Quake Mission Pack No. I: Scourge of Armagon

The Good
This is the first mission pack for id Software's first-person shooter Quake, and it is impressive. The pack includes only fifteen maps, which takes about a long time to get through. Not only does it includes new enemies and weapons. It also introduces features that the original developers didn't think of, such as the inclusion of booby traps.

The mission pack starts right where the original left off. You may have killed Shub-Niggurath and her minions, but the fight isn't over yet. You learn that a mysterious creature known as Armagon wants to continue her work. The game has you stepping through portals to select the difficulty, but there is no episode selection. The maps are all in one big lump.

Out of all the new enemies, I love the Gremlins, which appear from episode two onwards. They are not related to the same ones from the films, but look like teddy bears with big scary eyes. They come up and start clawing at you, sometimes stealing your weapons in the process. I remember one of them stealing one of my nail guns and using them to attack me. Nowhere in a first-person shooter have I seen such incredible enemy behavior. All the enemies from the original game still makes appearances, such as the demons who throw their guts at you.

As with the other reviewer on here, I like how you battle it out in the cathedral in the second episode. The clock above the entrance together with the thunderclaps give that level some atmosphere. I even heard it go off. I have no idea what happens when it does, but it isn't necessary to get through the level.

There are booby-trapped hallways to worry about, and these consist of lava that the player will fall into if they just rush through the hallways. There is a booby-trapped room with a switch adjacent to the player, and tiles on the floor. You have to step on the right tiles until you get to that switch, otherwise the tile will give way and the player will fall into the lava. This same room is the one I remember well.

Out of all the power-ups you can get, I love the Horn of Conjuring. It makes a nice sound when the player blows on it. It is so nice for one of the creatures to fight along side you for once, but the disadvantage of whatever creature is spawned is that if it receives too many hits, it's dead.

Out of all the weapons, I love the proximity mines which can also be attached to walls. You wait for the enemy to hit one, and BOOM! There is the Mjolnir, capable of killing enemies with lightning bolts, but I rarely used it.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
I haven't played the second mission pack so I can't say which one is better. The first mission pack may be short in length, but it includes new enemies, weapons, and booby traps. If you are a Quake fan like me, then you will certainly be happy with this mission pack.