its due to the music of course :) (just kidding) BTW: This wasn't a collaboration really. We did all the level music. The other artist did the cinematic stuff. The Remaster contains all music. And thank you for NOT butchering my last name hahaha
Thank you for the amazing soundtrack! There are very feel gaming OSTs out there that actually, genuinely strike a strong sense of nostalgia in me, and tracks like "Kill Ratio", "Stealth Frag" and "Descent Into Cerberon" are definitely a few of those.
Not sure you'll read this, but just wanna tell you your music got me into metal when I was just a pre-teen. Those iconic tracks will forever live on in my heart. Still blast them full volume from time to time. Thank you !!!
If my memory doesn't trick me, the campaign is also suuuuuper long. Like, 20 hours or something like that but maybe i was just slow back then. Anyway yeah quake 2 is THE best quake game ever. At least single player wise. Terrific weapon design, aestethics, level design, enemy designs. Terrific soundtrack. And its not too hard, meaning the enemies aren't just unfairly lethal or mobile or tough. It was designed to be played with trackball mouses and tiny plasticky mousepads so its pretty forgiving by today standards. It's an evergreen game in my opinion, better than almost any single player fps of today gameplay wise. I don't care if the graphics are dated, they're charming and brutal and they add to the atmosphere. What matters is the gameplay, and today's games always fail to make anything similarly good. Btw if you like quake 2 i will suggest a very similar game for atmosphere and genre: the original Unreal single player campaign. It's very similar under the positive aspects and style to quake 2. Excellent music, weird weapon designs, variegated alien mobs and settings. And super long campaign. And another game that is also dated but unbeatable gameplay and atmosphere wise: the original Half Life. The sequels sucked in my humble opinion and completely failed to replicate the original's strong points. But the original is a timeless experience, always pleasurable to play. I wish they still made games like that today.
There is no “lore.” It’s a gameplay game. It’s cultish modern meme trend that many people keep claiming they love the “lore” in games that have no lore.
The remaster that just came out makes it even better than it already was. With the restored cut content, animations, enemy attacks/behaviour, etc. It just doesn't feel as bland anymore (though I always loved it).
If there's one thing that this remaster does to significantly improve Ground Zero as an expansion, it's that it nerfed the turrets. They were easily the most cancerous part of Ground Zero and why I never had any interest in finishing the expansion, but they now have a laser that warns you of their presence and their health was significantly reduced. Seriously, whoever decided to nerf the turrets in Ground Zero is going to a very special place in Heaven when they die.
@type36hachimoto92 They also improved the expansions by reverting the Enforcers back to their base game animations. In the original expansions, the Enforcers were one of the reasons why I didn't like playing through Reckoning or especially Ground Zero. While I understood that they were not a threatening enemy in vanilla Quake 2, reversing their attack animation was way too much and it made encounters with them a chore. Although they were nerfed in the remastered expansions, they still got improved A.I. that makes them more challenging to encounter.
You know he's not reviewing the remaster? I don't even think he mentions it in the whole video. He's playing the original using the YamagiQ2 source port.
It does help, but you cannot rely on it all the times. It can lead you to dead ends or on wrong paths, it doesn’t seem to take into account all keys and interruptors.
i did have an N64 back in the day but never played Quake 2 as I had played the pc version - I didn't realise it was a completely different game! Really looking forward to giving it a go after the main game!@@stuffthings1417
When I was a kid I didn't understand English and it was a game of guess. And keeping in mind there's a lot of backtracking I could run a level for hours without doing any progress. I specifically remember that from time to time (in different playthroughs) I couldn't evevate the bridge in the very first part of the game.
I was part of the AQ2 team. That was a great time, so much fun. Went to some incredible LAN's in the late 90's, for team deathmatch AQ2 games that lasted hours. That era, 97~2000, was incredible for modding, and early online play. A couple of the guys breaking off to make Counterstrike, while we made Action Half Life was also an interesting time. I'm happy for those guys, though I don't feel like we backed the wrong horse. AHL was it's own thing, just sadly not a lasting footnote. Pretty sure I have most of the source files for AHL still. Even some of the .map's I did for AQ2.
Loved AQ2, and later started play competitive with CS. Amazing games. AHL will always have a special place in my heart, and to this day I always tell people that a new Action game would make millions if done right, it's a concept that is not being used at all in any game today.
in 1998 my dad bought me Baldur's gate for my birthday. I took it back to best buy and got quake 2 instead. I NEVER REGRETED IT FOR ONE MILISECOND. I played the eff out of this game until multiplayer servers were all abandoned. PlanetQuake had MILLIONS of mods and the game never got old for me. I was ELITE level at railz. I've never been so good at any other game.
I second this, I was surprised you're only at 250 subscribers, I was honestly expecting it to be in the thousands with how well made the video was, keep making stuff like this and you're sure to go very far! Thank you for the video!
While I do prefer Quake 1 and its massive catalog of user-made maps, I have to admit Quake II does actually get good once you get a full arsenal of weapons and you start facing varied rosters of enemies... you just have to slog through 1-2 hours of crap to get there. When you have a rail gun, chain-gun and rocket launcher and can start aggressively circle-strafing tanks and gladiators with Sonic Mayhem playing, something magical happens...
