Special mention should be given to Brendan Mckinney (LoH Bros) who went from making a fan remake of the Quake 2 intro cinematic a year ago to being hired to work on it and the other cinematics in an official capacity for the remaster. He's moving up in the world, that's for sure.
Per Stephen Kick (Nightdive CEO), he's also working on remastering the cutscenes for another of their "top secret projects"... and something tells me that that top secret project could either be something like NOLF or Turok 3 👀
I mean... on that note; the KEX engine started as a fan hobby project to port the original DOOM engine to OpenGL and to reverse engineer / port DOOM 64 to it, simply because he wanted to play DOOM 64 on a modern machine (& fix the lighting so it was playable), and it was open sourced & publicly available. And then they got hired to sell it as the official DOOM 64 port.
@@Chozo_Ghost | I'd love it to be NOLF, but that legal knot between Disney, Activision, and WB is still in the way. Unless the new bosses at Atari have enough liquid cash to cut through it... Plus, all on NOLF's cutscenes were real-time, in-engine. They'd be upgraded alongside the gameplay.
I love the cinematics but for some reason on my PC the audio is so muted in the cinematics can't hear much. Wearing headphones just helps a little. The actual game audio is perfect though. But Quite disappointed by the cinematic audio. Wonder if I'm the only one noticing that...is there a fix?
@@themisterdellou Quake Live isn't the same experience as the original Quake III Arena. It's missing all the gore, a lot of the original maps, you need to jump through a million hoops to play the Multiplayer in its original form, and they dumbed down the A.I. quite a bit. Also, getting the original to even run on a modern system is nearly impossible for a layman, and even if you do it'll break the cinematics and even the UI if you're really unlucky.
We already have Quake Live and Quake Champions. It would be nice to let consoles in, but it would be better done with a plain old spurceport. Don't want to split the multiplayer community AGAIN.
@TacoWrath95 dude, there are plenty of modern spurceports for all the Quake's ESPECIALLY Quake 3. Quake Live is all they need to port to consoles, I dont know when you last played it but a lot of what you said is wrong. The bots are actually better than the OG Quake 3. Virtually every map is available in QL for server operators or local games.
The fact you have this extensive and in depth of an insight into the features of the Quake 2 remaster so soon after release is so impressive. Instant subscribe. Really well done.
This is why Nightdive is one of the best developers, they’re single-handedly bringing back classics to the modern age and I hope they eventually do one of these for Hexen 1 and 2
Me too I played it on the 64 when I was 6 and I was scared of it but somehow I kept playing it because it was so addictive and playing with friends was awesome too.
Something I really appreciate about this remaster and the remaster of the first Quake, it's the different (and much better) treatment id software gave to his old games compared to other companies, and I'm not only talking about the remaster itself, but how they preserved all about those old games, the source code, the assets, the demos and all that stuff. It's miles away from companies like Square-Enix which lost the source code even for some of their biggest videogames like FF VII or Kingdom Hearts... This is the kind of things that tells you how a company really is. Of course, all of them are here for the money, to make big bucks and all that; but in the process, some take more care for their legacy than others, and id software have my absolute respect for that. Bringing back this game with more content, remaking or enhancing things, putting a lot of stuff giving it more value and quality, and even giving it for free to those that had the game before, it's absolutely top notch. I really really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Quake II is one of my favorite games of all time. I didn't even realize there were people that didn't like it lol. The online multiplayer scene for this game was huge in 1998.
Yeah, I'm confused by the ~3 statements in this video of the quality of this game being questionable. In many ways it is objectively id Software's best and most complete offering.
best part of it: "Previous owners of Quake II on the Microsoft Store, Steam and Good Old Games (GOG) will automatically receive the new version via a free update."
The new AI is amazing. The first time I saw a berserker leap across the room and slam me in the face I was genuinely shocked. Berserkers are utterly useless in the original release, but here they're actually dangerous. Explosive armed Strogg also like to try and put pressure on areas you're hiding behind and most enemies now actively try to dodge your shots. It's great.
Q2 is my favorite. I grew up with this game. I played Rocket Arena 2 for hundreds of hours. I love the setting, the aesthetics, the music. I truly hope we get either a complete remake or a new entry in the Strogg universe. Tho the chances are probably very slim. After Doom/Eternal, I highly doubt we get another sci-fi remake. Also, SonicMayhem’s soundtrack is GODLIKE. It is so good. To me it’s up there with MickGordon’s recent Doom Soundtracks.
I do have to agree with you here. For some reason, the more I play it, the more it makes me realize that doom eternal feels like a quake-and-doom-simultaneous-reboot thing. maybe that's why the ranger skin was included and the ancient gods released like mission packs were back in the day...hm....but I would prefer a quake focused game.
I enjoyed Doom 2016 for the most part, don't really care for Eternal but I hope they don't go down the reboot route with Quake. The purity of OG Quake is beautiful. I'm not keen on the tonal shift in the new Doom games (collecting toys etc), I'd prefer a "darker" more visceral experience.
they had such good mods; action quake 2, Lithium was another favorite, rocket arena was awesome. This game was really the first FPS with a great modding scene as far as im aware
I love Quake 2. One of the first games I've ever played on the PC. Nostalgia probably influences how I feel about it but I still think it was a good game.
