The dudes over at Gamebiz have shuffled up their new review of Quake 4, rating it a solid 8/10. Here's one of the better tidbits from it:
"Quake 4 unlike Doom 3 and Halflife 2 offers a some of the most frantic gameplay seen in a while. You don't just run and shoot at everything possible, you really have to watch where you are going and always be on the look out especially from behind to make sure an enemy doesn't respawn right behind you. The A.I. is decent with the Strogg army being intelligent and at times setting up ambushes and at times you will notice that they seem to collaborate together and attack at the same time, even rushing you with a melee attack. The Boss battles are quite epic and give you a real challenge as you cant just go in with a shoot and strafe tactic you need to think about how you are going to take them on. I did notice that some of the Strogg troops were pretty cheap in that say when you are in a tank they will hovver about you so that you have no way of attacking them. When this happened it was just easier to back into a wall and start shooting which is quite tedious."
As the rest of the review proves to be a very worthy read, make sure to check it out.
"SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov 18, 2005 -- It's "Lock and Load" for the Global Defense Force as id Software(TM) and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that QUAKE 4(TM) for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft has shipped to retailers nationwide. This next chapter in the futuristic war between the Earth and the Strogg transports players into the boots of Matthew Kane, an elite member of the legendary Rhino squad as they, along with an armada of Earth's finest soldiers, invade the home planet of the barbaric aliens threatening to annihilate Earth. QUAKE 4 for Xbox 360 is available at retail outlets for a suggested retail price of $59.99 and carries an "M" (Mature -- Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language) rating by the ESRB.
"With QUAKE 4 for Xbox 360, gamers can now take the battle for Stroggos to the home theater as this epic war for survival comes to life with true high-definition sights and 5.1 surround sound," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. "This is the next generation of gaming and QUAKE 4 fans should prepare to experience a non-stop ride of action and adrenaline as they battle along side Rhino Squad, through this heroic mission to defeat the unstoppable Strogg army and preserve the human race."
Developed by Raven Software and executive produced by id Software, QUAKE 4 picks up only moments after the events of the epic QUAKE II(R), with the Earth's fleet launching a massive offensive to the planet Stroggos. As Matthew Kane, gamers invade the alien stronghold fighting alone, along side other Marines, and in mechanized walkers and hover tanks in incredible combat missions against the Strogg and their disturbing amalgamations of man and machine. Built on id Software's revolutionary DOOM 3(R) technology, QUAKE 4 also features the world renowned fast-paced multiplayer competition-style gameplay of the historic QUAKE III Arena(R). Incorporating Capture the Flag, Arena Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and an all new Tournament mode for up to 8 players on Xbox Live(R) online gaming system or System Link, QUAKE 4 is poised to set the standard for online multiplayer bragging rights.
QUAKE 4 also contains hours of bonus content, including behind-the-scenes videos and interviews plus a complete version of QUAKE II(R), re-engineered exclusively for Xbox 360 featuring up to 4-player support for co-operative play and multiplayer support over System Link.
The folks over at Phoronix have piled up a new performance analysis regarding FPS results contrasts between the original version of Quake 4, v1.0, and the patch update version, v1.0.4.
Don't hesitate, check the article out if you still haven't disputed whether you'd prefer to install the patch or not!
