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The ''Quake 4'' single player mode continues the story of ''[[Quake II]]'' by pitting the player against a [[cyborg]] [[extraterrestrial life in popular culture|alien]] [[race]] known as the [[Strogg]]. The game follows the story of a [[Marine (armed services)|marine]] named [[Matthew Kane]] who is a member of the fabled Rhino [[Squad]]. Following the success of the protagonist of ''Quake II'' in destroying the Strogg's leader, the [[Makron]], the Rhinos are tasked with spearheading the mission to finally secure the alien's home planet Stroggos. In the course of the invasion, the squad ship is shot down and crashes in the middle of a battle zone, separating Kane from his companions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=266|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Air Defense Bunker|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> Kane eventually rejoins his scattered team members and partakes in the assault against the Strogg.
The ''Quake 4'' single player mode continues the story of ''[[Quake II]]'' by pitting the player against a [[cyborg]] [[extraterrestrial life in popular culture|alien]] [[race]] known as the [[Strogg]]. The game follows the story of a [[Marine (armed services)|marine]] named [[Matthew Kane]] who is a member of the fabled Rhino [[Squad]]. Following the success of the protagonist of ''Quake II'' in destroying the Strogg's leader, the [[Makron]], the Rhinos are tasked with spearheading the mission to finally secure the alien's home planet Stroggos. In the course of the invasion, the squad ship is shot down and crashes in the middle of a battle zone, separating Kane from his companions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=266|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Air Defense Bunker|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> Kane eventually rejoins his scattered team members and partakes in the assault against the Strogg.


After performing a number of tasks, such as destroying and capturing Strogg aircraft hangars and defense systems,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=269|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Interior Hangar|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=270|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:MCC Landing Site|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> Kane and his remaining squad members make it to the ''USS Hannibal''. There they are given their next mission: infiltrating one of the Strogg's central communication hubs, the Tetranode, with an [[electromagnetic pulse]] bomb in the hope that it will put the main Strogg [[Nexus]] in disarray. Kane is tasked with defending the mission convoy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=272|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Canyon|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> which takes heavy casualties. After many setbacks, including the destruction of the EMP device by a Strogg ambush, Kane is left to complete the mission, assistd only by [[Private (rank)|Private]] Johann Strauss and [[Lance Corporal]] Nikolai "Sledge" Slidjonovitch. Strauss figures out a way to destroy the core by shutting down its coolant systems. As Kane reaches the entrance to the Tetranode, however, he is greeted by two rocket-equipped network guardians - as well as the newly constructed [[Makron]]. The Makron easily defeats Kane and knocks him unconscious.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=277|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Nexus Hub|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref>
After performing a number of tasks, such as destroying and capturing Strogg aircraft hangars and defense systems,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=269|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Interior Hangar|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=270|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:MCC Landing Site|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> Kane and his remaining squad members make it to the ''USS Hannibal''. There they are given their next mission: infiltrating one of the Strogg's central communication hubs, the Tetranode, with an [[electromagnetic pulse]] bomb in the hope that it will put the main Strogg [[Nexus]] in disarray. Kane is tasked with defending the mission convoy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=272|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Canyon|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> which takes heavy casualties. After many setbacks, including the destruction of the EMP device by a Strogg ambush, Kane is left to complete the mission, assisted only by [[Private (rank)|Private]] Johann Strauss and [[Lance Corporal]] Nikolai "Sledge" Slidjonovitch. Strauss figures out a way to destroy the core by shutting down its coolant systems. As Kane reaches the entrance to the Tetranode, however, he is greeted by two rocket-equipped network guardians - as well as the newly constructed [[Makron]]. The Makron easily defeats Kane and knocks him unconscious.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=277|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Nexus Hub|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref>


