@~This issue, James Judge and Christopher Teague both look at ...

                    Quake - iD Software

1. Reviewed by James Judge on a P120

Picture this...

A typical English countryside scene. There are lush, green meadows
spreading over low, rolling hills interspersed by small farmsteads
and outhouses.  Luscious green hedges separate the meadows and
cattle graze contentedly within their bounds. A small, babbling
brook runs through some of the fields with a kingfisher darting in
and out of its crystal clear blue waters. Barely a cloud touches
the sky as birds fly lazily across the horizon, chirping their
beautiful song. The smell of honeysuckle fills your nostrils and a
warm breeze touches your cheek.

See that? Pretty, isn't it? Unfortunately it has nothing to do
with this game. Ho hum.

Instead, picture a small, dark room cluttered with clothes and
magazines, socks hanging from the wall and pants crunching
underfoot. The odd fly buzzes around angrily and lands on a day
old sticky bun. The bin's overflowing and no sunlight touches the
room thanks to heavy curtains. On a battered table in one corner
sits a darkly glowing monitor, in front of which is a yellowed
keyboard with its F4 key missing. See the hunched figure perched
over the keyboard, brows knitted in constipation (sorry,
concentration), licking his lips fervently. See the maniacal look
in his eyes as his fingers dart smoothly over the keyboard. Hear
the bestial grunts emanating from the speakers to his sides.
Shiver as a gut- wrenching scream pierces the lull.

Now, do you see that? That's me, that is. Playing Quake.  Try and
drag my attention away from the screen with cries of "free food",
"free CD's", "I've got a Peavey EVH signature guitar here for you
- free!" and "there's nubile, naked women frolicking on your
lawn". You'll see I don't move - instead I mow down the next
shambler that rounds the corner and plough further on into the
game.  Yes, it's that good. It is, in fact, the contemporary
definition of perfect in some respects. Not all, just some.  Let
me tell you about this game which has caught the world, much as
its predecessor did (Doom, for the terminally dead among us).

Quake is the next generation of Doom games by the same people who
did Quake - iD Software. This means that they know what they're
talking about when writing top-quality games. The simple premise
of the game is to guide your character around the many cunning
levels picking up new weapons as you go, slaughtering everything
that pops into sight. Finally completing all of the four episodes,
collecting the four runes and... well, I'll let you figure the
rest out yourself.

There are four things that radically alter this game from Doom and
Doom 2. The first is that the game is in a truly 3D environment.
Doom was pseudo-3D in as much as you had different height levels
in the game which you could traverse at will but (a) you could not
look up and down or jump and (b) you would never get two areas
directly above one another (ie a room on top of another).  This
was because the Doom engine and maps were designed with 2D in
mind, which was then extruded into 3D; but it limited the real
'space' of the game. Quake, however, is fully 3D, so you'll get
rooms on top of one another, spiral staircases - you can jump and
look all over the shop. It is completely free movement, within the
constraints of gravity. This extra dimension makes for wondrous
levels which are cunningly designed by the iD team. Sadly, though,
the automap isn't present due to this extra dimension so if you
got lost in Doom you've got no chance here...

The second aspect to differentiate this game from previous Doom
games is the beauty of the graphics.  There are a huge variety of
resolutions you can run the game in, all depending on your
graphics card. Naturally, to see the game in its full glory of
SVGA running at 20 plus frames per second you'll need a P200 with
32megs of RAM and the best 3D graphics card out at the moment -
even then it may jerk. I kid you not. However, in standard ol' VGA
the game still looks magnificent and runs at a rate of knots on a
486DX4-100 or above, which is lucky. All the graphics are fully
light-sourced and even the monsters are fully 3D, being made of a
number of polygons which are animated superbly. The range of
textures used on walls, floors, ceilings and water (including
clouds, poisonous gunk and the newly present lava) are all top
quality giving the game a medieval, eerie pagan feel with corpses
being crucified on walls everywhere. However, everything is a
little brown. Play the game and see what I mean.

