An expansion for Quake II
You are part of an elite commando force that must infiltrate a hostile alien cite. Once inside, you must scour industrial landscapes, crawl through waterways and air ducts, navigate treacherous canyons teeming with vicious mutants, stow away on an alien spacecraft, and destroy the enemy's secret moon base.
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I actually ended up really enjoying my run through the Reckoning, up until the laser-sniper infantry coupled with gladiators in The Hangars convinced me I didn't have the patience to continue on without save-scumming anymore.
Anyway speaking of the infantry, I was glad to encounter 3 new types. My favorite enemies to duke it out with in shooters have low HP, are deployed in numbers, and can each pose a problem to your survival if left unattended. Likely why I enjoy EDF so much. The Reckoning has lots of intense firefights scattered throughout with a slightly increased level of overall challenge that the maincampaign arguably could have benefited from.
Anyway speaking of the infantry, I was glad to encounter 3 new types. My favorite enemies to duke it out with in shooters have low HP, are deployed in numbers, and can each pose a problem to your survival if left unattended. Likely why I enjoy EDF so much. The Reckoning has lots of intense firefights scattered throughout with a slightly increased level of overall challenge that the maincampaign arguably could have benefited from.
Plays to the weaknesses of Quake II.
Has a ridiculous amount of terribly placed monster closets, focuses heavily on the most bullet spongey enemies and adds new ones on top of that. Elevators that cannot be called up top so you have to take falling damage. Minimal amount of supplies to take care of the amount of enemies the game throws at you.
Basically, all things the original game did, but elevated and multiplied.
Has a ridiculous amount of terribly placed monster closets, focuses heavily on the most bullet spongey enemies and adds new ones on top of that. Elevators that cannot be called up top so you have to take falling damage. Minimal amount of supplies to take care of the amount of enemies the game throws at you.
Basically, all things the original game did, but elevated and multiplied.
It's Quake 2, so I cannot hate it but this is just so frustratingly bad and bland.
The new additions are very lackluster and some of the new enemies are borderline unfun to play against.
The new additions are very lackluster and some of the new enemies are borderline unfun to play against.
This is fine. Better than either of the original Quake 1 expansions, I think. Not too surprising that Xatrix is the only one of these Quake 1/2 expansion devs to go on to anything particularly notable afterwards (not counting MachineGames, obviously.
I liked the new weapons in this one a lot, particularly the Phalanx. The maps are a bit of a mixed bag, some really good, some really bad (particularly the lazy final map that recycles the Makron boss fight from the base game but set in a much worse arena). The new enemies aren't anything special, and there are way too many enemy encounters that involve you getting ambushed from behind by an enemy that was hiding behind a secret door. But overall I had an OK time playing through this.
I liked the new weapons in this one a lot, particularly the Phalanx. The maps are a bit of a mixed bag, some really good, some really bad (particularly the lazy final map that recycles the Makron boss fight from the base game but set in a much worse arena). The new enemies aren't anything special, and there are way too many enemy encounters that involve you getting ambushed from behind by an enemy that was hiding behind a secret door. But overall I had an OK time playing through this.
Better than the 2 official Quake 1 mission packs, and maybe slightly better than Dimensions of the Past. The spongy enemies are only annoying in the last unit, and they're more fun to fight than the hordes of Death Knights in that mission pack. Only thing I really disliked was that sometimes you'd see items where you'd have to rocket jump to get, and some of them randomly would have invisible walls stopping you from jumping up. Recycling bosses was kind of whatever too, but at least you can horde power ups to deal with it quick. Maybe a little too long, but overall had fun with it.
DOOMATHON entry #10/20
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
If not for my commitment to playing (almost) as much official content as possible for this marathon and the compass making backtracking a breeze in Nightdive's remaster, I probably would have skipped out on replaying Quake 2's mission packs. Even I hardly remembered them, so it's no wonder that they're largely forgotten by the wider id fandom. However, I ended up coming out of this replay really enjoying what The Reckoning brings to the table. For better and for worse, it's more Quake 2, expanding upon some of its strengths while exacerbating some of its weaknesses.
What these levels do best is offer a more varied and comprehensive depiction of Stroggos that, while sticking closely to the established aesthetic, is definitely more interesting to explore. The first unit offers a glimpse of the wildlife that's nowhere to be seen in the base game, and the moon base finale offers the most creative setpiece in any of the classic Quake 2 content. The Ion Ripper and Phalanx are fun new weapons as well, feeling right at home with the game's heavier gunplay despite being derivative in their functionality.
Where The Reckoning falters is with its new enemies and its pacing; this campaign did not need to add tankier versions of the base game's most dangerous enemies, and it did not need to be quite as long as it is. Trimming down the middle units that are pretty much directly recycled from the base game's level themes and placing greater emphasis on the more original ideas probably would have made this a stronger campaign overall, but even as it stands, I was not expecting it to be as solid as it is.
It must be noted that my stronger impression of this replay was likely colored by the many balancing tweaks present in the remaster. Although I haven't looked into the exact nature of the changes, simply knowing that they touched up even the largely forgotten expansions while still including the original versions (at least on PC) demonstrates Nightdive's commitment to offering the best possible versions of classic shooters. I suppose that Quake 2 is the only id game that has received such tweaks in a modern port doesn't speak well of its quality, but it's not as though the foundation was anywhere near unfixable. If you were turned off by the original version of The Reckoning, it may be worth giving it another shot in remaster.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1755430428104851927
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
If not for my commitment to playing (almost) as much official content as possible for this marathon and the compass making backtracking a breeze in Nightdive's remaster, I probably would have skipped out on replaying Quake 2's mission packs. Even I hardly remembered them, so it's no wonder that they're largely forgotten by the wider id fandom. However, I ended up coming out of this replay really enjoying what The Reckoning brings to the table. For better and for worse, it's more Quake 2, expanding upon some of its strengths while exacerbating some of its weaknesses.
What these levels do best is offer a more varied and comprehensive depiction of Stroggos that, while sticking closely to the established aesthetic, is definitely more interesting to explore. The first unit offers a glimpse of the wildlife that's nowhere to be seen in the base game, and the moon base finale offers the most creative setpiece in any of the classic Quake 2 content. The Ion Ripper and Phalanx are fun new weapons as well, feeling right at home with the game's heavier gunplay despite being derivative in their functionality.
Where The Reckoning falters is with its new enemies and its pacing; this campaign did not need to add tankier versions of the base game's most dangerous enemies, and it did not need to be quite as long as it is. Trimming down the middle units that are pretty much directly recycled from the base game's level themes and placing greater emphasis on the more original ideas probably would have made this a stronger campaign overall, but even as it stands, I was not expecting it to be as solid as it is.
It must be noted that my stronger impression of this replay was likely colored by the many balancing tweaks present in the remaster. Although I haven't looked into the exact nature of the changes, simply knowing that they touched up even the largely forgotten expansions while still including the original versions (at least on PC) demonstrates Nightdive's commitment to offering the best possible versions of classic shooters. I suppose that Quake 2 is the only id game that has received such tweaks in a modern port doesn't speak well of its quality, but it's not as though the foundation was anywhere near unfixable. If you were turned off by the original version of The Reckoning, it may be worth giving it another shot in remaster.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1755430428104851927