VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications download pdf (Page 51)

reviews

TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED

88 MAXIMUMPC HOLIDAY 2005

f someone were to put together a gaming

time capsule and bury it for future genera-

tions to ﬁnd, we’d deﬁnitely recommend it

hold a copy of Quake 4. The game plays like

a greatest hits of the last decade, regurgitat-

ing practically every “exciting new feature”

we’ve seen in single-player ﬁrst-person

shooters over the past few years, while also

recycling the deﬁnitive deathmatch title—

Quake III. Though several recent FPS games

have moved the goalposts, with new innova-

tions and different takes on the FPS experi-

ence, Quake 4 lacks such freshness. Instead,

it’s an action-packed, but very straightfor-

ward, and even derivative shooter that still

manages to be fairly entertaining at times.

The story is unimportant, and you’ll be

hard-pressed to recall what you were ﬁght-

ing for the second the credits roll, but the

gist is that you are a space marine and you

have to take down the Strogg—the evil

race of human/machine hybrids from Quake

2 who are bent on galactic domination.

Gameplay is FPS 101: You’ll stroll through

corridors shooting everything that moves.

There are a few vehicles to mix things up,

along with a handful of simple puzzles, but

the meat of the game is the shooting, and

there’s lots of it, including several very well

done, epic multi-stage boss ﬁghts.

We wondered if playing as a Strogg—

the most heavily marketed aspect of the

game—would be the secret sauce we so

longed for. Sadly, it’s not. Your weapons

as a Strogg are exactly the same, and

you’re still part of your Marine squad. In

fact, being a Strogg is no different from

not being a Strogg, with one small excep-

tion: You can read signs writ-

ten in Stroggese on eleva-

tors and doors. This ability

allows you, as a Strogg, to

wander alone for certain

key segments of the game’s

surprisingly short eight-to-10

hour single-player campaign.

The good news is that

the action is nonstop from

the get-go. The ﬁghting

gets frantic towards the end

of the game, where the AI

ratchets up to “good” levels

(as opposed to the “cannon

fodder” simplicity in the early

parts of the game), and you

are swarmed by multiple

enemies. Your squad mates’

AI kicks ass. They never get in

your way, but they know how

to follow properly, and they do

what they’re supposed to at all times with-

out being stupid or pissing you off.

Graphics are excellent, but the game

bears more than a passing resemblance

to Doom 3. Quake 4 boasts several large,

albeit barren, outdoor environments.

Luckily these areas pass by quickly,

because you’re usually traversing them in

a vehicle (possibly a too-slow mech or a

peppy, entertaining hover tank).

Multiplayer is surprisingly fun. Straight-

up twichfest deathmatch aﬁcionados will

love it, as it seems to be ported directly

from Quake III. There are even two Q3

maps that have been redone, and the

most popular Quake 2 map—the Edge—is

included as well. Some of the maps

include powerups, such as haste and

regeneration, but the only game modes

are DM and CTF. Though it’s exactly like

Quake III—which we already played years

ago—we can’t deny it’s fun.

Most people will ﬁnish Quake 4’s single-

player campaign in a few hours and never

pick it up again, but the multiplayer com-

ponent could conceivably revive the long-

dead Quake deathmatch scene. Despite a

dearth of innovation, Quake 4 stays true to

the series’ roots and delivers what people

expect from a Quake game—lots of action

and killer multiplayer.

Quake 4

For better or worse, Q4 stays true

to its roots

Quake 4 borrows heavily from the innovations of its FPS predecessors—we saw this

shield in Halo—but the action is fast and furious.

The deathmatch isn’t like Quake III—it is Quake III, and

includes two of that game’s maps, including the ever-

popular space map DM17.

$50, http://quake4.ravengames.com,

ESRB:

QUAKE 4

BFG

Tons of action, excellent

graphics, and awesome

deathmatch.

LFG

Derivative gameplay, and

short single-player component.

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VXI BlueParrott B100 Specifications Page 51

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