2:05 Command and Conquer Remastered did this. It's amazing they found any old footage and art from the original development and added it to the game as extras.
@@TylerMcVicker1 biggest channel to heart my comment. I feel heard. Lol. But yeah, I would absolutely love a remaster of Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2, but seeing EAs new prerogative I'm sure it won't ever happen. :(
Never played this one, or any Quake for that matter, but this release is freaking insane. I'm giddy just hearing the features and content they didn't have to include or enhance but did. I'm definitely buying this one, alongside all the other Quake games during this sale for $20. Cause hey, if more remasters come, I'll get them too! Kinda hilarious how big they set the bar while RDR is lowering it like crazy lol
Oooooh Strife. I loved that game. I tried replaying it recently but I would love a remaster like this for that game as well. Such a cool story-based FPS. It almost has an RPG vibe.
There's already a remaster like this for strife, it's called Strife: Veteran Edition
Год назад+4
Meanwhile Rockstar Games... OK, I know, Quake II is a "little bit" older, but this is how you remaster a game! Not just sell a port for almost full price. Quake 1 remaster was great, and now this one! I can't complain.
Nice to hear you mention Citadel, I found out about it only very recently and I was blown away by how good it was. Would sure be nice to be able to play it in this remaster! But I'll enjoy it regardless.
Quake 2 multiplayer was the only multiplayer game I ever got into. I remember going to the MSN games website and playing with the LOX mod and blowing each other up with the nuclear grenades.
Can't wait to play it, I loved this game on PC. Me, my dad, my sister and cousin used to play 4 player coop on computer. My dad had a 4-way LAN connected under the house, used to play all kinds of games, Doom, Quake, Diablo 2, Starcraft. I'd be running back and forth during StarCraft because you can only pause it 3 times, so me and my cousin would strategize our attacks. I still remember him almost being over run by the Zerg, him being Protoss, and I flew in with my Battlecruisers to give him cover. Also flew my Terran Command Center to his base when I got over-run once, then we figured out he could mind control one of my SCVs to have extra units.
The game looks a bit brighter than original Quake II but I guess I can just turn down the brightness and maybe disable dynamic shadows and lighting to make it look darker...
I had so much fun revisiting this game over the weekend. Night Dive have nailed the formula for these remasters. Call of the Machine is absolutely fantastic too.
Oh and the secret n64 map is in it you need to use a console command to warp too it although I don’t think it kills the player if they fail the par time since it never killed me after one minute and 40 seconds the console command for twists is “ map q64/dm4 “
I've never played quake until this Quake 2 remaster (i love doom and all doom likes). This game blew me away, I loved every second of it, its flow, its charm, its secrets, the variation. Marvellous game
I’ve been playing this non stop since release. This is the standard to me when it comes to remasters! Amazing job! To say I’m in retro heaven is an understatement. I wish to god a remaster of the original Unreal was done. I would lose my shit 😂
I just think it's crazy that this came out not even two weeks after they released a remaster for Rise of The Triad. *Nightdive being based as hell and spoiling us, like always…*
It reminds me of how Alien Isolation was supposed to have playable cut levels in the Extras menu (Wasn't it odd how the only thing in that menu was the credits?). I would love for more games to do this.
The praise for Ground Zero has me wincing. I can't believe what I'm hearing, calling it 'fair' with all the turret spam and unfair enemy design coupled with constant ammo starvation. If this review had come out a year or so ago while I was still playing it on Nightmare, I'd be fuming.
Same. Ground Zero frustrated me back in the day. It felt difficult and not in a good way. The Reckoning was not without issues either. (Instant lasers and those Beta Gladiators)
@type36hachimoto92 I'm very happy to hear that! I was planning to do a full tun through the game and expansions, but your comment just made me look forward to Ground Zero much more!
Okay it is more tolerable now, yes. The turrets aren't anywhere as egregious as they used to be which is good. The tiny spiders are still garbage though. Singlehandedly ruining most of the experience just by virtue of existing. Haven't taken a death to them, still hate them.
I love that you mentioned American McGee's Alice in Wonderland. You're review of the history and new features of Quake 2 is so good my friend Thanks for sharing with us.
Quake 2 was my first shooter, built my own first pc for it and played on dial up LOL, even made maps. best game ever. Havent played the original in years but still have the game folder.
@@clawzx1195 Quake 2 was beloved by a multitude of fans. The only ones who say this is meh are Quake 1 fanboys that are still holding a grudge 26 years later. Imagine having a pessimistic outlook for almost 3 decades because they labeled it a sequel to a game that people had an unhealthy obsession with...
@@lazarusfitness3892 no disrespect to quake 2. I fucking love the whole series, even tho 4 deviated from the rest of it. Either way tho im just saying. Not too long ago stuff like this was just a nice little treat on top of hella drops no matter what season of the year it was. Just kinda depressing thinkin abt for this media industry
@clawzx1195 Now I understand what you were saying, I agree. Anything we get these days that is even halfway complete with very few bugs is met with so much praise because we've become so used to anything AAA being so dogshit... Baldur's gate 3 is blowing everyone's mind because it's not a live service shell with cosmetic mtx he'll. Indie games are the future.
