“Conman,” you ask, “is Quake II (2023) the complete package? I heard it includes Original Recipe™ Quake II, Quake II 64, and a few other sub campaigns including a brand new one by the supposed Indiana Jones devs. I also heard that multiplayer, achievements, numerous QoL additions, playable demos of prerelease builds of Quake II, concept art, models, and multiplayer support are all included! Is this true?”

Yes my child, Nightdive is at it again. “But why only 4 stars, great sage? I hypothetically care about star ratings or whatever. You’re very handsome by the way.”

Well, my delicious snap pea, the game in question is Quake II.

I like Quake II. I think it’s a good shooter, and I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for it since I first played it within Quake 4. Yeah. Anyway, unfortunately, kiddo, I can’t say I like it as much as Quake. I guess I could, but it would be a lie, baby. I won’t lie to you. I’m tired here’s a list.

Weapons: Nice selection overall. I’m not a fan of guns sharing an ammo pool but that happens in lots of games like this. Railgun absolutely clears.
Enemies: feels like there’s only three kinds and they range from okay to kind of annoying to fight.
Music: Big Bumpin’
Level design: I could have used a few more level gimmicks. I’m serious, the waterway level was cool. Overall I didn’t hate any of the levels though, and that means a lot in a game like this. Good job Quakers.
Story:
Aesthetics: Cohesive, but if they ever do a modern reboot of Quake they should reboot Quake. The overall aesthetic here is maybe even more varied than the first game, but is generic by comparison.

Did I forget anything? Oh yeah I actually don’t love that you store items in an inventory. I barely ever used the items. Didn’t really need to, and I played on Hard and found most of the secrets in the game. I did so because I liked playing it despite the aforementioned issues. Four bags of popcorn and one soda.

“Conman, my king, I agree and/or disagree with this review” sick you’re my new best friend we should be friends in real life.

Nightdive's newest masterwork of restoration somehow improves on the already stunning foundation of Quake 1's remaster to do justice to its superior sequel. Quake 2 comes with more quality-of-life improvements, including deeper HUD customization and separate weapon and item wheels, the latter of which comes in particularly handy for this remaster's newest campaign.

Quake 2 trades the first game's dark Gothic fantasy aesthetic and general vibe for a more militaristic, hard sci-fi style. At first, it's less visually appealing than Quake 1, but it does draw you in more as you venture further into the alien landscape of Stroggos, the homeworld of the cybernetically enhanced Strogg.

This change in style and tone, of course, brings with it a larger arsenal and a bigger focus on combat, with less emphasis on platforming and puzzles and more on arenas and boss encounters. This works out for the better since Quake 2's weaponry feels much better than the original's already solid offering, with punchy sound design and weight behind each shot. They don't quite feel as fast as in the first game, but it feels like you have much more control over them, so the trade-off is accepted.

In terms of the main campaigns, I much prefer MachineGames's Call of the Machine to the OG id-developed one. I opted out of playing the mission packs as the consensus seemed to be more of the same rather than something that tries new things with existing assets like CotM does here.

If I had any main criticisms, it would be that the soundtrack falls short of the original. Although that's not exactly Sonic Mayhem's fault, since it's kind of hard to compete with Nine Inch Nails there. Enemy designs and some of the level designs in the base campaign also fall short, not quite leaving the impression that Quake 1 does with its eldritch horrors and spooky castles. The Strogg bases and factories all seem somewhat generic by comparison.

Regardless, Quake 2 is a very impressive follow-up to the first game, with its own style and quirks that are fun to uncover, elevated significantly by MachineGames's excellent campaign Call of the Machine, which brings new lore connections to the series and truly great level design throughout.

7.5/10

This was my first time actually playing through the game as it never clicked about a decade ago when I first played Quake 1, and then on my replay of that remaster I installed a source port for 2 but never got around to it before this remaster came out. 3/4 of the game was actually quite fun, but the amount of spongy enemies near the end becomes quite tedious. I probably should have also played through it on nightmare because besides for the start, the game seemed quite easy on hard. Soundtrack goes hard.