When Kane finally awakens, he finds himself strapped to a conveyor belt in the Strogg "Medical Facilities", a structure used for turning those captured and killed by the aliens either into protein food or additional Strogg units. In a long and gruesome first-person cutscene, Kane is taken through this ''stroggification'' process which violently replaces much of his anatomy with bio-mechanical parts. Before the final controlling [[neurochip]] implanted in his brain can be activated, though, Rhino Squad bursts into the facility and rescues Kane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=278|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Strogg Medical Facilities|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> After escaping through the Strogg medical facility and Waste Disposal plant, fighting off zombie-like half-stroggified humans along the way, Kane is forced to combat his former commander, [[Lieutenant]] Scott Voss, who has been fully stroggified into a powerful mechanized monster. (Voss nevertheless retains his own consciousness long enough to warn Kane.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=283|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Waste Processing Facility|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> After defeating this threat, Kane and the remaining marines finally make it back to the ''Hannibal''.
When Kane finally awakens, he finds himself strapped to a conveyor belt in the Strogg "Medical Facilities", a structure used for turning those captured and killed by the aliens either into protein food or additional Strogg units. In a long and gruesome first-person cutscene, Kane is taken through this ''stroggification'' process which violently replaces much of his anatomy with bio-mechanical parts. Before the final controlling [[neurochip]] implanted in his brain can be activated, though, Rhino Squad bursts into the facility and rescues Kane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=278|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Strogg Medical Facilities|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> After escaping through the Strogg medical facility and Waste Disposal plant, fighting off zombie-like half-stroggified humans along the way, Kane is forced to combat his former commander, [[Lieutenant]] Scott Voss, who has been fully stroggified into a powerful mechanized monster. (Voss nevertheless retains his own consciousness long enough to warn Kane.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guides.gamepressure.com/quake4/guide.asp?ID=283|title=Quake 4 Game Guide:Waste Processing Facility|work=Gamepressure.com|accessdate=December 18|accessyear=2006}}</ref> After defeating this threat, Kane and the remaining marines finally make it back to the ''Hannibal''.

Revision as of 21:09, 8 September 2007

Quake 4
North American PC box art for Quake 4
Developer(s)Raven Software, id Software
Publisher(s)Activision, Aspyr Media, 1C Company
EngineDoom 3 engine (id Tech 4)
Platform(s)PC (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows), Xbox 360
ReleaseOctober 18, 2005 (Windows)
October 20, 2005 (Linux)
November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360)
April 5, 2006 (Mac)
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Quake 4 is the fourth title in the series of Quake FPS computer games. It was developed by Raven Software and distributed by Activision. Raven Software has collaborated with id Software, the creators and usual developers of Quake games in the past. In this case, id Software supervised the development of the game as well as providing the Doom 3 engine, now referred to as 'id Tech 4', upon which it was built. Quake 4 went gold in early October 2005 and was released on October 18, 2005 for the PC, and later for the Xbox 360 and the Apple Macintosh. A special DVD Collectors Edition also exists, including promotional material and the game Quake II with its expansions. The Xbox 360 version of Quake 4 is based on the Special Collectors Edition, and therefore also includes Quake II.

Plotwise, the game is a sequel to Quake II. However, Quake II and Quake 4, do not share story lines with Quake or Quake III Arena; their only relation is their names and logos.

Story

The Quake 4 single player mode continues the story of Quake II by pitting the player against a cyborg alien race known as the Strogg. The game follows the story of a marine named Matthew Kane who is a member of the fabled Rhino Squad. Following the success of the protagonist of Quake II in destroying the Strogg's leader, the Makron, the Rhinos are tasked with spearheading the mission to finally secure the alien's home planet Stroggos. In the course of the invasion, the squad ship is shot down and crashes in the middle of a battle zone, separating Kane from his companions.[1] Kane eventually rejoins his scattered team members and partakes in the assault against the Strogg.