I was excited to see this on Gamepass the other day. I played through it in my college years back in 1999 since it was installed on all the computers in the lab. Replaying it nowadays is a sweet bit of nostalgia. I love it!
excellent video, a very well-thought-out and well-detailed analysis. I was pretty much already set on picking this up for XB1, you've just validated my decision. and you picked up a new RUclips sub. 👍
Quake 1 had a ocean of mods. Quake 2 was the upgrade. While we still played some Quake 1 stuff like Team Fortress the upgrade to Quake 2 very quickly took over and the modding for it completely eclipsed Quake 1 many times over. There is a full FTP save of GameSpy’s PlanetQuake files with all the mods they had. This isn’t every mod but it is really every good mod that made it and was played. The polish on Rocket Arena 2 and its amazing maps. Down to Quake racing lol I played using a Battle Angel Akita model back then. Played Headhunters 3 featuring the guy who would be a texture artist on Unreal Tournament. Nobody seems to cover the edge jumping and bunny hopping for breakneck speed. The Edge map is a masterpiece. Single player is not even a glimpse of what Quake 2 is as a game.
Played thru Quake 2 RTX and Quake 1 RT earlier this year. You can port the assets from Quake 1 remaster to Quake RT, wonder can you do the same for Quake 2 RTX
should be pretty apparent to quite a few people but you can use the console to gain some extra features like 32 player coop, bots in coop, scaling the physical enemy size, how much damage they take and lots more.
Call of the machines is an absolute blast. I sometimes stop and looked the map thinking I was playing half life 2. The levels environments were on that level of awesomenes.
Nightdive/Machine Games: Creates a wonderful remaster of Quake 2 that adds in cut content, creates an amazing new expansion that finally ties the canon of the whole series together into one overarching story, refuses to elaborate, leaves
@@TylerMcVicker1 I didn't think you were paid. The style of this video just has some really strong vibes of a 90's style tv infomercial. Got me hooked start to finish. 😁
I just realised this came out yesterday and bought it immediately. I always hated the expansion episodes, but saw one I didn't recognize and decided to try it first. I started playing it and immediately thought, "I don't remember this, but it feels so familiar, it reminds me of tech levels in Arcane Dimensions for Q1 or the MachineGames episodes that came with Q1 Remastered". I didn't play too much of it or look it up because I still wanted to keep playing Swat 2 before going to bed (I literally stopped everything to buy and install Q2R lol). This remaster is amazing, and even fixed the only things I dislliked about the original: diagonal pixels on gun textures when not using texture smoothing, and the lack of muzzle flash. I really hope that Machine Games' new episode inspires some of Q1's level creators to make something as special as Arcane Dimensions for Q2 now that we have a pretty solid base for them.
@@TylerMcVicker1 It got me into tactical sims and RTS at the same time as a kid. I remember playing Commandos back in the day and thinking "why is SWAT 3 a Rainbow Six clone..." - It could really do for a remaster, like Commandos 2 got.
A gold standard for remasters not only in terms of the base game, but something to be pursued by all of the game industry platinum standard for gaming archives for the future
So Quake II got the same treatment as Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert that were remastered by Petroglyph Games and Lemon Sky Studios. Nice.
nightdive deserves all the love they get, they are easily the best out there at remastering old classics and this is easily one of their best works. with all these great remasters and their solid system shock remake, they are easily the best at what they do. before sony owned them, bluepoint were the gold standard of remastering old games like the MGS series, god of war, ico and shadow of the colossus, nightdive right now are easily THE new gold standard as their remasters goes above and beyond compared to even what bluepoint did
Nightdive delivers again. Got it with GP to Series X and PC. After I saw the quality of Switch port, I was more than happy to depart 9,99e for the game and bought it to Switch too. Just fantastic work, from Nightdive!
I love that this is like the ultimate version of Quake 2, and they went and made it $10. Meanwhile Red Dead Redemption gets a port, not even a remaster, for $40 lol. I’m amazed. Between this and Balder’s Gate 3, I hope this means gaming will be headed more in this direction. Endless passion and no mtx.
I think what made me the most happy was that they once again shared the source code for the game under an open license, actively encouraging modding of this rerelease
In its day, Quake 2 was my fave shooter. It was never "meh" for me. I never played or cared about multiplayer, still don't. But the level design, the secret levels, the variety of enemies, etc, kept me going until my PC literally wore out. I was kind of disappointed when Q3 was multi only. I really wanted a new solo game. But I love the look of this remaster and Call of the Machine looks amazing. And the soundtrack still kicks Strogg a**!
Wow - I played this when it 1st came out and played in the online leagues when I joined a Clan called DTA (Death to All) great game and a great bunch of lads... wonder where they are all now?
They probably all quit and moved on... Just like all the Half-Life 1 clans I used to play with... I miss those times when people actually cared about socializing around a game, forming a community and having clan culture and ladders/tournaments. Now it's only duels. We need more comp TDM and CTF!
@@HaraldQuake - yeah, I moved onto Battlefield and play every night (I just hit 70 years old last month!) and it defo needs a decent CTF mode. Looking forward to a few hours on Quake II though.