For me, the original was better. I like the fantasy setting more than the future cyborg stuff. The dark levels, orcs with chainsaws and grenade launchers. Rabid dogs. When Q1 came out it really left everything else behind. Bots on multilplayer that felt as good as playing a human. GL Quake introducing translucent water. Modern gaming was emerging and it was amazing. Then along came Half Life...
Quake 1's SP actually kinda sucked, and many people who played it in 1996 said so at the time. It's too long and boring, and ultimately too derivative of Doom. Quake 1 was enjoyed despite the weak single player campaign because of 1) the wonder of a truly 3D engine and 2) the fun of the multiplayer especially online, but even over LAN. In my opinion we have a distorted view of the past, the vast majority of people who were hardcore Quake players of 1 or 2 had the most fun in multiplayer. There were single player mods and custom levels but the overwhelming majority of focus of most players after the initial sales of both games were playing competitively online. Quake was the OG esport.
@Wobbothe3rd I guess I totally agree on the multilayer, I really liked the single player. I thought the enemies were varied, the levels were fully 3d and interesting to explore. I spent a while on QTest before the main game released and it drove the imagination of what was coming, and when it did I wasn't disappointed. I wish they would make another campaign in this setting, Quake 2 seemed to merge in direction with Doom and away from fantasy
@@Wobbothe3rd Funny you say that. I wasn't born at the time, but, despite coming from a background where I mostly played modern FPS games (even some of the classic ones, too - like Doom, Duke Nukem and Half-Life), Quake 1 was some of the most fun I've had in a while, and that was _all_ on single player. Just, something about the level design, the atmosphere, and especially the weapons, is so appealing to me. The interesting thing is: I'd already played through Quake 2 way before I even got my hands in a copy of the first game, and even considered it to be one of my favorite FPS games (still do). Now, Quake 1's SP campaign is my favorite in the entire franchise, and it didn't take long for me to realize that. Guess the expectations for a spiritual successor to Doom were different, back when it was first announced, which is fair. Historical context is always a very important factor to consider. Maybe I might've had the same reaction.
I've finished Quake 2 twice and often hop in just to pass the time. I wasn't there yet when it came out but I love it, it's so refined and fits me perfectly. The soundtrack, gameplay philosophy, it's fun. Definitely one of my favourite games.
dang, I am old enough to remember my dad having to buy a graphics card in order to play Quake 2, and it was the first game that made a huge difference getting a GPU instead of playing in Software mode. Then Quake 3 Arena came out and we were so happy to have that graphics card.
I remember with the original release of the game, you had to have the CD-ROM inserted to hear the soundtrack, as it would play the tracks directly off the CD. There would be a delay and you'd hear the thing spin up and make clicking noises before the next track loaded up.
I found out as a kid that if you inserted the quake 2 cd and loaded up a game that didn't require the cd to play then you'd get the quake 2 soundtrack playing over the game.
You could also play any music CD in place of the soundtrack that came with the game. I played a lot of Quake while listening to Metallica, Rob Zombie and Rage Against the Machine.
I actually enjoyed the mission packs as a kid, especially the Reckoning. The Ion Ripper and Phalanx Particle Cannon are two of my favorite weapons in the whole series...and now Quake II Remastered finally puts the Disruptor back into Ground Zero.
One thing I feel like everybody leaves out about the joy of Q2 was the physicality- the sense of motion and speed of jumping all over the place like a sprightly ballerina in bigger open environments~ best quake~
Yeah the frantic strafe jumping and the double taps to jump higher over ledges and boxes was something really special, we literally flew though 'the Edge', it was amazing to see and experience at the time. Flying though the air while shooting multiple players in line at once with a penetrating railgun was just different from how Quake1 felt. The grappling hook made it even more insane. I wish I still had some recorded gameplay of myself, I think it must look insane. We killed 40+ ppl in just a couple of minutes it was brutal. It's probably not much different from current multiplayer games, but I'm completely out of the loop now so I don't know... It was a great experience to live though that time when multiplayer really took off. And oh yes let's not forget the SLI Voodoo2 setup that went with it :)
Yeah the physical feel combined with the chunky sharp level geometry. It’s very weird playing Quake 1 because it feels so goofy and random hodge-podge compared to Quake 2 polish. And yes I felt the same way in 1997 too: loved Quake 2 right away, never really cared about Quake 1.
It's not often I feel compelled to subscribe to a channel solely based on a 2 minute intro but here we are. The fact that this seems to be your first video is also surprising! As a kid who loved Contra 3 and action games in general, I used to think that FPS games weren't for me, even though I couldn't fully understand why at the time. I watched my friend play Doom II with only the arrow keys and I myself played Goldeneye but without using the C buttons. It wasn't until trying a pirated copy of Quake 2 on PS1 when I realised that strafing, as in the ability to dodge attacks and line up shots, is what I was missing. After that it all clicked. Q2demo was also my introduction to PC gaming. It was Q3 that cemented my love for the genre, as I played it online for 10 years straight (first year offline on Dreamcast). Favourite game of all time. The remaster has been a great introduction to the multiplayer, and I'd always been curious about the expansion packs. Anyway, if you read all that, thanks for induldging in my nostalgia.
