Ok so ngl I've kinda got burnt out on Quake by this point lol.
This was a fun expansion and felt a lot more substantial then episode 5. Had a good time, but it'll be a bit before i hop on Quake 2.
This was a fun expansion and felt a lot more substantial then episode 5. Had a good time, but it'll be a bit before i hop on Quake 2.
These are the best official Quake maps, as far as I'm concerned. Every level had at least one big "Wow!" moment, the encounters were fun and challenging, and the level themes provided a lot of visual variety. Truly great.
Finally an Quake expansion that isn't only decent at best or terrible at worst, in fact this far surpassed everything that came before.
One of my main criticisms with the base game was the level design, where levels would be just a bunch of corridors with sometimes slightly more open arenas made for combat, while complementing it with annoying enemy placements that pretty much forced the game into a cover shooter, as well as the overuse of a few enemies like the Fiends, and the fact that many types of enemies have way more health than they should, which really tampered my enjoyment of the game.
Fortunately, this expansion actually does justice to what the best parts of Quake 1 are, fast-paced mayhem in open arenas with enemies that can very easily tear through you in close quarters while the player has more opportunities for maneuvering over the arena in long range battles.
Where as Dimension of the Past felt like it was indeed stuck in the past, doing a lot of what I found already bad in the base game while also introducing new problems like the overwhelmingly scarce amounts of ammo while spamming Death Knights down your throat, Dimension of the Machine feels like it took many lessons from all the very best fan levels from Quake and put it at full display in here, while pushing the engine to its absolute limits and taking full advantage of the graphical settings present in the Nightdive remaster of the game.
And speaking of that, this expansion is absolutely no slouch at art direction, and its clear from the moment you appear at the main hub! Other expansions already had some decent moments of distinct theming, like the egyptian temples of Dissolution of Eternity, but in Dimension of the Machine, as said in the previous paragraph, they absolutely ran with the capabilities of both the Quake engine and the Nightdive remaster. Every realm feels like, indeed, different realms, all being very varied while still being thematically cohesive throughout, even the Realm of the Machinists, which is comprised of SEWERS, manage to stand out in comparison to the rest of the levels present in this expansion.
The level design in general here is great (for the most part), always emphasizing map control and constant movement with wide open areas, while still having some more maze-like levels akin to the base game, but even those more tight levels are open enough to allow mach speed maneuvering through the map. But as well as that, the enemy placement is (mostly) very on point, using the potential for interesting enemy encounters to its fullest (as far as official expansions go), to the point where, while there still are a few situations where you will just be using cover to get through certain rooms, rarely suffering from the same issues from the other Quake 1 campaigns, they manage to do a lot with every single episode, which by comparison have only two levels (two extensive levels at that).
Really, my only two criticisms involve the Realm of the Stonemasons (which still incorporate some of the bad parts of the base game like the overuse of a few strong enemies and cheap traps) and the final boss, but other than that, if you liked Quake 1, then this expansion is mandatory for you to play, and even if you didn't enjoy it that much, then this still has a lot to offer that the base game didn't quite use it to its fullest due to development issues.
One of my main criticisms with the base game was the level design, where levels would be just a bunch of corridors with sometimes slightly more open arenas made for combat, while complementing it with annoying enemy placements that pretty much forced the game into a cover shooter, as well as the overuse of a few enemies like the Fiends, and the fact that many types of enemies have way more health than they should, which really tampered my enjoyment of the game.
Fortunately, this expansion actually does justice to what the best parts of Quake 1 are, fast-paced mayhem in open arenas with enemies that can very easily tear through you in close quarters while the player has more opportunities for maneuvering over the arena in long range battles.
Where as Dimension of the Past felt like it was indeed stuck in the past, doing a lot of what I found already bad in the base game while also introducing new problems like the overwhelmingly scarce amounts of ammo while spamming Death Knights down your throat, Dimension of the Machine feels like it took many lessons from all the very best fan levels from Quake and put it at full display in here, while pushing the engine to its absolute limits and taking full advantage of the graphical settings present in the Nightdive remaster of the game.