Having fun replaying it. Disappointed at no RTX and no 64 player support. Doesn’t detract from the fact that it was a colossal endeavor, especially to be released for FREE!
Special mention should be given to Brendan Mckinney (LoH Bros) who went from making a fan remake of the Quake 2 intro cinematic a year ago to being hired to work on it and the other cinematics in an official capacity for the remaster. He's moving up in the world, that's for sure.
Per Stephen Kick (Nightdive CEO), he's also working on remastering the cutscenes for another of their "top secret projects"... and something tells me that that top secret project could either be something like NOLF or Turok 3 👀
I was stunned to see the intro had been redone... it's one of my favourite intros ever, and it blew me away...
This whole thing blows me away
I mean... on that note; the KEX engine started as a fan hobby project to port the original DOOM engine to OpenGL and to reverse engineer / port DOOM 64 to it, simply because he wanted to play DOOM 64 on a modern machine (& fix the lighting so it was playable), and it was open sourced & publicly available. And then they got hired to sell it as the official DOOM 64 port.
@@Chozo_Ghost | I'd love it to be NOLF, but that legal knot between Disney, Activision, and WB is still in the way. Unless the new bosses at Atari have enough liquid cash to cut through it... Plus, all on NOLF's cutscenes were real-time, in-engine. They'd be upgraded alongside the gameplay.
Re-rendering the cinematics is crazy overkill, that's great.
The found the OG assets!
That might already be overkill, but them also finding all of the unreleased documented material they can find on top of that makes it a *massacre.*
@@TylerMcVicker1 thats fuggin awesome
@@TylerMcVicker1 that's part of the crazyness for me 🤯
I love the cinematics but for some reason on my PC the audio is so muted in the cinematics can't hear much. Wearing headphones just helps a little. The actual game audio is perfect though. But Quite disappointed by the cinematic audio. Wonder if I'm the only one noticing that...is there a fix?
Thank you to Bethesda & id for supplying me with early access to this release.
Did you really tell Bethesda to put beta stuff in?
BGS is doing good things here. Gives me hope for carefree Starfield release. If it releases even 90% bug free Microsoft stock price will skyrocket. 🤞
Nightdive Studios actually developed this, Bethesda just published it.
Thank you Nightdive Studios for not being f****** Bethesda or Blizzard or EA or these other pieces of s***.
Why does this feel like it was voiced by an AI somewhat
The best part is, learning from this they can use the experience they gained for future remasters, including quake 3!
but we have quake live
I mean, they got that experience from the Quake 1 KEX port which was pretty rad itself.
@@themisterdellou Quake Live isn't the same experience as the original Quake III Arena. It's missing all the gore, a lot of the original maps, you need to jump through a million hoops to play the Multiplayer in its original form, and they dumbed down the A.I. quite a bit. Also, getting the original to even run on a modern system is nearly impossible for a layman, and even if you do it'll break the cinematics and even the UI if you're really unlucky.
We already have Quake Live and Quake Champions. It would be nice to let consoles in, but it would be better done with a plain old spurceport. Don't want to split the multiplayer community AGAIN.
@TacoWrath95 dude, there are plenty of modern spurceports for all the Quake's ESPECIALLY Quake 3. Quake Live is all they need to port to consoles, I dont know when you last played it but a lot of what you said is wrong. The bots are actually better than the OG Quake 3. Virtually every map is available in QL for server operators or local games.
The fact you have this extensive and in depth of an insight into the features of the Quake 2 remaster so soon after release is so impressive. Instant subscribe. Really well done.
Thank you for the kind words.
Tyler = nothing but the best - GOAT
This is why Nightdive is one of the best developers, they’re single-handedly bringing back classics to the modern age and I hope they eventually do one of these for Hexen 1 and 2
They are the best. Doom engine games though already have GZDoom mods for Hexen which are amazing. Would welcome a Hexen 2 remaster though.
i mean hexen 1 doesnt really need any remaster, hexen 2 however would benefit from many QoL improvements
@@TheRhalf I know but just like Quake 1 and 2 remaster it could probably gain an audience on console if it does get the same treatment
Hexen 1 and 2 isnt on today popular consoles? . Many older shooter arent
We need this type of remaster for No One Lives Forever. Or a complete remake. Either way, I wish more people could experience NOLF.
Nightdive devs said before that NOLF is in copyright limbo at the moment. They've tried to approach it for years.
One of my all time favorites! The style and the humor!
YES! sadly, the IP is in copyright limbo right now :(
Such a good game.
Agreed. Both phenomenal games. Never played contract jack though.
Quake 2 was my childhoods first shooter! ❤
Same here! 😄
Me too I played it on the 64 when I was 6 and I was scared of it but somehow I kept playing it because it was so addictive and playing with friends was awesome too.
I still regard Q2 as my favourite 90s FPS. Spent countless hours on the base game, mods and multiplayer!
Something I really appreciate about this remaster and the remaster of the first Quake, it's the different (and much better) treatment id software gave to his old games compared to other companies, and I'm not only talking about the remaster itself, but how they preserved all about those old games, the source code, the assets, the demos and all that stuff. It's miles away from companies like Square-Enix which lost the source code even for some of their biggest videogames like FF VII or Kingdom Hearts...
