Quake 1996 - How does this revolutionary FPS hold up when played almost 21 years later?

Game Title: Quake 

Publisher: GT Interactive

Year:  1996

ESRB Rating: N/A (Although assumed to be rated M)

Platform:  Windows 10 PC - Steam Edition

Genre:  FPS

Fun Factor

Quake is a fun game, there is no question to that.  From the varying enemy types the player faces to the hellish landscapes they are thrown into, Quake provides a terrifying atmosphere against a horrifying array of creatures.

Thankfully, while the monsters may be frightening, an arsenal of weaponry is scattered throughout the levels for the player to find, each weapon seemingly more powerful than the last.  And let me tell you something: blowing up a zombie knight into bloody chunks with a quick tap of a double-barrel to the face is an experience that ages very, very well.

Learning Curve

The learning curve of Quake seemed fair.  To begin, you are only equipped with a single pump-action shotgun, though the enemies that you face are simple soldiers with the exact same firepower.

As you progress throughout the levels, completely different enemies are introduced, such as the acid-spitting, flying man-snake atrocity of a monster, in which the shotgun has very little effect on.  However, right prior to the introduction of this demon, you are gifted with a Nail Gun, a machine gun-like weapon which provides better capability to track moving aerial targets.

This sort of power equalization continues for most all of the game (or at least through the first couple levels I played).  As soon as the game amps up in difficulty, the player is awarded more firepower, and must use the skills learned thus far in conjunction with their new weaponry in order to progress successfully.

Dying is something that is inevitable in nearly any game on the first play through, and developers must design their game in order to account for the chain of events that unfolds following a player's death.  There are many ways to go about setting up a death mechanism, and Quake follows a more traditional route for its time.  Each level's start is also its own checkpoint.  That means in order to complete a single level, you must complete the entire thing in one run, no checkpoints in between to save your progress, which is something becoming more and more common with modern games today.

Is this frustrating if you are new to the game and not very good yet?  Absolutely.  Is it necessary? Yes.  Something interesting about Quake that many modern games lack is that death in this game has real weight.  Found a secret room but turned around only to be greeted by the bloody fangs of a Fiend?  Well, I hope you remembered your route to that room pal, because you're going to need to find your way back there if you want that gold armor.  Defeated that hard-as-balls Fiend only to turn around and find that he has a brother, who promptly tears you to shreds?  Better luck next time, chap, because there definitely is going to be a next time if you want to keep trekking onward.  (Can you tell that I really fucking hate Fiends?  Because I really dislike them, as badass as they are).  This leads players to become more cautious when venturing into uncharted territories, rather than just popping a quicksave and rushing in all gung-ho.

Graphics

The graphics for Quake are stunning, even for this day and age.  Of course, if you are searching for a hellscape first person gore fest so hyper-realistic that it makes you question if the development team is in prison for mass murder, this title may not be for you.  (The new DOOM cries out to you). But, if you are searching for an aesthetically pleasing game in which the visuals are a key component in the construction of a convincingly evil world, complete with lava/acid traps, tortured souls, and unrecognizable chunks from things that were once living (or undead), this game delivers.

Going into this game, I was originally expecting something a bit more flat, kind of like the style of the original DOOM.  Upon killing the first few enemies, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the game was truly 3D, characters, setting, weapons, and all.  Animations continued in 3D space as dead and falling enemies toppled over, particles exploded in all directions, weapons swayed with the camera and bobbed in a satisfying curve as you sprinted about.  The entire graphical experience was one that was surprisingly still pleasing, even after being spoiled with normal maps and PBR materials in modern games.

Particles in Quake are something that I really enjoyed.  Maybe it's just me, but goddamn did it feel nice to watch a rocket explode.  I found myself enjoying it even if I was the one in the blast radius of any explosive.  Not only did the rockets provide excellent feedback, but the blood particles and gore mechanics of the enemies can be talked about for hours.  While not as sophisticated as modern day gore, the pure juice that this provided every time a shot was landed was enough to make the killing almost a sort of addiction.

An interesting design I think heavily benefits the game and makes the combat all that more fun is that enemies don't ALWAYS chunk up.  In fact, unless I was using the rocket launcher, which has a more limited supply of ammo in comparison to the other weapons by default, it was rare that an enemy would explode on death.  The fact that you find yourself secretly wishing that this particular kill results in a bloody explosion only makes the desire to continue shooting things that much stronger.  Visual feedback, especially interesting and exciting kinds displaying in sporadic instances, only increases a player's want to play again.