And speaking of that, this expansion is absolutely no slouch at art direction, and its clear from the moment you appear at the main hub! Other expansions already had some decent moments of distinct theming, like the egyptian temples of Dissolution of Eternity, but in Dimension of the Machine, as said in the previous paragraph, they absolutely ran with the capabilities of both the Quake engine and the Nightdive remaster. Every realm feels like, indeed, different realms, all being very varied while still being thematically cohesive throughout, even the Realm of the Machinists, which is comprised of SEWERS, manage to stand out in comparison to the rest of the levels present in this expansion.
The level design in general here is great (for the most part), always emphasizing map control and constant movement with wide open areas, while still having some more maze-like levels akin to the base game, but even those more tight levels are open enough to allow mach speed maneuvering through the map. But as well as that, the enemy placement is (mostly) very on point, using the potential for interesting enemy encounters to its fullest (as far as official expansions go), to the point where, while there still are a few situations where you will just be using cover to get through certain rooms, rarely suffering from the same issues from the other Quake 1 campaigns, they manage to do a lot with every single episode, which by comparison have only two levels (two extensive levels at that).
Really, my only two criticisms involve the Realm of the Stonemasons (which still incorporate some of the bad parts of the base game like the overuse of a few strong enemies and cheap traps) and the final boss, but other than that, if you liked Quake 1, then this expansion is mandatory for you to play, and even if you didn't enjoy it that much, then this still has a lot to offer that the base game didn't quite use it to its fullest due to development issues.
DOOMATHON entry #8/20
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
As a result of Nightdive's Quake remaster being shadow dropped, the inclusion of a new "episode" that's basically an entire new game that goes beyond the limits of the original engine flew completely under my radar back in 2021. I'm happy to report now that Dimension of the Machine is easily the best official Quake campaign, one that manages to have its cake and eat it as well at every turn.
Nearly every map here takes full advantage of the remaster's added visual enhancements to produce gorgeous environments that fully realize the interdimensional travel aspect of the original game better than either mission pack ever could have dreamed of; they're all massive, even featuring scripted shifts in the environment that weren't originally possible, but they're never confusing to navigate.
Everything I love about Quake is present here and the best it's ever been, but the shortcomings are carried over as well - the obligatory arduous enemy placement is pretty much entirely concentrated within Hell or Dark Water, which left me starved for ammo at a brutal juncture, and the final map, a rematch with episode 1's hilariously underwhelming boss, that's far more obtuse than it needed to be. Where the original game wowed me with what it was able to accomplish as the first fully 3D FPS, Dimension of the Machine wowed me with what it was able to accomplish within those (expanded) confines 25 years later. It's an essential addition that's been criminally overlooked, so I'll be doing my best to spread the good word from this point onwards.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1748172984261779533
List: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Mariofan717/list/doom--quake-campaigns-ranked/
As a result of Nightdive's Quake remaster being shadow dropped, the inclusion of a new "episode" that's basically an entire new game that goes beyond the limits of the original engine flew completely under my radar back in 2021. I'm happy to report now that Dimension of the Machine is easily the best official Quake campaign, one that manages to have its cake and eat it as well at every turn.
Nearly every map here takes full advantage of the remaster's added visual enhancements to produce gorgeous environments that fully realize the interdimensional travel aspect of the original game better than either mission pack ever could have dreamed of; they're all massive, even featuring scripted shifts in the environment that weren't originally possible, but they're never confusing to navigate.
Everything I love about Quake is present here and the best it's ever been, but the shortcomings are carried over as well - the obligatory arduous enemy placement is pretty much entirely concentrated within Hell or Dark Water, which left me starved for ammo at a brutal juncture, and the final map, a rematch with episode 1's hilariously underwhelming boss, that's far more obtuse than it needed to be. Where the original game wowed me with what it was able to accomplish as the first fully 3D FPS, Dimension of the Machine wowed me with what it was able to accomplish within those (expanded) confines 25 years later. It's an essential addition that's been criminally overlooked, so I'll be doing my best to spread the good word from this point onwards.
