HEXUS.gaming :: The First 15 : Quake 4

[Nick]

The Quake series has to be one of the top three FPS franchises of all time, alongside Doom and Half Life. The original defined all that an FPS should be, spawning a slew of shooters that defined one of the most popular genres ever to hit the PC. So with a pedigree such as the Quake games have, Quake 4 is one of the most eagerly anticipated shooters this year. Here’s our first impressions…

And you'll have to go to HEXUS.gaming to find out what they are...

[Andy]

How many hours have you been playing for now Nick? Any new developments in your thoughts on the game? Purely to re-live Quake 2 I have to go out and buy a copy!! Have you heard if they are going to have a freezetag multiplayer option?

[Nick]

Only been playing for maybe an hour or so at the most... sadly for me, there's this guy who keeps ringing up telling me to do some work... He seems less than impressed when I say I am...

My thoughts, at this stage, are the same as my first impressions... it's an accomplished shooter but brings nothing new to the genre at all.

That's not necessarily a bad thing though. I'm really starting to think that this is the game Doom 3 could and should have been.

It's a seamless continutation of the where the Quake 2 story left off, which is great and very nostalgic, it's very enjoyable and looks damn good on the HEXUS.gaming Test Rig... lucky, lucky me.

I'm in the process right now of doing some screenies for you guys.

[Kaine (AoD)]

It looks good i think big question I want to know is which is going to be better then the new Unreal that will be released

Although the new unreal is going to be amazing graphics do you think the games will compare in gameplay? ( i know you wont be able to answer this properly as its not released yet )

In your opinion which one do you think will be best for game play anyone have any views?

IIRC the big fuss a while back was Quake 2 Vs Unreal ^ ^

[wedge22]

I have been enjoying the game so far on my rig and it look amazing and runs really well too.

[shaithis]

Only got 5 mins on it last night but my initial thoughts were that it was much better then I expected

The sounds, visuals and setting clicked with me immediatly.

Need to get a decent session on it over the weekend, including some multiplayer action

I'm really starting to think that this is the game Doom 3 could and should have been.

Yup, thinking the same.

[Spud1]

*waits for his copy*

It sounds like I will be dissapointed though, i was hoping for more of a Quake1 style game (easily the best in the series) but it seems it's not to be. Here's hoping for Quake 5

Another big plus over Doom 3 is that mounting a flashlight on your weapon is a technology that hasn’t been lost in the future

Bah another one who didnt quite 'get' the point of that feature in Doom 3. If you played Doom 3 with the patch/hack that gave you light as well as a weapon you totally lose the atmosphere etc of the game. It's a great game and there are many excellent tense sections which are dependant on this functionality. The game is much scarier, and realistic, with the switch between flashlight/weapon thing. Granted, with the machine gun it could easily have had one built in, but this adds weight to the weapon making it less accurate/harder to use. I never found that i needed both a gun and light to play, switching between was good enough...Also although I havnt quoted, there seemed to be a dig at Doom 3's gameplay - again if it was then you missed the point there, Doom 3 was meant to - and does for the most part - play alot like Doom 1/2, so enemies bursting out of no-where, hiding in the floor etc is exactly what we wanted - its doom through and through

But anyway i digress, can't really comment on Quake 4 till it arrives but we'll see

[dangel]

The not-having-flashlight-on-weapon never bothered me in Doom3 either...

Can't wait till I can play this (but i think i'll wait a week before posting on here..)

[Nick]

Guys, I've just updated the artcile with a few screenies... you gotta love this HEXUS.gaming test rig... oooh yes!

Spud, sorry, but I did 'get' Doom 3 totally... As Carmack always said, it Doom 3 was what he had always wanted Doom to be. The problem I had with it was that by the time it came out, FPSs had become more sophisticated affairs... and the whole 'place an inviting ammo pack in the middle of a room as a trap' thing was done to death in both Doom 1 and 2, Quake, Hexen, Return to Castl Wolfenstein and just about any FPS of that ilk.

Obviously opinion on Doom 3 will always be divided over the flashlight issue, but to my mind, compared with it's contempories, Doom 3 is a rather old fashioned gameplay concept in rather flashy new clothes.

Gamers expect more from a shooter than simple go here, fetch this, shoot everything gameplay now and while Doom 3 undoubtedly delivered on the graphics front, the actual game was pretty shallow and the traps and 'surprises' obvious. A bit like Friday the 3th Part 8 (or whatever number they got to)... you just know when the axe weilding psyco is going to pop out...

[Spud1]

'Doom 3 is a rather old fashioned gameplay concept in rather flashy new clothes.' Yes it is exactly that (good way of putting it btw )

That is what I, and many other gamers wanted and expected from Doom3. It is really wrong for anyone to expect anything more from it, as you point out it is what carmack wanted Doom to be..but anyway, i'll agree to disagree on this issue to avoid another massive arugement like there was on here when it came out

[Smokey21]

It's a lot of fun, im impressed. I wasn't expecting anything revolutionary, like HL2, or anything, and it delivers what it should.

-Awesome graphics (and performance, not like FEAR )
-Brilliant sounds
-Great looking/sounding weapons
-Decent enough strory

Ive played about 2 hrs worth, maybe a little less, playing on Hard. My favourite bit so far, was when the USS hannibal landed. I won't spoil it, but it'scool, and i thought, dam thats sweet. The Cannon also looks the dogs.

Playing at 1600x1200, 8X AF, High Quality, max everything, looks very nice. 90% of the time it's at 60fps cap, sometimes dips to 30 with massive fire and stuff, but other than that it's very smooth.

The flashlight thing, is exactly what D3 should of had.

[smtkr]

Obviously opinion on Doom 3 will always be divided over the flashlight issue, but to my mind, compared with it's contempories, Doom 3 is a rather old fashioned gameplay concept in rather flashy new clothes.

I don't know if this is widely known, but during the interview on g4tv, John Carmack mentioned that while the official repsonse to the flashlight issue is that it makes the game scarier, the original reason had more to do with the ability of the then current hardware to handle both a weapon and dynamic lighting (or something to that effect). I had never heard this from Id before, so it surprised me.

[Grey M@a]

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppp man I picked this up on the way home last night, went out got in about midnight, been playing it ever since Brings back all the glory of Quake 2 for me as I never liked Q3 as much, don't know how far through I am yet but I seem to be wasting to much time playing in the grav tanks Quite suprised at how well it runs to. Currently running at 1024x768 with high details and 8xAF and 8xAF without a single jutter

As for the doom 3 flashlight issue, there is a mod out there that attaches the flash light to the machine gun and shotgun just like in Quake 4 Issue solved Problem with Doom 3 was you could guess exactly where the mobs were gonna pop out, you can with Quake 4 to some extent but the thing that got me was crawling through the walk ways then that big walker slamming the tentacle through the glass and killing me :/ Well time for some more Q4

[mrchu]

I don't agree with it carrying over the feel of Quake 2, in fact I think its lost the Quake appeal...however it is an excellent game, perhaps everything Doom 3 should of been...sadly I got F.E.A.R and Qu4 is now null....for now