Quake 4

aka: Q4
Moby ID: 19650
Windows Specs
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Special Edition

Description official descriptions

Quake 4 is the true sequel to Quake II, continuing the Strogg vs. Humans storyline from the point where Quake II ended. The Strogg is an alien cyborg race which, much like the Star Trek Borg race from which they seem to be partly inspired, wander the galaxy conquering planets and wiping civilizations. Their sole purpose is to collect organic body parts with which to swell their ranks. After a prolonged war, the united armed forces of Earth decided to launch a desperate counter attack on the home planet of the invaders, Stroggos. By some twist of fate a sole marine was able to disable the Strogg main planetary defense (aka The Big Gun) and kill Makron, their leader. That was the end of Quake II. The second wave of attack is meant to land on Stroggos and take advantage of the brief disorder, ending the threat of the Strogg forever. Of course it will not be that easy...

This time the lone soldier theme (of Quake I, II and the Doom series) is replaced by a war. Not as large scale as a military FPS or even Halo, but close enough. There are squad mates, some of which are important to protect, some vehicles (a hovertank and a mech) and frequently changing objectives to achieve. The arsenal contains elements from all Quake games (nailgun, rail gun, lightning gun) and the classic BFG has been replaced by the Dark Matter Gun. Weapons can be improved later in the game, making them much more effective. The game uses a somewhat improved version of the Doom 3 engine to good effect. Multiplayer options are rather limited, offering only the standard Deathmatch modes and CTF.

Quake 4 was developed by Raven under the guidance of id Software.

Spellings

  • 雷神之锤4 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

225 People (212 developers, 13 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 77% (based on 64 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 118 ratings with 8 reviews)

Did we even need a sequel to Quake 2?

The Good
OK, maybe my One-line Summary was too rough already, but there is a piece of truth behind it. Anyway, let us get to the good parts of this game.

Beginning with the graphics - it's good, in fact, it looks beautiful, cause it's using the Doom 3 engine. Some improvements have been made from Doom 3's engine however. The lighting is a lot better, the blood and gore look more beautiful and realistic, and the game became more colourful overall. Although not all things have been improved goodly, for example, maybe it's just me, but the character models seem kinda too cartoonish, but that's not a complaint, they still look good.

Not much to say about the sound, there are no soundtracks like in the previous games, only sometimes an ambient sound can be heard in the background, and just like in Doom 3, there is a cool soundtrack playing in the main menu. The sound effects created by the weapons or other effects like explosions aren't to be glorified. What we got left are the characters. The monsters on the other hand, sound hostile, cool and businesslike, so they are OK. The way they speak the Strogg language makes it even better. The voice acting isn't like in F.E.A.R., but it's still well done, especially in combat situations.

The single player campaign is quite interesting and long enough to take us on a good and memorable adventure. It won't exactly blow you away and make you wanna play it many more times, same goes to multiplayer, but it's still fun. The weapons arsenal is rich, filled with weapons from Quake 1 and 2, such as the Nailgun, the Lighting gun, the Railgun, but also has a new cool introduction like the Dark Matter gun, which is, though a replacement for the legendary BFG10K, but is almost as powerful and has its own interesting effect.

Most enemies from Quake 2 return, and some of them, like the Gunner, in a very good and familiar form, some though, just like some monsters from Doom 3, had to wear a stupid looking new costume, and behave even more stupid. This doesn't ruin the gameplay though. There are a few new entries too, by the way.

Unlike in Quake 2, the "friendly" AI is now even useful in combat and helps you defeat the Strogg. They sometimes come in handy and are surprisingly strong when compared to the Strogg. Medics and engineers can heal your health and armor respectively. You can also ride tanks and walking robots as you progress through opened deserts of Stroggos.

The missions and objectives aren't too special for games of this type, and even for Quake 2. They are pretty similar to the game's prequel.

The multiplayer is taken directly from Quake 3, and hardcore fans of Q3-s multiplayer would perhaps be pleased, all others won't, and this is where we get to the flaws of this game...