Cross-posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariofan717/status/1748172984261779533
Way better than the main game.
Just really really good-ass Quake
MachineGames made a fun and unique expansion (mini-campaign, even) for Quake, borrowing from the modern era to create some dramatic, exciting and visually stunning (not just for Quake) levels. This is the crowning achievement of the Quake remaster, and well worth playing. My only gripe, after all of these fantastic levels, the final boss was a bit of a letdown by comparison.
Cool maps :)
4,5/10 - Length
10/10 - Price
5,0/10 - Performance/Bugs
4,5/10 - Gameplay
5,0/10 - Story/Experience
Score = 5,8/10
4,5/10 - Length
10/10 - Price
5,0/10 - Performance/Bugs
4,5/10 - Gameplay
5,0/10 - Story/Experience
Score = 5,8/10
Almost as perfect of a Quake episode as you can get. Some of the level architecture is seriously stunning, on top of it really feeling like an original Quake episode, this a proper episode 5 of Quake. The only negatives I can think of is some levels simply aren't as good as the others, but that's to be expected.
Highly recommended!
Personal Favorite level(s): Realm of Blacksmiths.
Highly recommended!
Personal Favorite level(s): Realm of Blacksmiths.
Genuinely one of the very best expansions for Quake 1, tons of variety in its levels and they're all excellent. It's a little brief, but there's a ton of creativity here and I'd rather an all-killer no-filler experience than something bloated with poor decisions.
Amazing and beautiful expansion pack. Was amazing until the final boss but all Quake boss battles are ass so that's not that bad.
This would just randomly stutter and I thought the stages were way too long.
no necesita implementar nuevas armas o enemigos solo xq es una expansion, su ambientacion, diseño de niveles y dificultad m parece increible y esto se mantiene durante todo el juego, es como un quake en su mejor version, quiza m parecio un poco anticlimatico ver unos perritos en el medio del espacio pero es lo que es ya que no implementaron nuevos enemigos
The best game released in 2021
Holy fucking shit how did they make a game from 1997 look THIS good
If you're gonna play anything Quake - play this
If you're gonna play anything Quake - play this
This campaign alone makes the purchase of Quake Remastered worth it. It's a love-letter to early 3D games that manages to cohere the original Quake's disparate elements.
After being pretty underwhelmed by most of the Quake 1/2 expansions so far, this one kind of blew me away. Dimension of the Machine has some extremely good map design that takes full advantage of Nightdive's enhanced Quake 1 engine, both in terms of the visual grandeur and the sheer size of them. Each of the 5 worlds has its own distinct theme and feeling, and there is some really great environmental storytelling in them, far beyond what id ever did in the base game. There are even some heavily implied story connections to Quake 2, a very bold move considering they were obviously never meant to be in the same universe. Makes me pretty excited to see if they expand that idea in Quake 2's Call of the Machine expansion.
Blacksmiths > Cultists > Astrologers > Machinists > Stonemasons
Blacksmiths > Cultists > Astrologers > Machinists > Stonemasons
Finally an actual good Quake mission pack (accidentally skipped Dimension of the Past before playing this so don't know if that's good). Ending level was pretty frustrating on nightmare but besides that the game was a good challenge.
some absolutely gorgeous and incredibly designed quake levels
i think unlike dimension of the past this feels like its own thing, it's like if quake was made a few years later
it's still quake though which means it couldn't make a decent boss to save its life, kinda deflating to end off such a good streak of cool ass levels with a wimpy boss for the finale but whatever lol
i think unlike dimension of the past this feels like its own thing, it's like if quake was made a few years later
it's still quake though which means it couldn't make a decent boss to save its life, kinda deflating to end off such a good streak of cool ass levels with a wimpy boss for the finale but whatever lol
Wow! What a pleasant surprise this was! After I hated Machine Games last Quake Expansion, I had no hope going in for this one. However, this turned out totally different than Dimension of the Past.