After performing a number of tasks, such as destroying and capturing Strogg aircraft hangars and defense systems,[2][3] Kane and his remaining squad members make it to the USS Hannibal. There they are given their next mission: infiltrating one of the Strogg's central communication hubs, the Tetranode, with an electromagnetic pulse bomb in the hope that it will put the main Strogg Nexus in disarray. Kane is tasked with defending the mission convoy,[4] which takes heavy casualties. After many setbacks, including the destruction of the EMP device by a Strogg ambush, Kane is left to complete the mission, assisted only by Private Johann Strauss and Lance Corporal Nikolai "Sledge" Slidjonovitch. Strauss figures out a way to destroy the core by shutting down its coolant systems. As Kane reaches the entrance to the Tetranode, however, he is greeted by two rocket-equipped network guardians - as well as the newly constructed Makron. The Makron easily defeats Kane and knocks him unconscious.[5]

When Kane finally awakens, he finds himself strapped to a conveyor belt in the Strogg "Medical Facilities", a structure used for turning those captured and killed by the aliens either into protein food or additional Strogg units. In a long and gruesome first-person cutscene, Kane is taken through this stroggification process which violently replaces much of his anatomy with bio-mechanical parts. Before the final controlling neurochip implanted in his brain can be activated, though, Rhino Squad bursts into the facility and rescues Kane.[6] After escaping through the Strogg medical facility and Waste Disposal plant, fighting off zombie-like half-stroggified humans along the way, Kane is forced to combat his former commander, Lieutenant Scott Voss, who has been fully stroggified into a powerful mechanized monster. (Voss nevertheless retains his own consciousness long enough to warn Kane.)[7] After defeating this threat, Kane and the remaining marines finally make it back to the Hannibal.

The commanders realize that Kane's Strogg physiology has opened up new possibilities for defeating the Strogg, as he can be used to infiltrate locations previously impenetrable to human forces. The new plan is to directly target the Strogg Core, a huge centralized brain-like structure which controls the alien forces. Rhino and Raven Squads are tasked with infiltrating the three data processing towers adjacent to the Nexus, a huge data storage and processing tower. There, they will power up the teleporter used to access the Nexus and send Kane in. Once inside, Kane will travel to the center of the Nexus to destroy the Core and its guardian.

After infiltrating the facility and realigning the data nodes powering the teleporter, and destroying its fearsome "Guardian" creature,[8] Kane finally reaches the Nexus core. There he meets the Makron in a final showdown and kills him. This done, he destroys the Core and returns to the Hannibal. Celebrating with Rhino Squad afterward, Kane receives word that he has new orders ...[9]

Gameplay

Single Player

Gameplay features include vehicle-based combat with several vehicles introduced throughout the game, and squad-based combat on occasions where Rhino Squad fights alongside Kane, including medics and technicians in his squad who can heal him or repair his armor. Around a third of the way through the game, events lead to Kane being captured and then partially Stroggified — that is, turned into a Strogg — but the process is interrupted by Marines before completion so Kane retains his free will. This turn of events allows for more gameplay changes, including the ability to understand Strogg communications and use Strogg health stations, as well as a change to the player's HUD (Head-Up Display). This plot device also advances the story in different directions.
Quake 4's campaign differs from that of its spiritual predecessor (Quake 2) in that the main protagonist is not stranded or alone behind enemy lines. The team and squad-based gameplay replaces the sense of hostile aloneness with a sense of organized assault. The protagonist of Quake 4 is given a name and can sometimes be seen from a third-person point of view, which contrasts the mysterious unseen protagonist of Quake 2.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer modes are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Tourney, Capture the Flag, Arena CTF and DeadZone. Players at Quakecon reported the multiplayer gameplay to include elements similar to those in previous Quake games such as Strafe-jumping or Rocket jumping. Notable new additions to play are the ability to send shots through the teleporters and the advancement of the game physics provided by the new technology including the ability to bounce grenades off the jump-pads.

Like the previous Quake games the multiplayer has a client-server architecture. The network code has been altered from Doom 3, allowing for larger numbers of players on each server (Doom 3 has a four player restriction, whereas Quake 4 has a standard 16 player limit). One of the changes to the network code is a move from the per-polygon hit detection system used in Doom 3 back to using hit-box system like most other online first-person shooters such as other Quake games and Half-Life.

Five of the more popular mods for Quake 4 are Q4MAX, XBM, DeltaCTF, GTR and Q4SupremacyMod-GTR. Q4MAX is the most developed of these, offering many HUD, frame-rate, and gameplay tweaks and fixes. Q4MAX is used for the majority of tournaments, and used by the Cyberathlete Professional League.

