A few days ago I was looking at the Quake games on Steam and realized something: I had not only not played Q4 since I was very young and I also happened to remember pretty much none of it, not even that much of the cutscene everyone knows this for. I was in the mood for something quick to play so I installed it and gave it another go.
From the beginning this game gives off DOOM 3 vibes more than anything, except the horror atmosphere isn't the focus, guns feel punchier and action is almost immediate.
Already an hour in I was feeling like this game was utilizing the idtech 4 engine way better, as it had a lot of pretty lighting in detailed areas with rich textures, but without making things overly dark and also making levels more fast paced. Sure, the initial walking speed is a bit annoyingly slow, but the levels are designed in such a way that I never felt too slow even while backtracking.
I think there's something to be said about the presentation of this game, the story continues right from the ending of Quake II and follows a silent protagonist alongside a squad of veteran soldiers. None of the characters are very deep or noteworthy, but they have some good voice work and the showing of different squads advancing through Stroggos in coordinated assaults gives a more natural tone of war that was absent in Quake II. The Strogg are designed in more interesting ways as well, giving us new foes with gruesome character design and a bunch of returning enemies a new spin, like the Berserkers having lighting attacks or the Iron Maidens being able to teleport and float. In general enemies use a wider variety of weapons as well, making them less monotonous when encountering the same enemy type. Unfortunately the Strogg still look too human like to my liking, with not many indications of them really being a galactic civilization that existed away from humans for a long time, but that problem is inherited from Quake II and not a particular issue with this game.
Unfortunately the AI isn't all that great, enemies have pretty predictable behaviors and ally squad members aren't always good at following you or finding a good spot, however levels are also designed well enough around this and will rarely show these weaknesses to a big degree.
Speaking of ally squad members, they're honestly nice to have around but aren't too much of a big deal. They do mostly stay alive without your supervision but can still die so it's a bad idea to let big enemies get a hold of them. A few sections with them are actually tricky to manage while trying to keep everyone alive which I welcome. They'll also provide you with weapon upgrades throughout the game, a system that's very clearly a last minute addition but helps the pacing as you get new reasons to use your weapons.
Weapons themselves all feel great, they all are good options during firefights and can still serve different roles. Of note are the lighting gun and nail gun which return, redesigned, from the first Quake game and the very versatile assault rifle and shotgun. Disappointingly the rail gun requires an upgrade to pierce enemies and the SSG is not here, but the arsenal is very robust and feels powerful which is what matters.
Going on, the game has a big moment in the middle which we all know as the Stroggification scene. I am not as impacted by it as others, but getting turned gives you a boost to player speed, health and armor. After this the game really picks up and gets more confident in throwing big enemies in higher numbers at you, which creates a lot of intense combat arenas that are very fun to get through.
The only points in which the pacing of the game is really bogged down is by the vehicle sections. I don't find them frustrating at all and at moments they're a good show, but they feel completely unnecessary and I would not miss them if they were cut. Polishing up the weapon upgrade system or getting more enemy variety could have been a better use of resources than the vehicles, but still, they're at least over quickly and I don't find them to ruin the game.
The final stretch of the game is the most fast paced and action heavy part and I really love it, it feels like the Strogg are giving way too much attention to you as an individual due to how much you're foiling their plans and it's great. The final boss is a pushover just like with Quake II, but at least it's harder to cheese as you can't just pop out a Quad Damage and Invulnerability to get through it quick.
Overall it's a pretty polished game that doesn't feel like it wastes my time. Despite being very derivative of Quake II and DOOM 3 I think it does a bunch of things better than those, particularly just being way better at pacing than DOOM 3 ever was, and is overall a very polished experience. It's maybe not one of the greats or as historically significant but it's still a good time and it has aged very well. Take it from someone that has a lot of nostalgia for Halo: it does not at all feel like Halo or CoD as some say, it really just feels like something that would naturally come after DOOM 3 mixed in with Quake II and I enjoy that a fair bit.
From the beginning this game gives off DOOM 3 vibes more than anything, except the horror atmosphere isn't the focus, guns feel punchier and action is almost immediate.
Already an hour in I was feeling like this game was utilizing the idtech 4 engine way better, as it had a lot of pretty lighting in detailed areas with rich textures, but without making things overly dark and also making levels more fast paced. Sure, the initial walking speed is a bit annoyingly slow, but the levels are designed in such a way that I never felt too slow even while backtracking.
I think there's something to be said about the presentation of this game, the story continues right from the ending of Quake II and follows a silent protagonist alongside a squad of veteran soldiers. None of the characters are very deep or noteworthy, but they have some good voice work and the showing of different squads advancing through Stroggos in coordinated assaults gives a more natural tone of war that was absent in Quake II. The Strogg are designed in more interesting ways as well, giving us new foes with gruesome character design and a bunch of returning enemies a new spin, like the Berserkers having lighting attacks or the Iron Maidens being able to teleport and float. In general enemies use a wider variety of weapons as well, making them less monotonous when encountering the same enemy type. Unfortunately the Strogg still look too human like to my liking, with not many indications of them really being a galactic civilization that existed away from humans for a long time, but that problem is inherited from Quake II and not a particular issue with this game.
Unfortunately the AI isn't all that great, enemies have pretty predictable behaviors and ally squad members aren't always good at following you or finding a good spot, however levels are also designed well enough around this and will rarely show these weaknesses to a big degree.
Speaking of ally squad members, they're honestly nice to have around but aren't too much of a big deal. They do mostly stay alive without your supervision but can still die so it's a bad idea to let big enemies get a hold of them. A few sections with them are actually tricky to manage while trying to keep everyone alive which I welcome. They'll also provide you with weapon upgrades throughout the game, a system that's very clearly a last minute addition but helps the pacing as you get new reasons to use your weapons.
Weapons themselves all feel great, they all are good options during firefights and can still serve different roles. Of note are the lighting gun and nail gun which return, redesigned, from the first Quake game and the very versatile assault rifle and shotgun. Disappointingly the rail gun requires an upgrade to pierce enemies and the SSG is not here, but the arsenal is very robust and feels powerful which is what matters.
Going on, the game has a big moment in the middle which we all know as the Stroggification scene. I am not as impacted by it as others, but getting turned gives you a boost to player speed, health and armor. After this the game really picks up and gets more confident in throwing big enemies in higher numbers at you, which creates a lot of intense combat arenas that are very fun to get through.
The only points in which the pacing of the game is really bogged down is by the vehicle sections. I don't find them frustrating at all and at moments they're a good show, but they feel completely unnecessary and I would not miss them if they were cut. Polishing up the weapon upgrade system or getting more enemy variety could have been a better use of resources than the vehicles, but still, they're at least over quickly and I don't find them to ruin the game.
The final stretch of the game is the most fast paced and action heavy part and I really love it, it feels like the Strogg are giving way too much attention to you as an individual due to how much you're foiling their plans and it's great. The final boss is a pushover just like with Quake II, but at least it's harder to cheese as you can't just pop out a Quad Damage and Invulnerability to get through it quick.
Overall it's a pretty polished game that doesn't feel like it wastes my time. Despite being very derivative of Quake II and DOOM 3 I think it does a bunch of things better than those, particularly just being way better at pacing than DOOM 3 ever was, and is overall a very polished experience. It's maybe not one of the greats or as historically significant but it's still a good time and it has aged very well. Take it from someone that has a lot of nostalgia for Halo: it does not at all feel like Halo or CoD as some say, it really just feels like something that would naturally come after DOOM 3 mixed in with Quake II and I enjoy that a fair bit.