buy it.

Still Great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

A little old now, but 5 stars for the groundbreaking game this was when it came out. I've still got it installed on my hard drive, and while the game itself is good, the mod potential is what really makes Quake shine. Mods like Team Fortress, Nehahra, and AirQuake make Quake a long lasting source of great fun, and I still pop onto QuakeWorld (with GLQuakeWorld) for some insane 20-person DMs from time to time.

Bloody Amazing!.....Realy!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Do you like blasting vile things like aleins?! Do you like much faster,better graphics and frankly much better games than Doom?! Well this is the game for you! Forget the Amazon rating of age 17 and up! It's not that violent! Pullng out the pistol and blasting away at an alien won't cut the mustard! Bring on the Rale Gun (the blue light shootin'thing!) and absolutly wreck havock!!!

Amazing for 15 quid! (20 dollers) (I'm English!)

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