Before listening the video: Quake 1 is the best. It was more raw and coherent. I liked the monochromatic colors and the mood of the game. And the action was more hilarious. And yeah, Lovecraft. And Nine inch nails. And the main character and his roided up physique and malevolent frown. Q1 was badass. Primitive, dark and cranked.
Quake 1 was less coherent, not more coherent. Had more of a mish-mash of styles from troubled development (like abandoned RPG ideas). Quake 2 is coherent “military sci fi” scenario with consistent environments around that theme. Quake 1 even just the simple main character makes no sense: guy named “Ranger” who isn’t a real person but clearly a videogame avatar. Quake 2 on the other hand was like Doom: you’re a grunt, a random soldier grunt plain and simple.
Quake 2 was all about the Multiplayer. Everyone knew each other, knew who the top players were, what servers and times people played (Quakenet IRC and Gamespy). It was a huge community of thousands of people and Q2 was the only game in town (1998-99). Clan and CTF tournaments were well organized, the mod scene was amazing. Deathmatch, 4v4, Duels, CTF, Lithium, Rocket Arena, Action Quake2. I don't think any new game can ever recreate anything like that again.
All of that sounds cool, but I missed it because we had a dial-up modem and I wasn’t allowed to use it for online games. So single player it was. Even to this day, I still prefer single player.
Quake 2 is more than just a game, its an experience. I remember when it was deemed the best game in the world in 1998. Its the reason i started playing more video games. I was 7 or 8 years old when this came out. So you can imagine the look on my face when playing this ->😮
Man. I was 15 when this game came out. Play this, Quake 1, Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 I consider the best gaming times of my life. Even the people I met. I still talk to people online from the Quake 1 days (my first online game ever) . One of them recently passed away from Cancer but it was crazy, kinda grew up together but just online. He got me into Unreal Tournament and showed me the ropes. The best times man
The best game in the world at the *beginning* of 1998, maybe. By the end of the year, it was pretty heavily overshadowed. 1998 was the year of Thief, Half-Life, Unreal, Starcraft, and Baldur's Gate, just to name a few.
Quake 2 wasn't the first game to have a proto hub system, system shock 1 did it first. However, most people remebered more quake 2 to do it than system shock. As for the weapons, I think they retained and perfected the formula for some, but for me the shotguns and machineguns were redundant at some point. The best weapon regarding is redfaction's shotgun which is twin shot and full auto alt. Actually the BFG from quake 2 was the one who made all the later BFGs including DooM 3 but excluding Quake sequels, so later dooms benefitted from it, and also rage games, and even mods uses quake 2 as a blueprint much more than Doom 1&2 Quake 2 is more the game that created the blueprint for modern FPS, it have perfect controls, you do have an item system for all your tools, the game is really smooth, and they avoided the melee because it was shit in quake 1. Despite the original q2 being a cakewalk was probably a thing in its favor for sure, I mean people bad at FPS could enjoy it. Also the game felt more like a proper campaign than previous ID games ever were. As for modding I think yeah this game contributed to it much more than older games because there was a strong modding scene, but this one have better tech to work with and we could have detailed meshes that weren't in quake 1. I believe Quake games should have been separate titles, despite doom and quake games being more or less of the same soup when it comes to the gameplay, the games retain the same fast paced formula with speed, good control and very similar physics and feel. This is too bad that the HP lovecraft Quake went nowhere after the first game and expansions, because they could have made something with it. I think they should have clarified the themes of their games, that could have been better, but even doom had its weird approach as DooM 3 came out. I think the game wanted to be system shock at some point...
I am a 90s kid yet my first multiplayer expirience was HL DM, and Q III arena. Interestingly Q II only wrote it print on my hearth as a singleplayer expirience (and Doom I have never ever played somehow yet, nor it continues). Oh the Railgun is a love ensured! Both Q II, III and the Gauss gun in HL!
Quake 2 underrated yea. First game I saw colored lighting in, and it ran with the multiplayer hard. Looking forwards to potentially playing a remastered version soon. Have a sub, great video.
The recent remaster adds a compass you can use anytime to get a dynamic waypoint to the next objective. Its an amazing quality of life tool that addresses the bad level design and poor navigation these early 3d games had. I really hope it sets a new standard for remasters, I feel most early 3d games could benefit from it. Its not fun to get lost and backtrack no matter how fun certain parts of a game are. I'd love to see you review the recent remaster right after this. They actually did a very good job with it. Lots of cool new content and quality of life stuff.
The Quake series is where I cut my teeth with FPS games. I have fond memories of playing long CTF sessions with friends till the wee hours of the morning! Your video is perfect timing since the remaster came out a few days ago. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.
I bought the Q2 Remaster a few weeks ago. I haven’t played it yet but this video gets me pumped. My only prior experience with Q2 was on the N64. The deathmatches on that game were fantastic. Big Ups, dig the video man, thank you!
True but the real multiplayer fiends know that it felt awesome to run around base2 or level 1 or whatever when either you had a network outage or waiting for a server to restart and so on.
I played this online in the late 90s on my pentium 2 pc, voodoo 2 vid card. One thing I want to mention about the rocket launcher is that you typically want to hit the ground at your enemies feet. I always jump shot to get the best angle. You can also rocket jump with it. Thanks for the video, quake 2 is my favorite as well.