The Bad
The small flaws made in the single player campaign weren't those which didn't make this game a hit it was supposed to be. It's all the multi-players fault. It's just too much Quake 3. I don't understand 1 thing - they put so damn cool vehicles in the single player campaign, and also added medics and engineers to it, then why not make multiplayer the same tactical warfare experience? Instead, they just took some maps from Q3 and Q2, added some new, took a couple of Q3-s power-ups, mixed it all together, and voila, there we have it - an updated Quake 3 with graphics, models and weapons from Quake 4. Sounds kind of stupid, don't you think? Will, i'll tell ya, if you read this, and believe all what i say, than the multiplayer is exactly as bad as you think right about now.

This is why Quake 4 couldn't keep up a tactical war with Call of Duty 2, F.E.A.R. and other successful shooters of that year, because it used the primitive caveman tactic of Quake 3.

The Bottom Line
Will, in case you didn't get my point correctly, Quake 4 isn't a BAD game, the single player campaign is fun and that's OK, but just don't play its multiplayer to be disappointed. If you are looking for a sequel to Quake 2, i would even, in fact, recommend this to you. It really is a sequel to Quake 2, lets face it. And besides, making a sequel better than a prequel is very, very hard, especially by a different company.

Windows · by Medicine Man (328) · 2009

This game gives the Quake Series a bad name..Multi-player wasn't too bad....

The Good
The single player story mode started off ok but eventually got pretty boring. This is one of few games I actually gave up on. I quickly got bored with it and decided to just play it online.

The multiplayer deathmatch's aren't as 1/2 as much fun as Half-Life 2. There are some features however that are different from other online multi-player games that almost make the game interesting. For instance I really like the movement in this game. You can actually do a couple of cool things with some practice.

One of cool tactic was crouch surfing, which is when you hit a launch ramp and as you land you hold down crouch. This causes you to go really fast in a crouched position. Very effective tactic that is useful in a crowded area with crossfire everywhere.

Another advanced movement skill was strife jumping. It is when you would run to an edge and as you approach you turn your look to the side and side strife towards the edge. Then as you jump you whip your look (mouse) straight ahead. This causes you 2 soar appr. 10% farther. Doesn't sound like much but there are many situations you can only strife jump from one place to another.

There weren't to many server crashes online but I also noticed there weren't many people either. There were more empty servers than anything. It was nice to see some Quake 3 Arena deathmatch maps though.

The Bad
I really don't like how "cartooney" the ammo in this game was. It would have looked a lot cooler if the ammo looked like ammo, instead of these big bright boxes. At least in the older Quakes it looked like an ammo case.

The Bottom Line
An OK FPS multiplayer game, just don't bother with the story.

Windows · by DudeOfMonson (97) · 2007

A fun, violent yet dated FPS.

The Good
Quake 4 is a great game. Id has collaborated with Raven Software to produce a very engaging FPS. While the story isn't the primary focus of the game some FPS titles have forsaken the story in order to further the shooting ("Black") and it's nice to see one here. Players take on the role of Matthew Kane, who is the supposed mythical Marine who took down the Strogg Commander; The Macron. Kane is now assisting in the invasion of the Strogg homeworld; Stroggos. You'll be delighted at how visceral the shooting is. The Machine Gun in this game is probably the most enjoyable gun I've ever used in a game. It's not the damage it does or the way it looks it is the meaty cracks it emits when you fire it and the way Kane seems to be struggling to hold it still while he is firing. Other weapons in the game are interesting like the Nail Gun which fires projectile nails that burst on impact and the Dark Matter gun which fires little black holes. Enemy AI is passable but it is the enemy design which is the star of the show and the level of detail Id has put into making the Strogg seem like a ruthless, desperate force is fantastic. The Strogg shout orders in their own language or mutter disturbing tidbits of Stroggian dialect. They move like Cyborgs, ducking and rolling in a totally inhuman fashion. Light and Shadow are employed very well in Quake 4 and the soundtrack is top notch mixing over the top, heroic military like tracks with deeply atmospheric tunes that would sound at home in Doom 3. Unlike Doom 3 you have a small squad assisting you most of the time. You have access to medics and tech support who heal you and repair your armor. You want to keep these guys alive. In addition to squads you can also drive tanks and use turrets mounted on the back of trucks. I'm not really a fan of throwing these vehicular combat sections in for the sole purpose of shaking things up but at least they break up the shooting.