Unlike DotP, with it's bog standard been there done that approach to Quake, Dimension of the Machine takes Quake and pushes the engine to its breaking point, with a radically different art direction, puzzles and combat encounters.
My main problem with vanilla Quake is how most of the game feels samey. Every other level in Quake seems to be a brown castle or brown techbase. DotM has you trawling thru green sewers, upside down white cathedrals, fire-y red temples, and even platforming through asteroids with a lovely purple skybox! It's a breath of the fresh air!
The combat encounters are killer as well! Unlike in MG's last expansion, they don't carelessly throw hordes of Knights at you, rather every enemy is carefully and deliberately placed! I didn't even mind fighting the knights in this episode and I normally hate fighting them. That's how well they're used.
Unfortunately, DotM isn't perfect. The second level of the 3rd episode has a gauntlet filled with instadeath traps (my least favorite design trope in Quake at this point) which is pretty obnoxious.
The worst moment is, sadly, the final boss, which is absolutely miserable to play. The whole fight revolves around waiting for Thunderbolt ammo to respawn so you can actually fight the final boss as that's the only thing that hurts him. This means most of the fight is either waiting for ammo to respawn, or waiting at a loading screen because the boss killed you in one hit. (The boss does a ton of damage and I basically had to save and reload alot because I quickly ran out of health). There's just so much waiting around to actually play. The fight is truly a boring and tedious slog and an absolutely awful note to end on what was otherwise a top-tier quake expansion. What a shame.
Final battle aside, this is still the very best of official Quake 1 content.
Unlike DotP, with it's bog standard been there done that approach to Quake, Dimension of the Machine takes Quake and pushes the engine to its breaking point, with a radically different art direction, puzzles and combat encounters.
My main problem with vanilla Quake is how most of the game feels samey. Every other level in Quake seems to be a brown castle or brown techbase. DotM has you trawling thru green sewers, upside down white cathedrals, fire-y red temples, and even platforming through asteroids with a lovely purple skybox! It's a breath of the fresh air!
The combat encounters are killer as well! Unlike in MG's last expansion, they don't carelessly throw hordes of Knights at you, rather every enemy is carefully and deliberately placed! I didn't even mind fighting the knights in this episode and I normally hate fighting them. That's how well they're used.
Unfortunately, DotM isn't perfect. The second level of the 3rd episode has a gauntlet filled with instadeath traps (my least favorite design trope in Quake at this point) which is pretty obnoxious.
The worst moment is, sadly, the final boss, which is absolutely miserable to play. The whole fight revolves around waiting for Thunderbolt ammo to respawn so you can actually fight the final boss as that's the only thing that hurts him. This means most of the fight is either waiting for ammo to respawn, or waiting at a loading screen because the boss killed you in one hit. (The boss does a ton of damage and I basically had to save and reload alot because I quickly ran out of health). There's just so much waiting around to actually play. The fight is truly a boring and tedious slog and an absolutely awful note to end on what was otherwise a top-tier quake expansion. What a shame.
Final battle aside, this is still the very best of official Quake 1 content.
Not just incredibly lavish level design that's full of original ideas and details that abuse the Quake engine within an inch of its life, also creatively propulsive levels full of understandable paths with secrets and enemy placement that keeps creating new and fun different types of fights. The best of the canon MPs and a top-tier Quake mod.
While I'm not that versed in the Quake modding scene, I can say this is some of the best official Quake you can play. With the benefit of modern hardware they push the Quake engine to its limits crafting some rather striking environments with modern features like colored lighting. Benefits heavily from both the return to more medieval settings and the original Reznor score.
They really should just let Machine Games make a new Quake.
They really should just let Machine Games make a new Quake.
No solo explota al máximo la capacidad gráfica del motor mejorado de Quake, sino que también ofrece gran variedad tanto en su diseño artístico como de niveles, que no tienen nada que envidiar a otros FPS modernos de mayor presupuesto. Como experiencia supera incluso a la original.
Came back to finish this before moving on to all the extra stuff Quake 2 has to offer.