Audio

The differences that Quake holds in comparison to many other games from its time do not stop at engaging combat and impressive visuals, as Quake innovates by removing a component that most games before it would consider crucial: a soundtrack.  From what I was able to play, not once did I hear a bit of music play.  The lack of ambient music is replaced with ambient sound from the environment, or whatever one might imagine the setting may sound like.  This only plays to Quake's strengths, as the audio of different enemies about to be faced can change the result of a firefight if they are detected before engaging. 

While I could imagine some sick heavy metal playing in the background as I blast away at the undead would be awesome, it would be a whole lot less awesome to not be able to clearly hear the grenade at my feet, thus causing me to have to replay the entire level I just spent half an hour trying to figure out.

Controls

Like many other things with Quake, the controls are a bit frustrating at first, though as you continue to play through the game, you begin to understand why some things are the way they are.  The aiming in Quake is entirely restricted to the x-axis, meaning you can only aim from side to side.  At times, especially times in which an enemy is positioned high above you and you know that if your character could just crane his neck a wee bit upwards you'd have a clear shot, but he can't so you die for like the fifth time in 10 minutes and why the hell did I pick the hardest setting and hardest level to play first, dear god this is aggravating.

But, after overcoming my annoyance with the mechanic, I grew to like it.  Thankfully, many of the levels are designed to accommodate to this restriction in your aim, so most enemies are positioned on a relatively flat plane of view in front of you.  Due to this, a fair amount of aim assist is also granted, especially with aerial enemies.

This aim assist allows for players to only need to rely on a general aim of the area in which an enemy is, creating a situation where less pressure is put onto the player to make the shot, especially with the limited amount of ammo for each weapon.  This lack of pressure gives the player confidence, a sort of power that will propel them into fights more often than not, giving the game a rushing, bloody mess kind of feel, which while different from modern, dual axis aiming mechanics, is still pretty damn fun.

Characters

While there weren't necessarily characters with any sort of development or story put behind them, each type of enemy is unique in their own abilities, challenges, and rewards.

Some enemies are aerial enemies, like the aforementioned man-snake acid thingy, although most are ground based, as to match the restricted aiming axis mechanic.  Some notable mentions include the rocket lobbing, chainsaw butcher, who is too lazy to turn around too quick even when shot in the back with a double barrel at point blank range 3 times, the Grunt, which is basically just a dumb, zombified version of the player character, and the dreaded Fiend, who has made me rage quit the game more than all the regular zombies I downed but never bothered to fully kill.

The diversity of characters breathes life into this title, and presents the player with ever-changing challenges as different combination of enemies require different tactical decisions in order to come out victorious on the other side, even if a bit bloody too.

Level Design

The thing that I really liked about Quake's level design is something that not a lot of first person shooters tend to do with their levels: it encouraged you to explore.  Whether it was for some much needed ammo or long over due health packs, or even for just one of the many secrets hidden throughout each level, where there is a drive to get something done there will be players who try to do just that.  I often found myself searching the walls for buttons to press or glowing red markers to shoot in hopes of opening up a part of the map that was previously hidden to the naked eye.  This level of search combined with the constant threat of enemies in each room made the game engaging, puzzling, and of course, fun.

More importantly, many parts of the levels in Quake were not completely linear.  I often found myself in the same room more than once, sometimes getting lost in the maze of rooms and halls that were stitched together to create the level.  Most FPS games tend to have a fairly straight forward killing path, whereas Quake invites the player not only to explore, but to get lost in its more intricate designs.

Changes

Of course, as fun and genius as Quake is and as its success suggests, no game is completely perfect.  A few noticeable bugs right from the get go are the lack of character look rotation lock on pause or whenever a menu appears, and AI getting stuck around tight corners, just to name a few.  

Other than obvious bug fixes, I don't think I'd wish to change anything about Quake, except maybe wish for a reboot of the original with modern AI and graphics while still retaining the original level design and gameplay feel.  That is definitely something more than just I would wish to see within their lifetime.

Recommendation

I definitely recommend Quake to anyone who is a fan of the FPS genre.  While it may be a bit dated, the graphics and gameplay are well enough to hold up to today's standards, and there is still fun to be found in a title as old as this one.`