The Bad
The first time I was playing Quake 4 a friend of mine came up to me and said "Hey, is this Doom 4?." Because Quake 4 uses Id Tech 4 and Id was obviously happy with the engine as it was you'll find Quake 4 and Doom 3 look almost identical at times. While the way light and shadow works has been refined the games look a little too identical. While the squad based system is a welcome addition it is too simple. You have no control over your squad and if they die they are dead, thats it. Other times Quake 4 places too much significance on your squad. At some points if they die whether by friendly or enemy fire you fail the mission. Overall Quake 4 feels too simplistic. Doom 3 was great as a graphical showcase for a revolutionary engine developed by Id. With other Xbox 360 games like Advanced Warfighter eclipsing Quake 4's atmosphere and graphical prowess you realize that Id Tech 4 was great in Doom 3 but becomes less exemplary as time marches on.

The Bottom Line
Quake 4 is a great game. Although it is dated in almost every aspect it features some of the best plain shooter mechanics you'll find at this time. The inclusion of simple squads, vehicular combat and more expansive environments fail to take emphasis off the dated graphics and game play style that threatens to become boring after a few hours. The story is simple yet satisfying and manages to keep everything moving at a fair pace. Don't come to Quake 4 expecting a revolution in the genre of First Person Shooters but expect a nice, stylised FPS experience that will satisfy you eventually.

Xbox 360 · by AkibaTechno (238) · 2009

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

Development

Being the first time Raven Software has designed a game based on a id license, id required overall approval of all design.

E-Sports

On 14th September 2005, prior to the release, The CPL (The Cyberathlete Professional League) announced Quake 4 as the one-versus-one competition game for 2006. With major cash prizes at stake, this is the duel game all the top gamers will be playing in 2006. 2005's duel game was Painkiller. In the past, The CPL also supported Quake, Quake II and Quake III: Arena.

German index

On November 5, 2005, the English version of Quake 4 (Windows) was put on the infamous German index by the BPjM. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

Rifts

Kevin Long, the lead artist for Quake 4, was a longtime staff member at Palladium Books and was one of the original artists for the Rifts roleplaying game. Many of the designs in Quake 4 resemble his earlier work with Palladium. Some examples include Quake 4's Blaster, which resembles the early Coalition energy pistols from the Rifts rulebook and Quake 4's machinegun, which resembles the Triax Railgun from Rifts Sourcebook 1.

Version differences

The German version of Quake 4 is intensively cut, particularly bloody scenes (Strogg Medical Facility, as marines are going in the cage), some bodies, body parts are deleted or blacked out. You cannot fire at your team members.

Awards

  • GameSpy
    • 2005 – Most Disappointing Launch Game (Xbox 360)

Information also contributed by Edward Beezy, Independent Scott Monster and Xoleras

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Related Sites +

  • Official Webpage (Mac)
    The official product page for the Mac version of Quake 4 on the publisher's website, which provides a trailer, a short article by Aspyr tech support employee Andy Brazell, patches, a demo, and purchasing information, among other such things.
  • PlanetQuake
    The biggest Quake series related site.
  • Quake 4
    Official game website
  • Quake 4
    Official game page on id Software's website
  • Quake 4 on Schnittberichte
    Here you can see the difference version from quake 4 USK 16 with the uncensored europe PEGI 18+ version, in german indexed.
  • Quake IV GNU/Linux FAQ
    Overview, download location and instructions for the Linux version
  • Quake4.euro
    European Quake 4 community.
  • The Humans Strike Back
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Quake 4 (March, 2006).
  • X360A achievement guide
    X360A's achievement guide for Quake 4.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 19650
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Silverblade.

Windows Apps added by Plok. Macintosh added by Sciere. Xbox 360 added by Kabushi. Linux added by Iggi.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Sciere, UV, Yearman, Independent, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, Titan10.

Game added October 23, 2005. Last modified March 14, 2024.