To kick things off, the first Win32/Linux 1.0.4.0 patch update for Quake 4 has been released, here's the changelog:
GENERAL:
Copied map files can now be overwritten/deleted without quitting first. The console command "com_allowconsole" will stay set after leaving the game. INTERFACE:
Improved Game Browser sorting and filtering: You can sort by up to three criteria, which will be displayed just under the server list, with the more recently clicked criteria sorting first. For example, to sort by ping time, then number of players, then gametype, click them in the reverse order: Click "GAMETYPE," then "PLAYERS," then "PING." The server list will be sorted by the fastest ping, then the servers with the fewest players, then the gametype. Clicking a category more than once will keep its position as the primary sorting criteria, but will change the sorting order. After cycling through all available sort types, clicking the category a final time will remove it from the sorting. Each criteria has specific behavior with one or two clicks, as listed: Favorite Server: Display only favorites, or only non-favorites. Password Enabled: Display only locked server, or only unlocked servers. Dedicated Server: Display only Dedicated servers, or only Listen servers. Punkbuster Enabled: Display only PB-enabled servers, or only PB- disabled servers. Server Name: Sort server names A to Z, or Z to A. Ping: Sort by ping Low to High, or High to Low. Players: Sort by Players High to Low, High to Low (non-full), Low to High, or Low to High (non-empty). Gametype: Sort by Deathmatch, Team DM, Tournament, CTF, or Arena CTF. Map: Sort by map CTF1 to DM9, or DM9 to CTF1. The Game Browser now displays more than 1000 servers. Fixed a problem with the refresh time on the Game Browser. Added a Game Browser filter for full or empty servers. Players can now connect to a server while the Game Browser is refreshing. Game Browser sorting will display the correct server information without the need to refresh the list. Clicking anywhere on the scrollbar except the button itself will advance a page up or down instead of shifting to that position. Non-full server sorting now disregards full servers. Game Browser hover window updates when sort order is changed. Fixed a Game Browser slowdown issue with high numbers of servers. Added Game Browser server list scrolling with the mousewheel, keyboard arrows up/down, and keyboard Page Up/Page Down. The Game Browser hover window will only appear when mousing over a highlighted server. Sorting by server name will now ignore colored names, brackets, etc. MULTIPLAYER:
The dedicated server window will now be titled with the si_name setting instead of "Quake 4". Related articles, Click here
It weighs precisely 12.8MB (Win32)/18.4MB (Linux), Download it at Worthplaying. And secondly, v1.0 of the Quake 4 Win32/Linux SDK toolkit has also been unleashed, weighing approximately 61.32MB (Linux)/55.97MB (Win32), bag it as well at Worthplaying.
A Quake 4 walkthrough project is now in progress for quake4portal.com. We will try to get it done very soon, but we have no real idea on when it will be completely finished. We currently have 3 people working on it, including myself. Each of us is doing about 1/3 of the project. The 3 people working on it are: Bryan AKA "quake0holick", Wulff, Fluffy Kitty, and Tony Bortolazzo.
The dudes over at Gamecloud have snapped onto the net their belated review of Quake 4, rating it a good 84%/100% overall score. Here's a nip:
"Drivable vehicles aren't the only differences between Quake II and Quake IV. Most of the weapons in Quake IV game are holdovers from Quake II (pistol, machine gun, rocket launcher, railgun, etc) but Quake IV also has some upgrades that your friendly marines give you for those weapons. Speaking of which, those marines are also a new element in Quake IV with some decent AI that will be able to help you out in certain situations."
Mesquite, TX - Nov. 11, 2005 - The Strogg are storming onto next-generation console hardware with id Software's eagerly anticipated QUAKE 4 for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The new addition to the renowned QUAKE franchise is set to ship out for Xbox 360 on Nov. 18 in the U.S, and additionally will be available at retail outlets day-and-date with Xbox 360 system launch in Europe. QUAKE 4 is rated "M" (Mature) by the ESRB.
QUAKE 4 enlists gamers in the role of Matthew Kane, a member of the Earth Defense Force's legendary Rhino Squad, to penetrate deep into the heart of the Strogg war machine. Fight alone, with your squad, and in hover tanks and mechanized walkers as you engage in a heroic mission to defeat this barbaric alien race before they annihilate all of human-kind.
Developed by Raven Software and executive produced by id Software, QUAKE 4 is built on the revolutionary DOOM 3 technology, and also features fast-paced multiplayer competition modeled after the speed, style and feel of id's landmark multiplayer game, QUAKE III Arena.
Players are also treated to hours of bonus content including behind the scenes videos as well as a complete version of id Software's blockbuster hit, QUAKE II. This full game has been re-engineered exclusively for Xbox 360 and includes the entire single player campaign in addition to 2-4 player co-op and 2-8 player multiplayer via System Link or split-screen.