The third aspect is the tweekability factor of the game.  Through
add-on disks and the PD sector there are literally thousands of
free levels to be had up for grabs, as it was with Doom. However,
there are also loads of patches too which you can run with your
full version of Quake. These patches (written in C) allow the game
to be controlled in an infinite number of ways. Lurking on my HDD
I've got loads of different monsters (a Manga Babe and Psionic
Slug anyone?) and hundreds of different weapons from crossbows to
throwing axes, lasers, morning stars, homing missiles, guided
missiles, flame throwers, proximity bombs, chainsaws and bungee
ropes. You can also change the gravity present, the speed
everything moves and many other physical aspects to the game. Here

the limitations to tweaking the game are only what you can either
do yourself or find on the Internet or cover CDs.

The fourth and final aspect that makes this game brilliant is the
multiplayer options. Doom started the multiplayer craze with
networks all over the world spawning Deathmatches galore,
irritating bosses no end. Quake takes all of this one step
further. Now you can play with up to fifteen other players on the
same map and the ease of connecting through the Internet has been
made simplicity itself with a small utility called QuakeSpy. With
the extra aspects mentioned above, the ability to sit down and
face human opponents instead of just mindless ogres and grunts is
pure bliss. I've only played it over a LAN with two other friends
and it was very easy to get running. One person starts the game,
becoming the server, and other players join when they want to. No
monsters are present on any of the maps and it's just you against
them. To distinguish each other you can change the colours of your
armour, or you can use one of the many Skin patches which can turn
you into Boba Fett, Judge Dredd, the Predator or a million and one
other characters (or you can just design your own, if you're so
inclined). The computer keeps count of how many frags (kills)
you've made and the winner is the one with the highest number.

Apart from the Deathmatch option (the favourite) there are also
co-operative modes and team modes. Both the Team and Deathmatch
options are to expanded further via iD Software as they set up a
world-wide network of Quake servers which users can then log into
and play games with either their Clan (team) or on their own. The
results will then be logged on a main computer and a "world's
best" Quaker table will be drawn up. This prospect excites me
greatly and I can't wait until it is operational.

I can't fault the engine of this game - for current games this is
the cream of the crop. The initial package may have been slightly
limited with weapons, but that was soon put to rights through the
freeware add-ons that have proliferated cover CDs and the
Internet. Also the single player game is not as engaging as it
could have been. At no time during the game was I as engaged as
when I was playing Doom or Doom 2 and the same sense of fear,
urgency and impending death is sadly lacking. Instead you feel as
if you are ploughing on through surmountable odds, taking one
enemy at a time.  There are relative few moments in Quake where
you come to a complete dead end due to either a group of monsters
or a puzzle. However, this shortcoming (which is major if you have
no way of multi-playing) is made up tenfold with the multiplayer
options. To be honest, I have never gained so much satisfaction
out of a game than when I've been chasing James Jillians around a
level blowing him to shreds time and time again.

And the way that he blows up... it's almost poetic. The gore level
is far higher in this game that others. If you're cunning (and
lucky) you can gib your opponent which means killing him by
blowing his body apart. When this happens you can get the largest
shower of blood you'll ever have seen in a computer game with
charred lumps of flesh flying everywhere. The gibbed player's head
also shoots off and having one of those fly past your face for no
apparent reason is a disturbing moment, I can tell you.

So, if you like your games fast, furious and endlessly
configurable then Quake is the way to go. Unfortunately if you
don't have access to a LAN or the Internet then the best parts of
the game will be inaccessible to you, which is a great shame. If
this is the case then maybe purchasing Quake is not a good idea as
the single player aspect is a lot weaker than the multiplayer one.

