Since Id Software's release of Doom 3 around this time last year, fans of one of the company's other franchises have been anticipating a new sequel for Quake. The series famous for it's game engine and multiplayer capability is back. This time however, Id Software has handed off the development to Raven Software. Utilizing the Doom 3 game engine, Quake 4 looks nothing less than spectacular and contains an engaging single player campaign to go along with it.
Storyline
The battle between the alien Strogg and Humans that began in Quake II continues in Quake 4 with the story picking up immediately after the final events of Quake II. A lone marine has killed the Strogg leader and now the task of destroying the remaining Strogg falls into the hands of Earth's elite space marines.
In Quake 4 you take on the role of marine Corporal Matthew Kane a member of the elite Rhino Squad. As a part of the next massive invasion your squad is assigned to clean up the remaining Strogg forces. Things however don't go as planned, your drop ship is shot down in the opening animation sequences before the first mission, killing most of the members of your team. The game's first few opening missions take you through grouping up with your remaining squad mates, and suppressing the Strogg hangers, defenses and communications as well as destroying countless Strogg in the process.
At one point during the game you are captured by the Strogg and begin to go through a process that transforms humans into Strogg. Luckily, you are rescued before this can be completed but your body and appearance have been altered to that of a Strogg. Being Strogg however does not have all the advantages one might think. You do become more powerful, but other Strogg still attack relentlessly as if you looked human.
The single player campaign for Quake 4 doesn't skimp on the amount of objectives and environments they throw at you, in total it takes about 20hrs to complete. The missions are quite linear but there's enough depth to the story to keep you interested.
Gameplay & AI
In terms of game play Quake 4 is a pretty typical of most first person shooters there are about a dozen or so weapons that will be available throughout the game. The effectiveness of these weapons seemed to vary quite a bit and it is difficult to determine how much fire power is need to take down a Strogg. You begin with a blaster pistol that doesn't seem to do much other than annoy the Strogg and if it weren't for your squad mates backing you up the first mission would be close to impossible at the hardest difficulty setting. Machines guns seem inconsistent as well, emptying clips to kill one enemy is not uncommon. That's nothing to fear however because heavier fire power is on the way in later missions such as shotguns, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, hyper blaster and more.
Quake 4 is virtually identical to Doom 3 in terms of controls and movement. The battles and firefights however are much more intense and in some environments Strogg seem to come from all directions. There are some holes in the story and the Strogg awaiting you behind each new door does become repetitive at times but the overall flow of the game with the story is done very well. The game does a good job giving you that tense, on the edge of your seat feeling of not knowing what will happen next.
Enemy AI in the single player campaign does not appear to be the best around. The Strogg seem to have one move and that is usually to charge right at you without any fear of taking 40 rounds in the process. The linear nature of the objectives make it pretty easy to complete if you can get by the dozens of Strogg in your way.
