Quake 4: Review

The recent trend of overthrowing authorities and some degradation in the eyes of players of not just great games, but also great brands has also affected the shooter genre. At least after last year’s release Doom 3 You must agree that the former aspiration in the reviews of ordinary gamers and especially critics has somehow diminished. Personally, I find all these caustic chuckles and mocking finger-pointing at creation ID after release Half-Life 2 they were even somehow unpleasant. You know, it’s always insulting and painful to see childhood idols being kicked in front of your eyes, to whom just yesterday everyone was looking in reverence at the mouth..
Recent Release Quake 4 had to prove to the industry and players that the legendary, long-established games from Mr. Carmack can still trample competitors into the ground today, while deliberately playing on their field and by their rules. And he proved it.

But first things first. Plot Quake 4 picks up where the story told in Q2 ended. The lone hero we controlled from among the brave marines finally got to the commander-in-chief of the Strogg army, after which this army naturally became somewhat orphaned. However, even decapitated, she poses a serious danger, so the main goal of the second wave of attack is the total cleansing of the planet from hostile biomechanical aliens.
All this is explained to us by a very charismatic commander Voss during the approach on a landing ship to the landing site. And here it becomes clearly clear that the game developers are also quite a legendary company Raven Software (no matter what anyone says, but Soldier of Fortune cannot be called an average game) – we deliberately decided to play on the field and according to the rules of some hits of the latest generation. You don’t need to be Nostradamus to predict: the briefing on board the “winged car” will definitely end with a tragic direct hit, a blackout in the cabin, desperate screams, after which our hero will more or less wake up on the ground among the burning wreckage and corpses of his comrades a few minutes ago. Call of Duty c Medal of Honor and their numerous add-ons, they wink meaningfully and continue to watch “Saving Private Ryan”. Further, I personally experienced a clinical case of “déjà vu”: we lie wounded among the rubble, periodically come to our senses, and then we see the face of a paratrooper bending over us, who is trying to bring us to our senses. God, this is a direct quote from MOH: Pacific Assault And Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill. The effect of recognition is only enhanced by the subsequent need to first visit the enemy complex through the nearest door, filled to capacity with vile creatures and the torn remains of our colleagues. Hey AvP and AvP2, you see, they don’t forget about you either. And this cardboard background and the sky outside the main locations. Did they really remember Mr. Riddick??
What is this – a recognition of one’s own stupidity or a conscious reference to modern hits, designed to introduce Q4 into the current gaming context and ensure a smooth “entry” into the game for the younger generation of gamers, not to mention some ironic and not obvious at first glance message to fellow developers? I would like to believe that it is still the second.

Subsequent events and a string of tasks from this point of view are quite predictable, representing an explosive mixture of Doom 3 – standards and standards set by some of the above games. Single, timid wanderings along the darkened corridors from end to end in order to join one or another group of comrades, receive another “pointer” and carefully wander back (since last year we know very well that even more monsters await us in the newly cleared corridors) are replaced by well-coordinated and dynamic work in a team of two or three people. The latter, of course, will never budge and will sit all the way behind the boxes in combat readiness “number 1” until the player himself steps on the next trigger. Of course, they will also give us the local equivalent of a “machine gun on a jeep” – a huge and very charismatic tank with an equally charismatic cannon on board, which, if used skillfully, will not allow the strogg to even step beyond the line of fire. I’m generally silent about tactical jogging in the team in the open air and the accompaniment of planes scurrying back and forth, accompanied by the hooting of explosions.
However, these, to some extent, direct borrowings and references to other games (for example, our acquaintance with new types of opponents takes place one on one as in Doom 3) together create an effect that completely kills the desire to be sarcastic and picky. Powerful, energetic, stylish, atmospheric, charismatic, brutal, masculine – the range of epithets goes on and on.

The point is that Raven Software https://elabetcasino.co.uk/ not only took it, but also rethought it, reworked it, took mistakes into account, ultimately producing an almost perfect product. Unlike Call of Duty and the partners like them here are no longer impersonal mannequins who die every minute, then “respawn” around the corner and again come running to our aid, only under a different name. IN Q4 the loss of each of those two or three partners who fight shoulder to shoulder with us against the Strogg is always a personal tragedy and an almost obligatory “Reload”. You especially feel strongly about the loss of a medic, whose presence in the team immediately sharply improves Q4 over the same Call of Duty (although there were some borrowings here too, this time from Vietcong).
AI also works as hard as possible to create a “feeling of community” and individualize partners. Like any living people, they can accidentally come under friendly fire, but immediately change their minds and continue to act based on the lesson learned. In some places, the opponents are also amazingly smart, while almost every type has its own tactics and at the same time – its own weak points. True, some bosses, especially at the final levels, were clearly too late by the time the programmers Raven Software distributed the best pieces of code responsible for AI. The standard scheme – knocked out the protective field, several shots from the BFG or "rails" into an unprotected place (the brain is our choice), then, if possible, ignoring summoned monsters (ammunition towards the end becomes completely scarce) and diligently waiting until the unprotected place is again at our disposal – works here properly.
And, finally, local design is almost always a hand-made piece and, to put it mildly, very talented work, which does not stoop to the level of destroyed houses stamped according to standard patterns – identical trenches and trenches, bunkers, pillboxes – areas shot through from all sides, etc.d. from you know what game. To be fair, let’s say that there are also examples of ingenious design, from which they began to stamp.

