Quake 2

(ID, 1997)

By the time this latest ID shooter came out, one thing was clear; ID was interested in pleasing deathmatch fans and...that's it. On the one hand, John Carmack's Quake 2 did indeed appeal to fans of "deathmatch" (i.e., quickie multiplayer games with the only rule being "kill everything moving until the other gamers get bored"). On the other hand, Carmack was making a few mistakes elsewhere, and Quake's audience was starting to, well, quake. All other modes of play were lackluster, including co-operative multiplayer and single-player.

In my full review of Quake 2 --as posted in the newsgroup, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, Wednesday, December 10th, 1997-- I had another gripe with the game, that is best summarized by re-printing what I wrote in the review itself:

Last of my gripes is personal opinion. [/"Violin" mode on./] You can't save your marine comrades. See them get tortured, mutilated, humiliated, and all around watch them die. You *are* a HERO, right? Whatever happened to "everybody goes home, or nobody goes home"...? This makes me seem like somebody who's only out for himself; his life, his glory. Enough of this "gladiator" nonsense; any REAL sport has *teamwork*, men. Word up for Quake 3, Carmack: Have all comrades able to be "beamed out" upon touching them. Have a special secret mission for those *true* marines who left *nobody* behind. In multiplayer, have a "death" count as a capture and let team members free you. For any true marine, camaraderie is the key to survival. Otherwise, don't call these guys Marines. Okay, sermon over. You're dismissed. [/"Violin" mode OFF./]

Again, much like Doom, this game's technology led to many other, better games, so Quake 2 deserves a thumbs-up, if just because of what other, better games its game engine led to. The game engine was no longer a "Deep Impact," however; other game companies were making their own 3D game engines, with their own merit for use as well. That said, compared to Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight that same year, and Unreal in the following year, Quake 2 should've been much better.

Rating : Large Crater.

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