Quake 4

Cafe Society
1

Anyone check it out yet? I’m through about 4 hours single player and 3-4 hours online. My thoughts thus far:

The good
[ul]
[li]Looks great, especially the single player locations. [/li][li]Plays well enough on medium settings.[/li][li]Good old-fashioned kill 'em all action, depending on your perspective (more to come on that point). [/li][/ul]
The so so
[ul]
[li]A truly formulaic single player experience – and I’m not sure if this is good or bad. It depends on what you’re looking for, really. The whole deal is definitely on rails. You can’t wander off the wrong direction if you try. Doors lock behind you, and doors in front don’t open until you’ve completed the tasks for that area. If you like a more freedom in your FPSes, you’ll be disappointed. However, this situation is perfect if you like the run and gun style play. No worrying about where to go or what to do – just kill kill kill. I’m actually enjoying it pretty well, despite the complaint I’ll mention in the next section. [/li][li]Weapon models (pickups in MP) are kind of lame. I’m having a bit of a hard time discerning between them still.[/li][li]Weapons are good, but they’re nothing new. I’d miss my precious rail gun if it went away, but I wouldn’t mind something new once in a while. Is it too much to ask for something simple… like sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads? And no alt fire? Come on! [/li][li]The maps? They’re good, but they’re aren’t enough of them. Especially since at least three of them are ports from Quake2 and 3. [/li][li]They slowed up me rocket launcher! :mad: It’s still OK thought - just takes some getting used to. [/li][/ul]
The bad
[ul]
[li]Teh darkness!!!1 (single player) I thought I accidentally picked up Doom 4 for a second. [/li][li]The single player scripting is extremely apparent. Your squad mates continuously get in position and wait for you to trigger the next batch of enemies. It really takes away from the experience, unfortunately. It’s kind of hard to describe this, but think of No One Lives Forever as an example of a game that did it right. In NOLF, you repeatedly encountered enemy soldiers going about their business, and you could plan your attack accordingly. You really got the feeling that you were infiltrating an enemy base. In Quake 4 (and many many games like it – Doom 3 was 100x worse at this), the enemy units’ sole purpose in life is to wait for you to cross that tripwire so they can attack. The only feeling you get is that you’re playing a video game. It doesn’t totally ruin the game, but it definitely takes away from the immersion. And it makes me wonder just how long we’re going to have to wait for something groundbreaking in this series. [/li][li]And while we’re on the subject of single player: the scripted action sequences have sucked so far. At one point early on, a fighter plane gets shot down and lands near you. The thing bounces like someone dropped a rubber ducky in the shower. It’s not realistic in the least. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Half Life 2, which blows Quake 4 away in this department. [/li][/ul]
Online

I’ve played a Tourney, DM, and CTF so far (not Arena CTF – not even sure what that is yet). I’ve enjoyed Tourney and CTF quite a bit, although I’ve had some issues with sucking. That’ll be worked out soon though. :wink: DM, on the other hand, I’m not enjoying as much. I’ve played it several times on different maps, and something just feels a little off. It’s not really the graphics, it’s more like my system can’t handle too many people on the screen at once. I’ve played several matches on Q3DM17 (I think it’s Q4DM7 now), and it just doesn’t feel right. Even tweaking settings to the point that I’m getting over 60 fps in timedemos doesn’t seem to help. If you’re expecting Quake3 online perfection you’ll be let down, at least initially. Hopefully it’s something that can be worked out with tweaks/upgrades/patches.

The savior for online play is Tourney. I’m Lovin’ It™, even though it’s a long wait if you go out in the first round like I’ve been doing so far. Still, the setup is very cool, and I’ll definitely be playing it more.

Overall

If I were a big time video game reviewing type fella, I’d probably give it a 7 out of 10. Worth a purchase, but get it on sale. Depending on your outlook, the single player is either “old-fashioned” or “lacking innovation.” I’m somewhere in the middle, but enjoying it enough to keep playing. Multiplayer is worth the cost of admission though, as long as you have the system to handle it.

2

There doesn’t seem to be a demo, which sucks. I’d like to try it before I buy it.