Every time I play Quake 1 I want more industrial grunge levels while when I play Quake 2 I want more gothic type levels, the fact both games have separate core settings really gives the series a best of both worlds feeling.
As someone who never played Quake and just got into it, I love Quake 2 more. The AI is smart and relentless, I've never seen enemies duck your shots with such precision. I wish Quake 2 had more mod levels like Quake 1, because I'm having a blast with this one.
I love that you start with the music. Funny enough, the first time I played Quake II, was by a pirated copy a classmate burned on CD for me, where the CD music tracks were missing. So, I didn't hear any music throughout the entire game. I didn't even know there was supposed to be music. So, all I heard was the enemies, the ambient sound (like the big gun firing in the distance), and my character's grunts. It was a very atmospheric experience. Only years later, when I bought the Quake 4 Special Edition, which came with Quake 2 on disc as a bonus I got to listen to the amazing masterpiece of a soundtrack from Sonic Mayhem, which to this day I have ready to play either on my phone or laptop.
Quake 1 is one of my all-time favourite games, and I've been playing it since the 90s. I have tried to play Quake 2 a few times, but can never get past the first couple levels. The enemies look like cutsey anime puffballs, the gibs look like you're rolling red dice, explosions are weird low-poly blobs that look nothing like explosions, the enemies look blurry, bloated, and indistinct.
Very nuanced video. I love the industrial feeling of the second part. In Q2 you're here to kick ass and the game really delivers on feeling like a one man army. The first Quake is you cought in a feverish nightmare. Both are amazing games. But fans gotta acknowledge that part 1 was born out of chaos, a development rollercoaster. AFAIK several rpg elements were cut and the result was condensed into losely connected worlds, which has turned out amazing. I imagine ID wanted to realize their vision of a well-planned and executed game from A to Z with Quake 2 - and it worked! I feel right at home in both quake universes.
God, I miss lan parties. The biggest I've been to was 32 guys playing Battlefield 1942. We also played Red Alert 2, Quake 2 and a few others. Great days!
Comment for the algorithm. This game was a major milestone for me. It was the first game I played multiplayer online, and up to that point I had always played FPSes with the keyboard only. It forced me to adopt the now standard keyboard+mouse setup. I really hope this remaster brings back the multiplayer and especially CTF. Good video, subscribed.
The railgun showcase felt chillingly well-scripted. Both in your delivery of the voice-over, and the fact that the Makron visibly tried to duel you with its head-mounted railgun, got outpaced by the damage, panic-fired its blaster, then was annihilated in one final blast.
You got it spot on. Great video. I've rambled to myself for hours about this game and I'm surprised you've managed to condense all those thoughts with such elegance.
It really isn't. Quake 1 has far more of a unique identity and legacy to it that makes it more than just a game. It's a revolutionary era in gaming, technology, and entertainment. There quite literally will never be a game quite like it. But there's many like Quake 2
Thank you for taking me down the memory lane. I still remember how frustrating it was to be forced to use a mouse for vertical aiming. .. oh how the times have changed
Incredible video thank you for the nostalgia trip. Quake 2 was the first PC game I bought with my own money when I was 11, we also were one of the first houses in the area to have broadband since my father worked for the cable company... getting into a good multiplayer server for the first time was life changing.
My brother had his own house on our family property and when this game came out I bought cable lan cards and linked our houses for 4 ping server destruction. Everyone else was playing at dial up speed. Best 1st person shooter ever. This is due to the lack of player run speed (q3 was too fast to keep the rail gun a super lethal weapon). Rocket jumping was created/perfected on this game.
I also remember opening up the street laying down 10mbit coax network cable accross the street to my neighbours. Man, what a hassle just to keep that network up and running. But when it actually worked, it worked very well and we could play with six pc's together, fun times :) With ISDN I had pretty good online ping too, don't remember exactly but is was close to 5 often.
Quake 1 and Quake 2 are DIFFERENT - it's like comparing Porsche and Ferrari and they cater to different audiences with varied preferences. I've been a fan of Quake 2 since it was released and have continued playing it - especially the updated KMQuake2 version which is brilliant. I've started playing the "remastered" version and my conclusion so far is that it is "harder" than the original - the enemies are definitely more aggressive and creative. However, the graphics "improvements" are probably a step back - at least compared to the KMQuake2 update. Having kept on playing Quake 2 since 1997 I will admit it does have one fault - and that is the ending which is a complete anticlimax and far too easy to beat - especially if you've saved your quad damage and invulnerability power ups. They could have done better here.
"They could have done better here" feels like an accurate description for most of id's endings in the 90's. Everyone mocks the Spider Mastermind, I've yet to talk to anyone who thinks the Icon of Sin was a satisfying boss fight, and the best I've heard (from my own mouth, at that) about Shub-Niggurath is that it's conceptually cool to telefrag the big boss.
I disagree, beneath the superficial game fiction and atmosphere, the actual core gameplay of Quake 1 and 2 are actually VERY SIMILAR, even down to particular enemies (rotfish -> Barracuda, Fiend -> Mutant, etc.) and other entities in the SP campaign. Quake 2's overall level design and story were more coherent, but the actual gameplay loop is almost exactly the same. The multiplayer was the REAL focus, and there almost everyone would agree that the MP in Q2 was better than q1, especially at the time. Weapon balance alone in Q2 is vastly better than "race-to-the-rocket" Quake 1 MP.