Big Brother Reimagined – Doom 3. Game of Q4 much less dangerous in terms of the risk of developing chronic claustrophobia and visual impairment: the levels are generally a little lighter, a little more spacious, the battles on them have acquired a more meaningful and in some places even a tactical character. At the same time, due to the design and greater space, these fights organically combine dynamics Q3. I’m not even talking about the elementary, but very significant fact of the long-awaited gluing of a flashlight to a gun barrel.

Raven Software tried to revive the usual for games Doom And Quake – episodes predictably spartan, largely clichéd plot flow. Lulled by familiar tasks and plot moves read in advance, players somewhere closer to the middle will receive such a shake-up that it won’t seem a little. We won’t reveal all our cards in case someone hasn’t reached this point yet; we’ll just note that the developers managed to surprise. The final showdown with the Big Main Bosses looks more predictable, but, you see, such a game needs excessive plot delights, just as Bruce Lee films need intimate love stories in the spirit of Indian cinema. After all, we have an heir here Doom And Quake – traditions, not F.E.A.R. some. Plot Q4 moderately predictable and at the same time intriguing, keeps you in suspense just as much as necessary in order to, while maintaining the general style and spirit of the series, provide players with a slightly more refined and slightly “Hollywood” dish compared to its predecessors. Anyway, in this part Q4 acts much more honestly than the same FEAR with all its PR and marketing departments. Somehow, like a man, seriously, without unnecessary snot and false promises – in a word, in the style of the game itself.

The legacy and spirit of the series is especially felt in the weapon arsenal and monster design. Almost everything has been preserved: the not always useless pistol on the “one” with an endless energy reserve, and the machine gun, and the shotgun on the “three”, and the plasma thrower from the second Doom, and the nail gun from the first Quake, and the famous “rail”, and the rocket launcher, and, finally, the legendary BFG, although now it is called a little differently – Dark Matter Gun. At the same time, as the game progresses, the weapon undergoes a very useful and effective upgrade.
As for the monsters, some of them are almost entirely migrated from previous series, which causes literally childish delight and nostalgia in many players.

The game, which is obvious and logical, is built on the engine Doom 3, therefore, from a graphics point of view, it is a slightly cleaned up and fixed version of last year’s hit from ID. In fact, the beauty is extraordinary, technologically almost perfect, and the famous plastic bulge of the models is no longer so striking. The animation has also been improved, especially facial expressions. In general, we have an example where the graphics perfectly match the spirit and style of the game, contributing to maximum atmospheric immersion in it. Moreover, in this case, the graphic design largely sets this style and atmosphere. And what is especially striking is that all this magnificence is quite democratic and tolerant of the system capabilities of the computers of ordinary gamers. Against the backdrop of the recent release of the same F.E.A.R., where the brakes were much harder, and there were zero visible differences in the positive direction, this causes an extra rush of respect for the “skillful hands” of Raven Software And ID.
It’s also difficult to describe the sound in the game using sane words. Continuous emotions and again inarticulate sounds. No matter how much you want, it’s very difficult to find fault with anything. I will only note some sound monotony with which the stroggs attack us. The voice acting of the weapons also evoked nostalgia – I heard all this as a child.

Lastly about multiplayer. Let’s say right away – it was a success, again proving the special power of games from Mr. Carmack and company in the network segment.
The general trend is a decrease in map sizes and travel speeds. It doesn’t mean worse, it means different. The balance is structured differently, in particular the role of guns such as “rail” or DMG is especially increasing. But the main thing is that it is built. The maps are also filled to capacity with portals and jumppads, which makes them almost a key point in tactical planning. As usual, the overall competent layout did not let us down.

Finally, I would like to say one thing. Q4 – a game that initially you are somewhat wary of, a little biased, but which, just a few minutes after launch, chains the critical reviewer to the blue screen with a stranglehold, as if saying – wait, dear, with criticism, first play a lot, go to the end, enjoy all this, and then.. if you want… And, you know, there is absolutely no way to refuse her.