Well, with this my nearly two year journey with Quake comes to an end and what an ending indeed. May actually genuinely be my favorite Quake campaign. Balls to the walls nonstop action with at least one Quad hidden every level for maximum dopamine output. This campaign is just a banger plain and simple. The devs took everything that ever worked in all the past expansions and removed most of the bullshit (still kept the Spawns though but at least they're usually in pairs instead of 20 at once) for arguably the best official Quake content ever made.
Really don't have much else to say. Quake's base campaign gets a little rough towards the end, but it's a bonafide classic that stands the test of time. Now with the latest release available practically everywhere. Two expansion packs with two further expansion campaigns each made with the 20 extra years of game development knowledge gathered since the original Quake came out? I'd say not playing Quake when it's more easily accessible than ever is a disservice to anyone who enjoys first person shooters and yearns for the nonstop fast paced crackhead courage speed of older shooters. Yeah, I'm thinking it's a banger.
Also, the whole rune gathering while warping into levels from a hub area yo this shit is just Turok and I'll always pog to that.
Well, with this my nearly two year journey with Quake comes to an end and what an ending indeed. May actually genuinely be my favorite Quake campaign. Balls to the walls nonstop action with at least one Quad hidden every level for maximum dopamine output. This campaign is just a banger plain and simple. The devs took everything that ever worked in all the past expansions and removed most of the bullshit (still kept the Spawns though but at least they're usually in pairs instead of 20 at once) for arguably the best official Quake content ever made.
Really don't have much else to say. Quake's base campaign gets a little rough towards the end, but it's a bonafide classic that stands the test of time. Now with the latest release available practically everywhere. Two expansion packs with two further expansion campaigns each made with the 20 extra years of game development knowledge gathered since the original Quake came out? I'd say not playing Quake when it's more easily accessible than ever is a disservice to anyone who enjoys first person shooters and yearns for the nonstop fast paced crackhead courage speed of older shooters. Yeah, I'm thinking it's a banger.
Also, the whole rune gathering while warping into levels from a hub area yo this shit is just Turok and I'll always pog to that.
One hell of an expansion and the last section was so damn cool with how they did it! Loved the unique and different environments for each level as well and all felt different. Truly on the level of other great wads for boomer shooters! Wish they would make some more expansions or at least let you play the downloadable ones with your friends!
If Dimension of the Past was an ode to the original Quake, then Dimension of the Machine is an ode to boomer shooters in general. The levels in this episode are massive, often evoking Half-Life rather than Quake. Dimension of the Machine is also the best-looking Quake episode by a mile, with MachineGames taking full advantage of the new Quake port's colored lightmaps and dynamic shadows. This episode is probably the best collection of official Quake levels since the original game—it's a delightful gift to the community 25 years after Quake's release.
its so cool to see a beloved game thats 25 years old get new single player content and have it be some of the best content in a already great game
combat as great as ever and the environments look fantastic and impressive
if you are doing a quake replay make sure to play the other expansion because their good too but FOR SURE try this its awesome easily the best thing machinegames has made
comes its free too and comes with the remaster
combat as great as ever and the environments look fantastic and impressive
if you are doing a quake replay make sure to play the other expansion because their good too but FOR SURE try this its awesome easily the best thing machinegames has made
comes its free too and comes with the remaster
Easily the most essential of any of the Quake expansions. Huge strides have been made visually, and the designs of the maps are pretty uniformly excellent (bar a couple of exceptions, but they're forgivable). It's also nice to see a developer trying to switch up the Quake format a bit, giving the player a level select hub like the original game with some extra freedom. The final boss sucks about as much as the main game's, so that's an unfortunate bruise on things. All in all, though, I'd happily jump back into this over any of the other expansions if I wanted to do a playthrough of Quake again.
Amazing inclusion to Quake with some of the best level design, encounters, and gameplay of all of Quake. The art direction and enhanced graphics alone make it worth a playthrough.
It's like the original Quake, except the environment design is excellent instead of decent.
Dimension of Blacksmiths has no right being as long as it is, though.
Dimension of Blacksmiths has no right being as long as it is, though.