There might be structural similarities - as there are with many games - but they are completely different in terms of style and mythology. Quake 1 was much darker and more Lovecraft based - in many ways a Horror based FPS. Whereas Q2 owed a lot more to the original Doom - SF FPS.@@Wobbothe3rd
What I really like is the military chatter over your comms. It helps it sell a full scale military operation and not just one man going against the horde.
I got the Quake 2 edition for the Switch and it had the music in it. It instantly transported me back to being in middle school and jamming to the music of this game and fragging some strogg. Good times!!!!!!!!
Quake 2 is my most played one, somehow blowing away Strogg to the tune of some raw industrial metal never gets old Never quite got the negativity around the game
Quake 2 was also my favorite, from debut in 1997 to my final multiplayer romps in 2012, with the first 10 years playing multi on 56k dialup & the last 5 years on fiberoptic. That's 15 years total for me. Favorite multiplayer mods included Awakening, Lithium & WoD. I pretty much stopped playing when the deathmatch servers were starting to dry up by 2012. The good old days.
Dude, best video I've seen in a while. Reminds of the golden old days of RUclips when people actually posted beautiful and inspired long-form videos. Before RUclips decided that it wanted to be fucking TikTok. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.
With my Diamond Voodoo card this game was the coolest thing I had ever played. The only downside was the LPBs and either the rail gun or the hyper blaster while I was on a 26k modem and and watching a slide show. But packing up my 17" CRT and PC and driving half way across Dallas every weekend to meet up for a Q2 LAN party was the absolute best times ever.
The remaster's subtle changes really made Quake 2 pop. I love its evocative 'Payback' atmosphere, something I didn't appreciate as much before for whatever reason.
My first FPS game, I played it when I was 10 or 9, my dad recommended to me as he played it when he was little. The enemy designs introduced me to the concept of cyborgs. An awesome experience, couldn't recommend it enough.
Quake 2 just can't be beat. The variety of level design, weapons, inventory items etc etc was top notch. The backtracking in the Palace chapter gets to be a pain in the ass but that's the only negative thing for me. I was 17 when Quake 2 was released. Man being a teen during the dos era of fps games was an amazing experience and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Doom, Quake 1-3, Duke 3-d, Dark Forces etc. Ok even Blake Stone 'cough' What a time to be alive! I have a soft spot in my heart for Red Faction lol. I'm so happy Dash Faction was created. How can I forget Wolf-3d/Spear of Destiny and of course Rise of the Triad.
I 100%'d Quake 1 on Nightmare when it got remastered. Afterward i gave Quake 2 a shot and stopped cause it felt so different and i had to do a lot of setup with the source port I'm not playing the Q2 remaster and after being 4 missions in it's quickly becoming one my favorite shooters ever. Weapons feel satisfying and on Max difficulty the game feels tough but not unfair.
I love Quake 2 , I remember playing it first time on PC in 99 , I was like Wow!! I love level design, sound of weapons..especially machinegun/chaingun, enemies, its fast-paced.. I have it installed on every computer I had ever since , even this one now😂 and I beat game every now and then🙂
I ride with Quake's 2 soundtrack full blast in the helmet. I also have the Doom Sigil soundtrack which is also tremendous. I appreciate that you made the analysis around the music as focal point. Subscribed!
18:48 To some, this might sound cringy but people like _us,_ will _get it._ Great video, you've absolutely nailed what Quake2 was all about back then. Still got my big box on the shelf and the new Remaster from Night Dive is everything Quake2 and _then_ some. Because the people at NightDive Studios also ablsolutely _just get,_ what these games were all about back then Ah, good times...
I had the psx version of Quake 2.. played it still love it all these years later, Sonic Mayhem's OST was straight fire, March of the Strogg slaps so hard
As a consolero, I just played Q2 26 years after release for the first time... only knew Q3 in 1999 from the mighty Sega Dreamcast. Apart from slow Weapon switching and puzzling levels, I was intruiged by the Strogg Conflict but *stayed* for the amazing Music and THAT Railgun.... *OMG*
QUAKE 2 is still absolutely amazing to play and still one of the best FPS games of all time. In fact, my entire top 10 best games of all time list is made up of nothing but DOOM and QUAKE games. 1. DOOM ETERNAL 2. DOOM (2016) 3. DOOM 1 PLUS DOOM II ENHANCED 4. DOOM 64 5. QUAKE 1 ENHANCED 6. QUAKE 2 ENHANCED 7. QUAKE 3 ARENA 8. QUAKE CHAMPIONS 9. DOOM 3 10. QUAKE 4
Brings back memories. My brother and I played this game to death. Great levels, weapons, secret rooms, etc. Hands down, Quake is the best FPS in gaming history. I use the BFG for taking down big bosses.
