Quake II

I would like to start of by saying "Night Dive Studios" is the Kings & Queens of remastering and remaking games. I have bought Forsaken, Doom 64 and System Shock remake and they are all great. Furthermore, I own Quake 2 on Steam and the full version here on GOG and I must say I am super thankful for this amazing remaster, "Night Dive Studios" have given new life to this game and the music is working again. In addition the self-shadows and dynamic shadows on everthing looks amazing and "Night Dive Studios" shows that amazing graphics can still be crafted with plain rasterization!

The remastered version of Quake 2 comes with every campaign ever made for the game and then some. The graphics look way better than the original, the enemy AI was improved and there are lot of quality of life features added. I absolutely love the addition of muzzle flashes and hitmarkers, it makes the gunplay feel so much better! The inventory and weapon wheels are also very handy, making item management less clunky. The only missed opportunity here I feel was the inclusion of a true centered weapon option, with model rather than making the gun invisible when 'centered'. Also, the new Berserker ground pound area of effect is a bit too large if you ask me, I was rarely able to avoid the damage when dodging it. For the multiplayer I love that they added crossplay and that nifty voice chat reader. I had way more fun than I was expecting while playing it. Well done Nightdive, you guys truly are the kings of remasters!

The kid notices that Quake2 has been updated with improved visuals and a new expansion. The kid also notices that they have made the update free to current owners. The kid downs a few beers, to get in the mood for some Q2, downloads the game, and boots it up. The kid is greeted with the accessibility options, all turned on by default. He disables all of them. He also chuckles at the aim assist option for gamepads. After a quick look through the options, the kid jumps straight into multiplayer. He checks the lobby, and all servers are running "The Edge". 'Good', he thinks to himself. Time to party like a LAN party in '98. The kid spawns, and dashes for the railgun. Frags a few opponents with relative ease, until he meets an unceremonious demise. He hasn't gone completely rusty, he thinks to himself. Next, he has a blast with the rocket and grenade launchers, because nothing says 'Welcome home' like a rocket to the face. The kid is pleased that the fast pace, high skill mechanics have not been messed with. After that match, the kid start the original campaign on Nightmare. Completes the 1st map in a few minutes, while finding all secrets. Before continuing on to the next level, the kid looks over to the fallen corpses of his enemies; flies are using them as airports. 'Good', he thinks to himself. The single player has not been messed with.

After Quake Enhanced, Nightdive studios nailed another cool remaster! Having a new episode AND porting Quake 2 64 is a wonderful bonus, kudos for handing it out for free to Quake 2 owners. I'd gladly pay for this, though, it's a wonderful remaster. I mean, the guns finally even have muzzle flashes!

Twenty years or so ago, until last night, was the last time I played Quake II online. It was the best thing about that one in the series, was one of THE best of it's time for deathmatch then. It is still a blast, and still being served through 'Q2pro' and other means. I installed 'Yamagi', for widescreen and some further graphical tweaks, but the vanilla GOG version I had no complaints about in the first place; and my own retail CD rip from years ago was minus the music and cutscenes now faithfully restored by GOG. 'Yamagi' also did help for this, though I had been playing for years at times not noticing the music was now missing; so this was a bonus to have back. 'Yamagi' also allowed immediate play of the music with GOG on my Win 11 machine. I also do not play through 'Galaxy'. Since 'Unreal Tournament 3', and back to especially the Quake 2 / Half-life 1 era, I have not even played online, also prefer deathmatch to friendly fire... MY friendly fire, if things get confusing in a team setting. So I can not give detail of other play modes, but I THANK GOG for the opportunity to play a Deathmatch again after twenty years, against real players... I AM a bit rusty, but it was FUN; and two Other players politely helped me with some little 'adjustments'. And BOTS can NOT DO that, y'all! Lol. Again, as at least one Other mentioned here, it was especially online that Quake 2 shined, and still does. I also prefer it's scifi environment to the first Quake's gothic horror -- though I bought the remastered GOG version of that game -- and I look forward to a rumoured remaster of Q2 too eventually, and on GOG: THANKS AGAIN!