"Highs - Loads of action; gruesome visuals; Q3DM17 with Doom 3 graphics

Lows - Uninspired gameplay; Stroggification plot twist goes nowhere; no multiplayer bots.

Bottom line - This old-school shooter suffers from a lack of 21st-century game design."

"QUAKE 4 PC TO HIT STORE SHELVES IN MID-OCTOBER

Mesquite, TX – October 3, 2005 – id Software™, Raven Software and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) have confirmed Earth’s invasion of Stroggos with the announcement that QUAKE 4™ PC has entered manufacturing and will begin shipping to retail stores nationwide on Tuesday, October 18. The long awaited sequel to QUAKE II®, 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 and engage in a series of heroic missions to destroy the barbaric alien race.

“On October 18, QUAKE is dialing it up to 4.0 on the Richter Scale with this new chapter in Earth’s war against the Strogg,” said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. “Fusing an epic war-story driven single player campaign, and fast-paced QUAKE III Arena® inspired multiplayer, QUAKE 4 delivers a gaming experience fans will be raving about for years.”

Developed by Raven Software and executive produced by id Software, QUAKE 4 begins only moments after the events of QUAKE II, with the Earth’s fleet launching a massive offensive to the planet Stroggos. As Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad, gamers invade the alien stronghold, fighting alone, along side other Marines, and in mechanized walkers and hover tanks as they encounter the Strogg and their disturbing amalgamations of man and machine. Built on id Software’s revolutionary DOOM 3® technology, QUAKE 4 also features fast-paced multiplayer competition modeled after the speed style and feel of QUAKE III Arena.

For more information, fans can visit www.quake4game.com. QUAKE 4 has been rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB."

"The dedicated server will be released around the same time as the Windows version. The linux client, might be delayed a week or two. Quake4 will use the Simple Direct Media Layer (SDL) backend for input and OpenGL on Linux. The low level sys code for Linux had been needing a good rewrite for several years, so it made sense to use SDL now.

Quake 4 is the first game to utilize id Software's revolutionary DooM 3 technology. In the game, you are Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad and Earth's valiant invasion force. Fight alone, with your squad, and in hover tanks and mechanized walkers as you engage in a heroic mission into the heart of the Strogg war machine. But, in this epic war between worlds, the only way to defeat the Strogg is to become one of them. Battle through early missions as a deadly marine, then after your capture as a marine-turned-Strogg with enhanced abilities and the power to turn the tide of the war."

"The nailgun was introduced in the original Quake, and then returned in the Quake 3 expansion pack, Team Arena. This new Strogg nailgun operates a little different from its two predecessors, however; there's a brief windup time before unleashing a stream of nails at anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path. In some ways, it's closer to the Quake 2 chaingun than any other weapon in the series."

"The AI in Quake 4 has been beefed up considerably over the previous games. It could be easily comparable to if not much more improved than Halflife 2. The Strogg warriors don’t want to die any more than you do, and they’ll move, take cover, or switch up their attack methods however they see fit to survive. I don’t want to give too much away, but I can definitely verify that you won’t live to see the end of the game if you stick to the more primitive method of standing still and unloading your clip on an incoming enemy. Some Strogg can even change over to melee attacks once they’re within a certain range."

"In the first level, which is primarily indoors, the game plays somewhat like Doom 3; that is, you walk through tight corridors and rooms punctuated by Strogg leaping out from behind corners. It's made a bit more interesting, however, by the presence of your colleagues, who reinforce you both with words and bullets. That rather obvious conceit actually made a considerable difference to my enjoyment of the game. I've always enjoyed cooperative modes in games, and even if they're just computers I'd rather have some buddies by my side. It also keeps the game moving at a brisk pace since you're always aware of what you're doing and why. Most action games that are this scripted just aren't going to be particularly non-linear, so everything may as well be spelled out for you while you focus on the shooting and the not dying."

"Besides, they just finished pushing out the graphically impressive Doom 3 engine, so it could be said that they already had “flashy” taken care of. All the technical and graphical power that made everyone “ooh” and “ahh” in Doom 3 are still present. You’ll see the heat shimmer from burning wreckage distorting the air of exploded vehicles, computer console panels will look alive, and the particle effects will have you wiping your eyes from the smoke. But what you’ll also see is a game that has expended far beyond what many called “the tech demo” that was Doom 3.

Recently I was invited to spend a few memorable hours in the tortured universe of Quake. Activision assembled a few gaming journalists together in front of some high end PCs and gave them just two directives – have fun and raise your hand when you finish a level. With the game still being worked on, they wanted to make sure we didn’t explore into any top secret areas."

"All MP modes start you with an assault rifle and saw blade device. There doesn't appear to be any locational damage, though, at least in this build, so it's a matter of unloading a lot of rounds into your target. I also didn't notice any grenades, which would have been nice when you're running around with the starter weapon and faced with the guys with rocket launcher and hyperblasters. Team deathmatch and CTF give the teams two different-colored outfits, and you also get a color-coded arrow above a guy's head for easy identification. We were also very briefly treated to a DM map set in space, complete with ledges leading into the abyss."

"In terms of production value, Quake 4 looks and sounds spectacular. With all the bells and whistles and graphical splendor of DOOM 3, Quake 4 looks like it will come out of the dark and offer plenty of outdoor areas to keep the game from looking like DOOM 3.5. The player models look fantastic, the weapons feel and sound extremely tight (much meatier than many of the weapons in DOOM 3), and the game just rumbles at every turn. Although there's no official word on how close the game is to finished, the game ran silky smooth throughout all our playtesting, even in the large outdoor areas. "

"Both the hovertank and the walker feature regenerating armor and shields. So, like in Halo, if you take damage to the shields and the armor, all you need to do is find a quiet spot and wait a few seconds until they slowly regenerate. Of these vehicles, the hovertank felt the most unique to a Quake game. Since the hovertank hovers above the ground and doesn't create any friction, driving it feels almost like you're controlling a bumper car. You can slide left and right, and glide backward and forward, ram Strogg infantry (and see them tumble away thanks to the physics engine), and pound a target from a distance with the cannon. The outdoor levels are fairly large, though open and plain, and the level we played was reminiscent of the canal level in Half-Life 2, only without the water. The toughest part of the entire level was coming upon some sort of Strogg boss who locked missiles onto the tank. Thankfully, a warning Klaxon lets you know when they've got a missile lock, so then you can target and shoot down the incoming warheads."