However, if you've got access to multiplayer heaven then this,
along with Red Alert, is one of THE games with which to prove your
skill and ability against human opposition, and it is infinitely
more satisfying to see your best friend's head go flying across a
level instead of a mindless computer controlled monster.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2. Reviewed by Christopher Teague chris@smb.clara.net
using a P150 with Win95, 16mb of RAM, SVGA and Soundblaster Pro

It may well be over a year now, since its original release, but I
can now roudly proclaim the following: I have played Quake. And,
unsurprisingly, I love it (well, as far as anyone can love a
computer game and stay within the law, that is). The main reason
it has been over a year in waiting for me is the fact that I did
not have a PC one year ago - I was, and still am, an ST owner.
But, it still took me time to purchase it, and if it wasn't for a
few words from a friend of mine, then I wouldn't be writing this
review since I still wouldn't have purchased it.  What held me
back, apart from finances to buy the PC in the first place, was
the simple fact of Quake's predecessors:  Doom and Wolfenstein,
and for me, I found them enjoyable, and tiresome in the long-term
(with only Deathmatch Doom to lighten the boredom). I found that
you could get to a point in the game, where you're either lost, or
you've killed every bugger, or you've just given up and can't be
bothered.  With Quake, even though you do get to the occasional
point of "what now?" the answer is not that far away, unlike its
predecessors.

But, now, I am repentant: apart from the above fact, the whole
atmosphere generated by iD software's superlative game and graphic
design, 3D engine system, and Trent Reznor's music and sound
effects (I am new- found fan of ole Trent, and his Nine Inch
Nails) is just mind-blowing - Freescape was good, on the good ole
Speccy, but this is just overwhelming (relatively speaking, of
course).

I suppose most people know this, but for all those who don't
(surely, there can't be that many - even I, without a PC, knew
more or less the following) here is the breakdown of Quake:  When
the game starts proper, the player is presented with four exits in
a room: easy, medium, hard and nightmare - the latter is hidden,
so there is no excuse by stumbling upon it "by accident".  After a
skill is set, another room is presented with the four episodes to
enter: Dimension of the Doomed, Realm of Black Magic, Netherworld
and The Elder World.  Since Quake was originally a "shareware"
product, only the first episode was available; you had to register
to purchase the other three - if you bought the game commercially,
though, then you had the registered version with all four
episodes. I've finished the first, which took some time, and am
currently stuck on the second - it is wise to run through them in
order.  The player can run, jump, shoot (a variety of weaponry,
except the BFG from Doom), swim (which is an excellent addition,
but dangerous - you are a mammal, after all).  You only have one
life, with 100 health points: each time you get hit by an enemy,

you lose a number of points, which can be amended with the
occasional health pack dotted about.

I am no great adventure gamer, but the puzzles in the game are
mostly simple, or of the stature "not too difficult". Puzzles are
solved with the use of buttons or floorplates (which you have to
step on), keys (or cards), or opening doors.  There are also
secret locations in each episode, which wield rewards aplenty for
the discerning player.

Even on my system, a fairly average P150, the game runs very
smoothly indeed, which is quite a shock because I was expecting a
tad amount of jerkiness.  As I've said, the sound is excellent,
and actually helps: an enemy grunt can point you in the direction
of a prospective hunter, or cannon fodder.  The music is your
general industrial, so unless you're a fan already (which I am)
then it won't convert you, but it does suit the game perfectly.
But, you could always put in your own CD - hmm, now where did I
put my copy of "The Sound of Music"?

Finally: I purchased my copy of Quake on the Replay label, and so
for anyone else out there who are also "Quake virgins" then what
else are you going to spend œ14.99 on? Well, apart from: 2.5
cinema tickets; one decent CD record; an almost full basket of
groceries; nearly ten pints of the finest ale, or lager; or,
whatever the going rate is "down the docks".  So, take it from me,
buy this game: you won't be disappointed - unless, of course you
absolutely hate games that involve inflicting fatal injuries on
enemy creatures with a variety of weaponry.










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