This is the kind of things that tells you how a company really is. Of course, all of them are here for the money, to make big bucks and all that; but in the process, some take more care for their legacy than others, and id software have my absolute respect for that. Bringing back this game with more content, remaking or enhancing things, putting a lot of stuff giving it more value and quality, and even giving it for free to those that had the game before, it's absolutely top notch. I really really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Quake II is one of my favorite games of all time. I didn't even realize there were people that didn't like it lol. The online multiplayer scene for this game was huge in 1998.
Biggest and first modded MP game as far as im aware. I played a ton of Action Quake 2 at the time, at lan parties but also official matches online
Yeah, I'm confused by the ~3 statements in this video of the quality of this game being questionable. In many ways it is objectively id Software's best and most complete offering.
best part of it: "Previous owners of Quake II on the Microsoft Store, Steam and Good Old Games (GOG) will automatically receive the new version via a free update."
Yep. 👍 💯
This is awesome. Cheers to Id Software and MachineGames.
The new AI is amazing. The first time I saw a berserker leap across the room and slam me in the face I was genuinely shocked. Berserkers are utterly useless in the original release, but here they're actually dangerous. Explosive armed Strogg also like to try and put pressure on areas you're hiding behind and most enemies now actively try to dodge your shots. It's great.
Yeah the AI boost was one of the best things about that Mission Pack back in the day.
I love the new AI
A downside with the new Berserker AI is that the N64 levels are not designed for this type of attack so it is almost impossible to dodge in halls.
@@zero9112 Ironically, berserkers are now less dangerous up close than from afar, they won't leap within a certain radius.
Its not AI, its preprogrammed and doesn't learn
The beta stuff is so cool to include
I know. I’m so happy the many meetings with Hugo and Marty were not in vein.
Q2 is my favorite. I grew up with this game. I played Rocket Arena 2 for hundreds of hours. I love the setting, the aesthetics, the music. I truly hope we get either a complete remake or a new entry in the Strogg universe. Tho the chances are probably very slim. After Doom/Eternal, I highly doubt we get another sci-fi remake. Also, SonicMayhem’s soundtrack is GODLIKE. It is so good. To me it’s up there with MickGordon’s recent Doom Soundtracks.
Sonic kicks ass.
I do have to agree with you here. For some reason, the more I play it, the more it makes me realize that doom eternal feels like a quake-and-doom-simultaneous-reboot thing. maybe that's why the ranger skin was included and the ancient gods released like mission packs were back in the day...hm....but I would prefer a quake focused game.
I enjoyed Doom 2016 for the most part, don't really care for Eternal but I hope they don't go down the reboot route with Quake. The purity of OG Quake is beautiful. I'm not keen on the tonal shift in the new Doom games (collecting toys etc), I'd prefer a "darker" more visceral experience.
Dude... THE SAME HERE!!
they had such good mods; action quake 2, Lithium was another favorite, rocket arena was awesome. This game was really the first FPS with a great modding scene as far as im aware
I love Quake 2. One of the first games I've ever played on the PC. Nostalgia probably influences how I feel about it but I still think it was a good game.
It’s a great game.
My first Quake game as well back when it was brand new!
2:05 Command and Conquer Remastered did this. It's amazing they found any old footage and art from the original development and added it to the game as extras.
I have to check that out.
@@TylerMcVicker1 biggest channel to heart my comment. I feel heard. Lol. But yeah, I would absolutely love a remaster of Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2, but seeing EAs new prerogative I'm sure it won't ever happen. :(
Brother, this is insane and i'm not even through the whole video!
My phone notified me about this video with my default notification sound - a quake 2 railgun shot! Say no more ❤
Never played this one, or any Quake for that matter, but this release is freaking insane. I'm giddy just hearing the features and content they didn't have to include or enhance but did. I'm definitely buying this one, alongside all the other Quake games during this sale for $20. Cause hey, if more remasters come, I'll get them too! Kinda hilarious how big they set the bar while RDR is lowering it like crazy lol
It’s crazy that if a person already had this game from a previous Steam sale, they get this remaster for free.
Oooooh Strife. I loved that game. I tried replaying it recently but I would love a remaster like this for that game as well. Such a cool story-based FPS. It almost has an RPG vibe.
You can play it in most of the modern Doom spurceports right now.
It has a remaster! Strife: Veteran Edition! It adds tons of modern features and conveniences far beyond what source ports do.
Kaiser worked on that remaster as well!
There's already a remaster like this for strife, it's called Strife: Veteran Edition
Meanwhile Rockstar Games...
OK, I know, Quake II is a "little bit" older, but this is how you remaster a game! Not just sell a port for almost full price.
Quake 1 remaster was great, and now this one! I can't complain.
Rockstar more like poop lol
Im glad I owned it already, such a blast playing through it again. They even tossed in that Quake 64, amazing!
It’s crazy that all the content was free to previous owners of the game.
Nice to hear you mention Citadel, I found out about it only very recently and I was blown away by how good it was. Would sure be nice to be able to play it in this remaster! But I'll enjoy it regardless.