I always liked the soundtrack to Quake 1 way more than Quake 2. Back in the day, I honestly just played without the music.. It was bad ass for a level or two, but I grew tired of it quickly. Quake 1 music was so atmospheric and awesome. I use to listen to it in my car in highschool.
i played quake 2 with my twin brother... without a mouse. we shared the keyboard. I sat to the left doing the shooting and aim up & down using A and Z. He sat in the right side using up, down, left, right. He map the wole game, it was like the palm of his hand lol
its due to the music of course :) (just kidding) BTW: This wasn't a collaboration really. We did all the level music. The other artist did the cinematic stuff. The Remaster contains all music. And thank you for NOT butchering my last name hahaha
Quake 2 was a major game I played when I was like 4 years old for PSX, thanks for scoring a great deal of the soundtrack to my early life!
Thank you for the amazing soundtrack! There are very feel gaming OSTs out there that actually, genuinely strike a strong sense of nostalgia in me, and tracks like "Kill Ratio", "Stealth Frag" and "Descent Into Cerberon" are definitely a few of those.
Not sure you'll read this, but just wanna tell you your music got me into metal when I was just a pre-teen. Those iconic tracks will forever live on in my heart. Still blast them full volume from time to time. Thank you !!!
This soundtrack stays in my rotation. Thank you so much for this.
Dude, Quad Machine is stuck in my head for over 20 years now.
I really loved it back then. To me the lore, game, aesthetic, and it's soundtrack were a whole round experience
If my memory doesn't trick me, the campaign is also suuuuuper long. Like, 20 hours or something like that but maybe i was just slow back then.
Anyway yeah quake 2 is THE best quake game ever. At least single player wise.
Terrific weapon design, aestethics, level design, enemy designs. Terrific soundtrack. And its not too hard, meaning the enemies aren't just unfairly lethal or mobile or tough. It was designed to be played with trackball mouses and tiny plasticky mousepads so its pretty forgiving by today standards.
It's an evergreen game in my opinion, better than almost any single player fps of today gameplay wise.
I don't care if the graphics are dated, they're charming and brutal and they add to the atmosphere.
What matters is the gameplay, and today's games always fail to make anything similarly good.
Btw if you like quake 2 i will suggest a very similar game for atmosphere and genre: the original Unreal single player campaign. It's very similar under the positive aspects and style to quake 2. Excellent music, weird weapon designs, variegated alien mobs and settings. And super long campaign.
And another game that is also dated but unbeatable gameplay and atmosphere wise: the original Half Life. The sequels sucked in my humble opinion and completely failed to replicate the original's strong points. But the original is a timeless experience, always pleasurable to play.
I wish they still made games like that today.
I played soooo much DM in Quake 2.
There is no “lore.” It’s a gameplay game. It’s cultish modern meme trend that many people keep claiming they love the “lore” in games that have no lore.
The remaster that just came out makes it even better than it already was. With the restored cut content, animations, enemy attacks/behaviour, etc. It just doesn't feel as bland anymore (though I always loved it).
Preordered a physical copy of it. Really liked the first Quake rerelease even though I haven't played it much. I love shooters from that era.
@@damonke79 I don't support LRG anymore. But if I did I'd grab it too.
They also made some pointless and bad changes, like lowering the railgun damage in single player.
I agree, there are great changes and not-so-great changes but overall I'm happy people have better access to the game.
The recent patch buffed the railgun back up, and they also needed berserkers so their jump attack isn't as bullshit
Sonic Mayhem is one guy and the other two are credited independtly.
Sonic Mayhem still makes music to this day.
If there's one thing that this remaster does to significantly improve Ground Zero as an expansion, it's that it nerfed the turrets. They were easily the most cancerous part of Ground Zero and why I never had any interest in finishing the expansion, but they now have a laser that warns you of their presence and their health was significantly reduced. Seriously, whoever decided to nerf the turrets in Ground Zero is going to a very special place in Heaven when they die.
@type36hachimoto92 They also improved the expansions by reverting the Enforcers back to their base game animations. In the original expansions, the Enforcers were one of the reasons why I didn't like playing through Reckoning or especially Ground Zero. While I understood that they were not a threatening enemy in vanilla Quake 2, reversing their attack animation was way too much and it made encounters with them a chore. Although they were nerfed in the remastered expansions, they still got improved A.I. that makes them more challenging to encounter.
You know he's not reviewing the remaster? I don't even think he mentions it in the whole video. He's playing the original using the YamagiQ2 source port.
OP, your post made me lol. ❤️🤟
This video is not about the remaster...
Eager to see how much it helps (if at all). Just finished Reckoning again (using the Remaster), next video on that
Nice timing man
TY, this vid has been cooking for a while so happy to finally release
Absolutely immaculate timing
It's nice that the remaster of this game includes a compass that tells you exactly where to go if you get lost.
It does help, but you cannot rely on it all the times. It can lead you to dead ends or on wrong paths, it doesn’t seem to take into account all keys and interruptors.
@michael3432 Yeah, I had an issue in the torture area being led to a locked door but it is generally a very handy tool.
The N64 version doesn't need one. Still love that version.
i did have an N64 back in the day but never played Quake 2 as I had played the pc version - I didn't realise it was a completely different game! Really looking forward to giving it a go after the main game!@@stuffthings1417
When I was a kid I didn't understand English and it was a game of guess. And keeping in mind there's a lot of backtracking I could run a level for hours without doing any progress. I specifically remember that from time to time (in different playthroughs) I couldn't evevate the bridge in the very first part of the game.