Weird how everyone who complained about the compass in the Bioshocks is now saying on here that it’s one of the single greatest improvements for this remake. Unlike me, of course, who with my big brain knows that it’s good to have if you need it and fine to turn off if you like to measure your dick with other gamers online. It’s easily worth an entire half star.

I was expecting this otherwise to be not as interesting as the first, especially in light of Trent Reznor calling it boring, which I mean when Trent Reznor calls you boring that’s it, it’s over, you cut off your topknot and go into exile. It seemed that way for a while until the factory level, where you find out the baddies are made up of the corpses of their fallen enemies. You have to go around and deactivate shit called like “bio-assimilation tank,” “organic material liquifier,” and my favorite, the “emulsifying flesh press.” Yeeowch! After that it’s mostly more industrial areas with vaguely-nazi imagery and, unlike the N64 port, an actual final boss and ending!

Matar Aliens Nazistas é gostoso demais!!!

É simplesmente satisfatório jogar este game após ter jogado os primeiros Doom e o primeiro Quake. O jogo consegue ser uma evolução perfeita de todo o universo que a Betesda já havia criado.

Todas as versões do jogo envelheceram muito bem. O game conta com mecânicas de tiro responsivas que oferecem uma diversidade de armas ABSURDA, além da movimentação alucinante do personagem controlável. Algo que ajuda muito a gameplay são as novas "ajudas" no menu de itens do jogo, uma delas é o compasso. Ele indica para onde o jogador deve ir, evitando prejudicar o ritmo do jogo, já que algumas missões duram quase 1 hora.

Apesar de super simples, óbvia e subjetiva, o jogo consegue contar uma história ao jogador (Ao invés de você só jogar em "levels separados" para ir progredindo no game).

PRÓS:
- IA desafiadora.
- O game envelheceu bem e diverte até hoje.

CONTRAS:
- Problemas de desempenho (Teve uma missão que se eu matasse um inimigo bugado o jogo simplesmente CRASHAVA).

The remastered version of this game is truly exceptional. After playing it, I feel like I've experienced one of the best movement shooters available. Although the game can be frustrating at times, it's still an excellent game overall.

Firstly, the guns in Quake 2 are fantastic. There are tons of guns to choose from, including the Super Shotgun and the BFG. All of them feel amazing to shoot, and the animations are incredibly well done. The sound effects of the guns firing are also incredibly satisfying. There are some great new items like the compass which tells you where your objective is no matter where you are so you never get lost. The story isn't particularly strong, but it's still present.

The final boss can be easy if you have a lot of quad damage saved up, but the other enemies are well-designed and challenging. While there are only 10 levels in the main game, they are lengthy and can take up to 30 minutes to complete. The environments in the game look clean and polished, and you won't experience any moments of boredom. Additionally, the remastered version comes with a couple of expansion packs and even Quake 64. Although the futuristic theme of the game doesn't necessarily make it feel like Quake, it's still a great game. Overall, I highly recommend this game. I had a fantastic time playing it!

Trent Reznor wasn't lying this really doesn't have any atmosphere.

Okay so it's not terrible, and seeing as how this remaster is meant to be the "better" version that's a bit of a problem. Quake 1 suffers from that early id Software problem of a really dope first 2/3 and a last third that then leaves you wanting a bit more. Also might include an enemy added in at the last second that ruins everything. Kinda like FromSoft when you think about it. Quake 2 on the other hand is kind of all over the place with highs and lows constantly at odds with each other. Again while I'd be hard-pressed to call the game terrible it does really feel less interesting from both an art direction and "idea" perspective. Trading the more Lovecraftian and dark medieval fantasy with occasional hints of grungy sci-fi aesthetic instead comes a game I can best describe as Kill Murder Death late 90s space marine game you'd see as the parody of a real game in a sitcom. Game is fun as shit though. I'd be lying if during its highs I wasn't enjoying my time with it and I had a huge grin on my face upon acquiring the BFG10K. The music rules too I fucking love this game's soundtrack even before playing it that was the one thing I was excited to see in context of the levels and some of them do not disappoint. Descent into Cerberon fucking cums. Every time it'd play I'd get so hype.