There aren’t as many custom campaigns for Q2, but there is still gold out there.
Quake 2 multiplayer was the only multiplayer game I ever got into. I remember going to the MSN games website and playing with the LOX mod and blowing each other up with the nuclear grenades.
I liked Kali.
same here, quake 2 and some unreal tournament. Lithium, Action Quake 2, Rocket Arena and some CTF
I bought the Quake Collection for $19 on Steam this week. I also bought Quake 1 and 2 on PSN. Fantastic series.
*Quake 🤦♀
@@flexydex8754 It was less than 3 bucks.
I think the missing stuff will be added by updates just like in case with Quake 1 remaster.
Yep! That’s why I’m bringing it up, hoping someone hears and gets it going.
Can't wait to play it, I loved this game on PC. Me, my dad, my sister and cousin used to play 4 player coop on computer. My dad had a 4-way LAN connected under the house, used to play all kinds of games, Doom, Quake, Diablo 2, Starcraft. I'd be running back and forth during StarCraft because you can only pause it 3 times, so me and my cousin would strategize our attacks. I still remember him almost being over run by the Zerg, him being Protoss, and I flew in with my Battlecruisers to give him cover. Also flew my Terran Command Center to his base when I got over-run once, then we figured out he could mind control one of my SCVs to have extra units.
Quake II 64 was my first ever quake game so im glad to see it even included
It’s awesome to have archived.
I'm not even halfway through the video and I feel like I've gone insane! This is a CRAZY thing they released! WOW
nothing can beat Quake 1 but I still value this remaster as it seems to not overdo anything but just is tasteful.
The game looks a bit brighter than original Quake II but I guess I can just turn down the brightness and maybe disable dynamic shadows and lighting to make it look darker...
Lightly brushed on unused and cut content to enhance the overall experience.
I had so much fun revisiting this game over the weekend. Night Dive have nailed the formula for these remasters. Call of the Machine is absolutely fantastic too.
Machine Games should just make some retro throwback shooters, entire games.
Quake 1 is my favorite, BUT quake 2 is freaking amazing and im happy they remastered it. Great game from my childhood.
This remaster polishes up the original experience to a point where the artistic intentions are easier to see.
Oh and the secret n64 map is in it you need to use a console command to warp too it although I don’t think it kills the player if they fail the par time since it never killed me after one minute and 40 seconds the console command for twists is “ map q64/dm4 “
I've never played quake until this Quake 2 remaster (i love doom and all doom likes). This game blew me away, I loved every second of it, its flow, its charm, its secrets, the variation. Marvellous game
I am glad Tyler McVicker is doing these videos.
I’ve been playing this non stop since release. This is the standard to me when it comes to remasters! Amazing job!
To say I’m in retro heaven is an understatement.
I wish to god a remaster of the original Unreal was done. I would lose my shit 😂
I’ve got 40 hours so far
We all are
I just think it's crazy that this came out not even two weeks after they released a remaster for Rise of The Triad. *Nightdive being based as hell and spoiling us, like always…*
They’ve been killing it.
Shout outs Myrkul and Expert CTF and that sweet sweet triple railgun
Dude every video game should strive to deliver archive content in the deluxe editions for their dedicated fans that's so cool
Check out what is coming - mind blown
Playable early builds is something that should always be available in games
Completely agree, and I’m hoping this sets a precedent.
It reminds me of how Alien Isolation was supposed to have playable cut levels in the Extras menu (Wasn't it odd how the only thing in that menu was the credits?). I would love for more games to do this.
@@TylerMcVicker1 so do i. Not sure to what extent, but i hope you can boost the concept’s popularity using your plaftforms
The praise for Ground Zero has me wincing. I can't believe what I'm hearing, calling it 'fair' with all the turret spam and unfair enemy design coupled with constant ammo starvation. If this review had come out a year or so ago while I was still playing it on Nightmare, I'd be fuming.
With the new AI, and reconstructed enemy types, it’s WAY better.
Same. Ground Zero frustrated me back in the day. It felt difficult and not in a good way. The Reckoning was not without issues either. (Instant lasers and those Beta Gladiators)
@type36hachimoto92 I'm very happy to hear that! I was planning to do a full tun through the game and expansions, but your comment just made me look forward to Ground Zero much more!
Okay it is more tolerable now, yes. The turrets aren't anywhere as egregious as they used to be which is good.
The tiny spiders are still garbage though. Singlehandedly ruining most of the experience just by virtue of existing. Haven't taken a death to them, still hate them.
This is probably the best use of 10 bucks in the gaming sphere in a very long time.
Thanks, had no idea. I have this plus all the mission packs. Now playing on my deck. Awesome!
Yes, a level editor would have been great! Overall it's still a great package, worth every penny.
Been planning on trying Quake 2 for over 20 years now, and never got to it. I think now is the time.
I love that you mentioned American McGee's Alice in Wonderland. You're review of the history and new features of Quake 2 is so good my friend Thanks for sharing with us.
I love how they remastered everything but didn’t touch the soundtrack. That music is timeless.
Quake 2 and Duke Nukem were smong the first games that kept my interest so high that I completed them both, back in the 90s.