Nicknames can be colorized with most keyboards by typing the ^ character, followed by 0 through 9 to specify the color. Using idm0 or iw00 through iw09 will display images varying from a skull, to various weapon symbols. Most often used for nicknames under multiplayer, these character sequences can be typed into config files, the console, and chat text.

Bots

Quake 4 came without any bots for multiplayer play. User-made bots for practicing offline for users with only a dial-up connection or filling LAN servers are being developed by many dedicated fans of the game. Two prominent bots are Jarad "TinMan" Hansen's SABot (a.k.a Stupid Angry Bot) and Alpha Omni-bot, which perform very well on the retail multiplayer map packs as well as user-created custom maps. There is also the Oak Bot which is still in development. Bots are also in development as part of Q4MAX.


Critical response

Reviews of the game were generally favorable for the Windows version of the game, with game databases Metacritic and MobyGames giving the game aggregate review scores of 79/100 and 81/100 respectively.[10][11] Websites and magazines such as IGN and UGO praised its single-player campaign, graphics and Hollywood voice-acting, but complained that its multiplayer was too much like Quake III's. A few days after release the majority of reviews gave Quake 4 scores of 80–90%. PC Gamer Magazine gave Quake 4 a good review [12] for both singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay.

The Xbox 360 version of the game fared considerably worse with critics when it was released, scoring only 74/100 on Metacritic, and 75/100 on MobyGames averaged scores.[13][14]EGM gave a mixed rating to the Xbox 360 port, claiming that the single-player campaign was not creative enough to compete with other games such as Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 and that the game ran poorly on the 360.

One major praise of the game was for its return to plot-based single player missions that had not been included in Quake III: Arena. [citation needed]

Versions

Quake 4 was released at the launch of the Xbox 360 and is Xbox Live compatible. Due to the fact that Quake 4 needed to be developed in a short time period in order to meet the launch of the Xbox 360, there have been major issues with framerates for the console adaptation, earning it the award for Most Aggravating Frame Rate / Best Slideshow in the GameSpot.com Best and Worst of 2005 list. These framerate issues only occur in the rare instance where many enemies and large explosions are occurring on screen at the same time and the game is using the Standard Definition video setting. When played in High Definition, however, framerate issues occur more frequently due to increased processing demands at the higher resolution. In addition, the Xbox 360 port of Quake 4 has very long load times and Xbox Live glitches that result in problematic multiplayer experiences, as documented by game review sites as well as on Activision's support pages for the Xbox 360 version. This version was initially priced the same as the PC Special Edition DVD and features the same content. Unlike the PC version, however, as of July 2007 the Xbox 360 version has not received any patches to fix its numerous problems.

Aspyr Media published and released Quake 4 for Mac OS X, on April 5, 2006 as a universal binary, compatible with both PowerPC- and x86-based Macs.

id Software continued its tradition of supporting Linux by releasing a Linux version of the Quake 4 binary executable. The game can be downloaded for free from id's servers, though it requires a licensed copy of Quake 4 for Windows in order to run. The Linux installer was made available two days after the release of the game itself.

At the spring 2007 IDF exhibition Intel Corp. demoed Q4RT, a raytraced version of Quake4, running on a blade server composed of four Core 2 Quad based machines. [1]

References

  1. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Air Defense Bunker". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Interior Hangar". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:MCC Landing Site". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Canyon". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Nexus Hub". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Strogg Medical Facilities". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Waste Processing Facility". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:Data Networking Security". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Quake 4 Game Guide:The Nexus". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Metacritic PC Review score compilation". metacritic.com. Retrieved January 03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Mobygames PC Review score compilation". mobygames.com. Retrieved June 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Quake 4 Review by Matthew D. Sarrel". PC Gamer MAgazine. 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Metacritic Xbox 360 Review score compilation". metacritic.com. Retrieved January 03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Mobygames Xbox 360 Review score compilation". mobygames.com. Retrieved June 6. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
Official Websites
General Resources
Multiplayer Modifications
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