I was part of the AQ2 team. That was a great time, so much fun. Went to some incredible LAN's in the late 90's, for team deathmatch AQ2 games that lasted hours. That era, 97~2000, was incredible for modding, and early online play. A couple of the guys breaking off to make Counterstrike, while we made Action Half Life was also an interesting time. I'm happy for those guys, though I don't feel like we backed the wrong horse. AHL was it's own thing, just sadly not a lasting footnote. Pretty sure I have most of the source files for AHL still. Even some of the .map's I did for AQ2.
Thank you for your contribution to my teenage years’ most fun times
Loved AQ2, and later started play competitive with CS. Amazing games. AHL will always have a special place in my heart, and to this day I always tell people that a new Action game would make millions if done right, it's a concept that is not being used at all in any game today.
Finding AQ2 back in the day was incredible. Thank you for extremely fun crazy times.
in 1998 my dad bought me Baldur's gate for my birthday. I took it back to best buy and got quake 2 instead. I NEVER REGRETED IT FOR ONE MILISECOND. I played the eff out of this game until multiplayer servers were all abandoned. PlanetQuake had MILLIONS of mods and the game never got old for me. I was ELITE level at railz. I've never been so good at any other game.
I assume your channel will grow fast. This video was gold. Your writing and humor are top notch, sir.
Thanks! Appreciate the comment and more to come
I second this, I was surprised you're only at 250 subscribers, I was honestly expecting it to be in the thousands with how well made the video was, keep making stuff like this and you're sure to go very far! Thank you for the video!
While I do prefer Quake 1 and its massive catalog of user-made maps, I have to admit Quake II does actually get good once you get a full arsenal of weapons and you start facing varied rosters of enemies... you just have to slog through 1-2 hours of crap to get there. When you have a rail gun, chain-gun and rocket launcher and can start aggressively circle-strafing tanks and gladiators with Sonic Mayhem playing, something magical happens...
For me, the original was better. I like the fantasy setting more than the future cyborg stuff. The dark levels, orcs with chainsaws and grenade launchers. Rabid dogs. When Q1 came out it really left everything else behind. Bots on multilplayer that felt as good as playing a human. GL Quake introducing translucent water. Modern gaming was emerging and it was amazing. Then along came Half Life...
Quake 1's SP actually kinda sucked, and many people who played it in 1996 said so at the time. It's too long and boring, and ultimately too derivative of Doom. Quake 1 was enjoyed despite the weak single player campaign because of 1) the wonder of a truly 3D engine and 2) the fun of the multiplayer especially online, but even over LAN. In my opinion we have a distorted view of the past, the vast majority of people who were hardcore Quake players of 1 or 2 had the most fun in multiplayer. There were single player mods and custom levels but the overwhelming majority of focus of most players after the initial sales of both games were playing competitively online. Quake was the OG esport.
^ tha faaaaak, you’re out of your mind.
Quake’s SP is pure bliss. You will burn for your opinion.
@Wobbothe3rd I guess I totally agree on the multilayer, I really liked the single player. I thought the enemies were varied, the levels were fully 3d and interesting to explore. I spent a while on QTest before the main game released and it drove the imagination of what was coming, and when it did I wasn't disappointed. I wish they would make another campaign in this setting, Quake 2 seemed to merge in direction with Doom and away from fantasy
@@Wobbothe3rd Funny you say that. I wasn't born at the time, but, despite coming from a background where I mostly played modern FPS games (even some of the classic ones, too - like Doom, Duke Nukem and Half-Life), Quake 1 was some of the most fun I've had in a while, and that was _all_ on single player. Just, something about the level design, the atmosphere, and especially the weapons, is so appealing to me. The interesting thing is: I'd already played through Quake 2 way before I even got my hands in a copy of the first game, and even considered it to be one of my favorite FPS games (still do). Now, Quake 1's SP campaign is my favorite in the entire franchise, and it didn't take long for me to realize that.
Guess the expectations for a spiritual successor to Doom were different, back when it was first announced, which is fair. Historical context is always a very important factor to consider. Maybe I might've had the same reaction.
In love with the quake series ever since I played a couple retro styled shooters. Decided to try the real stuff out and was blown away
The remaster is amazing and i had so much fun with it the compass is very useful and every weapon was extremely satisfying to shoot with
I've finished Quake 2 twice and often hop in just to pass the time. I wasn't there yet when it came out but I love it, it's so refined and fits me perfectly. The soundtrack, gameplay philosophy, it's fun. Definitely one of my favourite games.
dang, I am old enough to remember my dad having to buy a graphics card in order to play Quake 2, and it was the first game that made a huge difference getting a GPU instead of playing in Software mode. Then Quake 3 Arena came out and we were so happy to have that graphics card.
I remember with the original release of the game, you had to have the CD-ROM inserted to hear the soundtrack, as it would play the tracks directly off the CD.
There would be a delay and you'd hear the thing spin up and make clicking noises before the next track loaded up.
I was going to mention this but decided to cut it!
Track one was data noise, track two and on was fire :)
I found out as a kid that if you inserted the quake 2 cd and loaded up a game that didn't require the cd to play then you'd get the quake 2 soundtrack playing over the game.