3

Sounds like id put out another tech demo disguised as a game. Gee, imagine that. :rolleyes:

4

Actually, id isn’t responsible this time (Raven Software developed the game). And it’s a hell of a lot better than Doom 3. :wink:

5

Doesn’t sound like it, from the review given above… it sounds pretty much identical, with the addition of lackeys

6

According to the review over at IGN, there’s significantly more open areas and less darkness.

Slacker’s review above is pretty in line with their take on it. Have you got any vehicles yet? :eek:

7

It’s (unfortunately) similar, but I’m definitely enjoying it more than Doom 3, which didn’t do anything for me at all. The multiplayer will keep me occupied too, assuming the mod community doesn’t abandon it within months as some are predicting.

Man, there just aren’t many PC titles that are guaranteed winners these days. Half Life, maybe The Sims, and… (crickets chirping)

8

Yeah a couple (a tank and a mech type thing). They’re OK, but nothing to write home about. Half-Life 2 did it better (and even there the vehicle sequences were just OK).

And IGN sums it up pretty well. They left out all the things that made Doom 3 (IMO) a sorry game, and winded up with a decent game in Quake 4. Not excellent, but not bad either.

9

Did you check out my thread on F.E.A.R.?

10

I did indeed, and I’m really looking forward to playing it. Sadly, as my gaming budget is very small these days (dang offspring), I have to wait until my brother (unencumbered by such expenses) finishes it so I can steal his copy. That’s how I play most games actually (hurry up with Shadow of the Colossus too Ryan!). :smiley:

11

Civilization IV, baby!

12

Ok, a couple updated thoughts now that I’ve finished the game and played the multiplayer a little more.

First, the single player scenario. It was OK, and compelling enough for me to plow through it (if only for the visuals), but there were little issues that detracted from the experience in a big way.

I mentioned the scripting. Oh man, the scripting! It only got worse as the game went on. At one point I walked into a room and a Strogg popped out from behind a pillar and killed me (with help from others around the corner. After reloading I decided to drop him before I went in so I could focus on the others, so I fired a few rockets on the other side of the pillar where he was standing… and nothing. Ok, grenades? They landed RIGHT at his feet. Nothing! That’s right folks, he was completely inactive until I walked over the trigger on the map to get him moving. Lazy lazy programming. There were other istances where this weakness was apparent, but this was the most glaring.

And the ending? Well… without giving too much away I’ll just say it was disappointing. It was strange too, that in a game that does everything else “old school” (including the dated AI), it didn’t end like an old school shooter usually would. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but what they replaced it with wasn’t terribly exciting so it didn’t work too well for me.

So the single player experience left a lot to be desired, especially compared to other recent games like Half-Life 2 and F.E.A.R. Without the multiplayer it definitely wouldn’t have been worth a purchase for me.

However, I’ve been enjoying the multiplayer games more and more, especially Capture The Flag. We need more maps though for sure. There are only two that are really good (Q4CTF1 and another one whose name I forget), two that are OK, and one that’s a waste of time (Xaero Gravity from Quake3). It’s a lot of fun though, and I ended up playing until my hands hurt last night (something I haven’t done in a long long time - since Quake 3 probably). The game is fast paced and intense, and the players online are pretty skillful too, so the challenge makes it a lot of fun.

And I’m still enjoying Tourney mode, even though I still haven’t made it to the finals on a somewhat full (at least 8 players) server. I’ve made it to the semi-finals a couple times, but that’s it. Still, it’s lots of fun - and a nice break from the frenetic pace of the CTF matches.

So for me the multiplayer modes made it worth the cost of admission. I just hope the mod community takes hold and puts out some cool maps and addons to keep it interesting.

13

Anyone up for some CTF tonight? I’m getting a game together tonight if anyone is interested. It’s usually more fun with people you “know” rather than just random people on the internets. :wink: Details here for the curious.

14

Slacker I’d love to give my own impressions on the game but I don’t have to bother as they’re pretty much all covered in your first post.

Dark on Mars isn’t it? No matter how many weapons I had I kept on using the machine gun due to the flashlight ability on it. The scripting was rubbish and the AI I found to be very, very poor. Compared to other games I’ve bought recently (HL2 & BF2) it’s really poor.

Also not having bots (until a mod comes out) is a really pity too.