Quake is a game I genuinely feel myself itching to play every few weeks since finally going through it and while I enjoyed my time with the base game of Quake 2 (as this remaster brings a bunch of extra campaigns and Quake 2 64 that I will be playing) I don't think I'll be itching to go back to this one as much.

this remastered is a straight up banger also shoutout to "call of
the machine" cuz they realized how goated the chaingun
is, so they pretty much give ya 150 bullets every 3 seconds

The technological leap from Quake to II in the span of a year seems evident even 26 years later. But gone is the unique neo-industrial Egyptian inspired atmosphere and in its place a generic sci-fi goo of mostly browns and dumb looking enemies.

Still. Peak shooter game design. Just the perfect blend of guided exploration, puzzles and shooty parts. A Quake in the vein of nuDoom would be hella sick (so long as they don't go all Eternal with it). Games theoretically never got better than this really.

An absolutely fantastic boomer shooter with gameplay that never gets repetitive and a rush of adrenaline that you've come to expect from ID. Nightdive did an exceptional job with the remaster as it looks noticeably much better and the quality of life improvements are welcome for newcomers. It was a a bit frustrating at points due to difficulty, but it was these spikes were in spurts and felt earned. I wouldn't want it to be changed because the challenge is what makes it so addictive and fun. A game like this is so welcome and enjoyable as a little break from these gigantic AAA games. A massive recommendation on my part, I enjoyed my time with this a ton. Lots of fun.

make no mistake this is a review of the remaster and not the original game, which i never finished. although now i'll have to, because i found the balance changes of this rerelease to be painfully egregious towards the end. why would you nerf the quake 2 railgun are you insane?
compass is a welcome change though, a suitable replacement for looking up a walkthrough in another window every time you get lost in these head-bashingly stupid levels (which, btw, don't even try alt-tabbing in this version lol)
i can't insult q2 on its own too much though, i think the weapon lineup is mostly solid and the combat encounters are generally more fun than anything in q1. avoid this remake and just play the original. i hear Yamagi's a good sourceport

I always thought that Quake 2 was good but just that, good. Especially when compared to the first game. This remaster however made me like this game a whole lot more. Not just the visuals but the gameplay received some updates. My main problem with the og version was me constantly getting lost because of the confusing map design. They remedied this with a handy compass feature. Finally Quake 2 is way more about the fast paced action and less about wandering around, not knowing where to go.
This remaster not only made the main game better but also includes all the expansions and some other campaigns. (All for free if you own Quake 2 on Steam) Would like to also talk about them.

The Reckoning
Good expansion. Adds some new challenging enemies and weapons which complement the base arsenal pretty well.

Ground Zero
Bad expansion. Kinda more bearable since you have the compass this time but that's it. The new enemies are pretty annoying. Later on, the levels jump keep constantly throwing groups of enemies at you with Medics in the mix and sentry turrets shooting you from hard to notice spots. New guns are also redundant. Just avoid this one.

Call of the Machine
MachineGames did it again. The new levels are pretty and quite varied. Instead of the usual space stations, we get ruined cities, old tombs and a moon base. My favorite level from this campaign has to be Operation Corpse Run. One moment it's high octane action and in other it's horror. Also love how the music on the maps are more dynamic here.

Quake 2 N64
Always assumed that it was just a lesser port of the og game. Turns out it's an entirely different campaign. It's not bad. Quite short on PC since you have better controls and quicksaves. There are some cheap enemy placements which might have been really frustrating on the N64 but they are fine here.

So all in all, kudos to idsoftware, Bethesda, Nightdive and MachineGames. This remaster exceeds expectations.