This game is a masterpiece! I´m turning back in time!!
Got the game years ago on GoG, this upgrade is there, too. Such an amazing upgrade. I didn't remember how satisfying this game was.
I knew there was a reason to buy quake 2 without any music back when. This is phenomenal!
The music makes the atmosphere.
@@TylerMcVicker1 and strafejumping through levels never felt so good
@@Chasodeyand rocket jumping
@@Cenot4ph not sure if some secrets are reachable without it
8 PLAYER SPLITSCREEN?? HOW
Now do that on an undocked switch
@@_strayfer_Jesus Christ, I can't even imagine that, *no.*
Quake 2 was my first shooter, built my own first pc for it and played on dial up LOL, even made maps. best game ever. Havent played the original in years but still have the game folder.
Being able to play those early expo levels is such an amazing feature. Wish more remasters and complete editions did that.
After a long slog of mediocre releases by big game studios some of the recent announcements are starting to make me feel like there is hope again :)
If quake 2 is killing ur pessimistic outlook on gaming then there really isnt shit going on in this market
@@clawzx1195Yeah, this game is older than Joe Biden
@@clawzx1195 Quake 2 was beloved by a multitude of fans. The only ones who say this is meh are Quake 1 fanboys that are still holding a grudge 26 years later. Imagine having a pessimistic outlook for almost 3 decades because they labeled it a sequel to a game that people had an unhealthy obsession with...
@@lazarusfitness3892 no disrespect to quake 2. I fucking love the whole series, even tho 4 deviated from the rest of it.
Either way tho im just saying. Not too long ago stuff like this was just a nice little treat on top of hella drops no matter what season of the year it was. Just kinda depressing thinkin abt for this media industry
@clawzx1195 Now I understand what you were saying, I agree. Anything we get these days that is even halfway complete with very few bugs is met with so much praise because we've become so used to anything AAA being so dogshit... Baldur's gate 3 is blowing everyone's mind because it's not a live service shell with cosmetic mtx he'll. Indie games are the future.
I was excited to see this on Gamepass the other day. I played through it in my college years back in 1999 since it was installed on all the computers in the lab. Replaying it nowadays is a sweet bit of nostalgia. I love it!
The subtle little tweaks throughout are masterfully implemented. Things just feel better. It’s Quake 2 as it was meant to be.
excellent video, a very well-thought-out and well-detailed analysis. I was pretty much already set on picking this up for XB1, you've just validated my decision. and you picked up a new RUclips sub. 👍
share and share and share
OH MAN! I used to love this game back in the day. I will have to pick this up for the Call of the Machine content alone.
The new campaign is 10/10, the id Vault archive content is 11/10
Quake 1 had a ocean of mods. Quake 2 was the upgrade. While we still played some Quake 1 stuff like Team Fortress the upgrade to Quake 2 very quickly took over and the modding for it completely eclipsed Quake 1 many times over. There is a full FTP save of GameSpy’s PlanetQuake files with all the mods they had. This isn’t every mod but it is really every good mod that made it and was played. The polish on Rocket Arena 2 and its amazing maps. Down to Quake racing lol
I played using a Battle Angel Akita model back then. Played Headhunters 3 featuring the guy who would be a texture artist on Unreal Tournament. Nobody seems to cover the edge jumping and bunny hopping for breakneck speed. The Edge map is a masterpiece.
Single player is not even a glimpse of what Quake 2 is as a game.
Great video! Love the channel
That’s true, but maybe in an update.
Zaero was the best mission pack with all these new ideas. Also there was Juggernaut with intresting design for hyperblaster.
i think this is the only game i've played the story more than once
only one thing was missing:
Full RTX support for the entire package.
Played thru Quake 2 RTX and Quake 1 RT earlier this year. You can port the assets from Quake 1 remaster to Quake RT, wonder can you do the same for Quake 2 RTX
Can you? I never saw Dimension of the Machine running in Q1RTX!?!?
I’m sure eventually
The level of absolute love in these Nightdive remasters compared to AAA "remasters" like Vice City, Warcraft III etc... makes you want to cry...
I can't describe how awesome it was to play Quake 2 on a brand new 3D accelerated pc back in the day.
This remaster will go down in history as one of the greatest remasters in gaming history
Or, the bar other companies hope to reach.
@@TylerMcVicker1 I hope future remasters are this definitive
Nice joke...
This was my first game I played. Q2 since 2002
My first game was called My First Farm.
should be pretty apparent to quite a few people but you can use the console to gain some extra features like 32 player coop, bots in coop, scaling the physical enemy size, how much damage they take and lots more.
Awesome review man, enjoyed every bit of this video!
me too
Call of the machines is an absolute blast. I sometimes stop and looked the map thinking I was playing half life 2. The levels environments were on that level of awesomenes.
Nightdive/Machine Games: Creates a wonderful remaster of Quake 2 that adds in cut content, creates an amazing new expansion that finally ties the canon of the whole series together into one overarching story, refuses to elaborate, leaves
The game was very good, and one of my favorites games ever, now is much better.
