Quake 4
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 The arsenal contains elements from all Quake games (nailgun, rail gun, lightning gun) and the classic BFG has been replaced by the Dark Matter Gun.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
Groups +
- 3D Engine: id Tech 4
- Anti-Cheat Technology: PunkBuster
- BestSeller Series (Cendant / Havas / Vivendi Universal) releases
- BPjS / BPjM indexed games
- Console Generation Exclusives: Xbox 360
- Games that include map/level editor
- Games with official modding tools
- Green Pepper releases
- Launch title: Xbox 360 (North America)
- Middleware: Bink Video
- Middleware: SDL
- Protagonist: Cyborg
- Quake series
- Setting: Space station / Spaceship
- Software Pyramide releases
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Credits (Windows version)
225 People (212 developers, 13 thanks) · View all
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 77% (based on 64 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 118 ratings with 8 reviews)
Meh. The Best is the Enemy of the Good.
The Good
See below.
The Bad
See below.
The Bottom Line
I'm not going to review the game by spending as much effort as the other reviewers. I'm too busy for that and my time is worth too much money. Instead I'll give an alternate way of looking at the game.
The complains seem to fall under two categories:
- The game is not innovative.
- There is little to no plot.
Moving forward with complaint #2, I have to say that this game had more of a plot than just about any FPS I've ever played. You actually have a series of tasks and objectives that make sense in the context of a war. There's even a little bit of character development. Not just plot... I'm talking character development, a whole different ball of wax from plot (I'm sure the distinction will go over the head of the stupid).
It's still a FPS, so don't expect gobs of plot and character development, but it's there. It's no Half-Life 2, but then again, no other game is Half-Life 2 (except for Half-Life 2).
Now for complaint #1: the game is not innovative. True. But why exactly does every game have to be innovative? Why can't a game just be a game? Why do we have to push the envelope each and every time?
Is the game the most interesting game in the world? Probably not. But again, why does it have to be?
Does a game have to be stellar in order to be simply good?
Frankly, I kind of liked this game.
Windows · by null-geodesic (106) · 2007
The Good
Basically, to me, this game is the party version of Doom 3. Same graphics, linear plot etc, only easier to stomach and less scary. Blowing stuff up and filling strogg with holes is still fun(-ish), but not anywhere near as rewarding.
Other than that I did really enjoy firing missiles in the mechwarrior type thing for a while. Meh. The operation cut-scene was pretty good. Sorta.
The Bad
This game just didn't grab me. At all. I didn't really care how it was going to end, and gave up about 3/4 of the way through. It was just so damn repetitive and uninteresting.
There's the odd novel moment, or nice design along the way, but that's all you have to go on. Even the pretty graphics get old after a while. It all just adds up to B-grade action.
The Bottom Line
I'd say stay away. Don't waste your time. This game is by no means revolutionary, important or even fun to play. There was no immersion/atmosphere for me.
I expected a lot more from this game but really, it's all been done before.
Windows · by phorque (123) · 2006
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
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
Analytics
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Related Sites +
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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 +
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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.