Quake 4

Fails on almost every level. Quake II was an oldschool, testosterone-fueled fps. This one works more like a CoD-game, which is pretty disappointing. The fake "complexity" of modern games: throws old methods out of the window (no keys, cards etc.), and yet, it opens you previously closed doors when it wants you to be there. Exploration is non-existent - openable doors are marked with green, red ones are closed for now. You aren't enticed to look for secret areas - only a few situations where the makers remembered the roots, and added some rewards for being perceptive. Remember Q2's OST? Simple, heart-pumping, brutal, like the game. Here, music barely exists. For the first few hours I was bored and pissed that they fumbled a great opportunity to continue a legendary franchise, and diluted the original mood and basics of Q2. The graphics seemed the only redeeming quality of the game. And however, it looks great, the creatures lack any originality. In Q2 every monster had a character and they were instantly recognizable. Here - mostly because of the darkness of the game - I needed hours to tell them apart somehow. Halfway through I felt that the direction changed a bit, the game became a bit enjoyable. I liked how they raised the stakes in the lore's bio-horror, more focus on it would have made the game more memorable. Because other than this the game seeps blandness from every pore of it. Comparing to Q2 again: in Q2 almost every weapon felt big, as if it would shred through anything. Here the weapons almost always feel lacking, maybe grenade launcher, RL and dark matter gun are the exceptions. (It is a crime, what they've done to the railgun... not just slow, but looks boring and weak.) All in all the game isn't horribly bad, just... boring and castrated the original Q2-feel. If you have good memories about Q2, don't buy this game. If you need some mediocre shooting, go ahead. If you are really interested about Q4, just go watch a review, time better spent.

I admit that I initially did not like Quake 4 as I was still comparing it to Quake 1 at the time (in terms of Lovecraftian continuity) but since then, it has slowly grown on me. In many ways, it's better than DOOM 3 due to its non-stop action, no-nonsense game flow and in-your-face massacre. It's also cool to interact with other NPCs; you feel like you are part of an awesome team as you kill Stroggs along the way. Aside from the visuals, which is what I always love about the id Tech 4 engine, you can see Raven Software did their best to make Quake 4 a better experience than DOOM 3 and it shows. However, as much as the gameplay is fun, Quake 4 lacks any replay value. Sure, you may be enticed to relive the story mode again on harder difficulty level but you wish that the developer would've added some unlockables (eg. new skin, new modes, new weapons) and collectables (eg. messages, dog tags, runes) but they didn't. What a wasted opportunity. Despite this flaw, don't let that stop you from playing Quake 4. If you're looking for an FPS game that takes place in a sci-fi realm mixed with a no-thinking man's attitude, then this is for you.

Still baffles me to this day that DOOM 3 gets all the praise it does while this is left in the dark, the sound design and amazing presentation of enemies and the way they act is really just enjoyable, hearing the metallic chunky gun sounds always makes me grin, a really good FPS to play on any day really

A repeat of Quake II, but this time all the elements of Quake are stripped clean and replaced with standard elements of the military/squad shooters of the 2000 years: corridors, slow character movement, squadmates, bullet sponge enemies & generic vehicle sections.

The game looks good, Id's Doom3 game engine is still pretty impressive nowaday. The rendering and the animation are very smooth. These in game HUD interractive texture were a very good idea. The problem with this game is the gameplay. This is so linear, no questioning. In short, start at a secure place A, go to point B, shoot things in between. Once arrived, you are in a secure place. Next you have to backtrack to A, the same path or another path, monsters will spawn to make the game feel less empty, after all this is war... That kind of gameplay plagues today's FPS, you don't feel in control of your destiny. Also, doors will unlock magically after completing a mission, ammunition and healing feels to much balanced. Total absence of subtlety. I would accept that kind of gameplay if the ambiance and the game's element were more cohesive, but this isn't the case, it just feels weird. "Just explore, you'll discover more about Stroggs"... hmm I never cared that much about Stroggs. These bad guys lack personality, Quake 2 was a big step back after the very ambiant Quake and it's spooky Lovecraftian universe.