Yep
Never enjoyed watching a commercial as much as this one. Well Done. 👍
I wasn’t paid, but thanks
@@TylerMcVicker1 I didn't think you were paid. The style of this video just has some really strong vibes of a 90's style tv infomercial. Got me hooked start to finish. 😁
I just realised this came out yesterday and bought it immediately. I always hated the expansion episodes, but saw one I didn't recognize and decided to try it first. I started playing it and immediately thought, "I don't remember this, but it feels so familiar, it reminds me of tech levels in Arcane Dimensions for Q1 or the MachineGames episodes that came with Q1 Remastered". I didn't play too much of it or look it up because I still wanted to keep playing Swat 2 before going to bed (I literally stopped everything to buy and install Q2R lol). This remaster is amazing, and even fixed the only things I dislliked about the original: diagonal pixels on gun textures when not using texture smoothing, and the lack of muzzle flash. I really hope that Machine Games' new episode inspires some of Q1's level creators to make something as special as Arcane Dimensions for Q2 now that we have a pretty solid base for them.
SWAT 2, what a game.
@@TylerMcVicker1 It got me into tactical sims and RTS at the same time as a kid. I remember playing Commandos back in the day and thinking "why is SWAT 3 a Rainbow Six clone..." - It could really do for a remaster, like Commandos 2 got.
A gold standard for remasters not only in terms of the base game, but something to be pursued by all of the game industry platinum standard for gaming archives for the future
The Diamond Standard
I still play Quake 2 on Steam all the time! I even have my original disc from 97 so I can play it with the music!.... which is a must!
I’ve got the original box and official guide book.
Hot damn. Now go and watch Quake World Championships, being played NOW and the whole weekend at Quakecon.
Brilliant work, Nightdive studio!
Something that made my hearth melt was that the owners of the original game on steam got the remaster for free
Man, all that bonus material for Quake II is the biggest monkey's paw I've ever seen.
So Quake II got the same treatment as Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert that were remastered by Petroglyph Games and Lemon Sky Studios. Nice.
I’m just happy to play some classic quake deathmatch again
Same. I’ve had the game for a week and no one to play with. I’m so happy to be playing classic Q2 CTF again.
nightdive deserves all the love they get, they are easily the best out there at remastering old classics and this is easily one of their best works. with all these great remasters and their solid system shock remake, they are easily the best at what they do. before sony owned them, bluepoint were the gold standard of remastering old games like the MGS series, god of war, ico and shadow of the colossus, nightdive right now are easily THE new gold standard as their remasters goes above and beyond compared to even what bluepoint did
I just beat the original for the first time like a month ago... I still have the original disc, but I finally did it and now this comes out
Really great video here and I cant wait to play this. looks fantastic.
Thank you!
This is the absolute best! Ty knows his stuff!
I do know my stuff, I got my brains film my mom.
SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! My all time favorite FPS.
The changes to enemy behavior along with the new campaign are worth twice what they are charging.
@@TylerMcVicker1 Yep I played last night for about 4 hours. Normal mode is now Hard lol. I love it.
Nightdive delivers again.
Got it with GP to Series X and PC.
After I saw the quality of Switch port, I was more than happy to depart 9,99e for the game and bought it to Switch too.
Just fantastic work, from Nightdive!
This is how a remaster should be done ( not remake). The best thing is that i get it free on GOG, since I owned the original .. lovely
I love that this is like the ultimate version of Quake 2, and they went and made it $10. Meanwhile Red Dead Redemption gets a port, not even a remaster, for $40 lol. I’m amazed.
Between this and Balder’s Gate 3, I hope this means gaming will be headed more in this direction. Endless passion and no mtx.
I think what made me the most happy was that they once again shared the source code for the game under an open license, actively encouraging modding of this rerelease
The Source Code Repo also includes the required fdg so you can use TrenchBroom to create your own levels
They have really been making some good moves.
the need too remaster quake 3 arena, and a remaster of unreal tournament !
In its day, Quake 2 was my fave shooter. It was never "meh" for me. I never played or cared about multiplayer, still don't. But the level design, the secret levels, the variety of enemies, etc, kept me going until my PC literally wore out. I was kind of disappointed when Q3 was multi only. I really wanted a new solo game. But I love the look of this remaster and Call of the Machine looks amazing. And the soundtrack still kicks Strogg a**!
Before Q3A and Half-Life, Quake 2 was THE benchmark for testing PC Video Cards
I hope they do something about Quake 4, loved that game
It’s looking like everything will be getting this treatment eventually.
Wow - I played this when it 1st came out and played in the online leagues when I joined a Clan called DTA (Death to All) great game and a great bunch of lads... wonder where they are all now?
They probably all quit and moved on... Just like all the Half-Life 1 clans I used to play with... I miss those times when people actually cared about socializing around a game, forming a community and having clan culture and ladders/tournaments. Now it's only duels. We need more comp TDM and CTF!
My old clan was called the PooBoys.
@@HaraldQuake - yeah, I moved onto Battlefield and play every night (I just hit 70 years old last month!) and it defo needs a decent CTF mode. Looking forward to a few hours on Quake II though.
Having fun replaying it. Disappointed at no RTX and no 64 player support. Doesn’t detract from the fact that it was a colossal endeavor, especially to be released for FREE!