You could also play any music CD in place of the soundtrack that came with the game. I played a lot of Quake while listening to Metallica, Rob Zombie and Rage Against the Machine.
I actually enjoyed the mission packs as a kid, especially the Reckoning. The Ion Ripper and Phalanx Particle Cannon are two of my favorite weapons in the whole series...and now Quake II Remastered finally puts the Disruptor back into Ground Zero.
Your experience was very different than mine :P
@@micshazam842 I really dig the PPC's sound effect when it fires.
One thing I feel like everybody leaves out about the joy of Q2 was the physicality- the sense of motion and speed of jumping all over the place like a sprightly ballerina in bigger open environments~ best quake~
Good point! Another physicality factor was hearing your character's footsteps, a new thing for Q2
Yeah the frantic strafe jumping and the double taps to jump higher over ledges and boxes was something really special, we literally flew though 'the Edge', it was amazing to see and experience at the time. Flying though the air while shooting multiple players in line at once with a penetrating railgun was just different from how Quake1 felt. The grappling hook made it even more insane. I wish I still had some recorded gameplay of myself, I think it must look insane. We killed 40+ ppl in just a couple of minutes it was brutal. It's probably not much different from current multiplayer games, but I'm completely out of the loop now so I don't know... It was a great experience to live though that time when multiplayer really took off. And oh yes let's not forget the SLI Voodoo2 setup that went with it :)
Yeah the physical feel combined with the chunky sharp level geometry. It’s very weird playing Quake 1 because it feels so goofy and random hodge-podge compared to Quake 2 polish. And yes I felt the same way in 1997 too: loved Quake 2 right away, never really cared about Quake 1.
It's not often I feel compelled to subscribe to a channel solely based on a 2 minute intro but here we are. The fact that this seems to be your first video is also surprising!
As a kid who loved Contra 3 and action games in general, I used to think that FPS games weren't for me, even though I couldn't fully understand why at the time. I watched my friend play Doom II with only the arrow keys and I myself played Goldeneye but without using the C buttons. It wasn't until trying a pirated copy of Quake 2 on PS1 when I realised that strafing, as in the ability to dodge attacks and line up shots, is what I was missing. After that it all clicked. Q2demo was also my introduction to PC gaming. It was Q3 that cemented my love for the genre, as I played it online for 10 years straight (first year offline on Dreamcast). Favourite game of all time. The remaster has been a great introduction to the multiplayer, and I'd always been curious about the expansion packs.
Anyway, if you read all that, thanks for induldging in my nostalgia.
Before listening the video: Quake 1 is the best. It was more raw and coherent. I liked the monochromatic colors and the mood of the game. And the action was more hilarious. And yeah, Lovecraft. And Nine inch nails. And the main character and his roided up physique and malevolent frown. Q1 was badass. Primitive, dark and cranked.
Quake 1 was less coherent, not more coherent. Had more of a mish-mash of styles from troubled development (like abandoned RPG ideas). Quake 2 is coherent “military sci fi” scenario with consistent environments around that theme. Quake 1 even just the simple main character makes no sense: guy named “Ranger” who isn’t a real person but clearly a videogame avatar. Quake 2 on the other hand was like Doom: you’re a grunt, a random soldier grunt plain and simple.
For real
Which Quake is best Quake? The answer is laid bare here. I remember when i was better than you at this game. Of course, you were 10 at the time.
Those matches were the beginning of my love of Quake. Thankful for having the chance to experience it back then!
Quake 2 was all about the Multiplayer. Everyone knew each other, knew who the top players were, what servers and times people played (Quakenet IRC and Gamespy). It was a huge community of thousands of people and Q2 was the only game in town (1998-99). Clan and CTF tournaments were well organized, the mod scene was amazing. Deathmatch, 4v4, Duels, CTF, Lithium, Rocket Arena, Action Quake2. I don't think any new game can ever recreate anything like that again.
All of that sounds cool, but I missed it because we had a dial-up modem and I wasn’t allowed to use it for online games. So single player it was. Even to this day, I still prefer single player.
Quake 2 is more than just a game, its an experience. I remember when it was deemed the best game in the world in 1998. Its the reason i started playing more video games. I was 7 or 8 years old when this came out. So you can imagine the look on my face when playing this ->😮
I wasn't much older! Definitely a formative experience for me.
I think it was already released in 97.
Man. I was 15 when this game came out. Play this, Quake 1, Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 I consider the best gaming times of my life.
Even the people I met. I still talk to people online from the Quake 1 days (my first online game ever) . One of them recently passed away from Cancer but it was crazy, kinda grew up together but just online. He got me into Unreal Tournament and showed me the ropes. The best times man
The best game in the world at the *beginning* of 1998, maybe. By the end of the year, it was pretty heavily overshadowed. 1998 was the year of Thief, Half-Life, Unreal, Starcraft, and Baldur's Gate, just to name a few.
@@Keldor314 1998 and 2004 were the years where gaming truly made a leap. Sadly there was nothing like this afterwards.
Quake 2 rocks! Gameplay is solid! Music is epic! Sonic Mayhem's soundtrack is still on my gym playlist to this day.
Within the first 1,000 views of this vid, and within your first 50 subs. I enjoy seeing where you go from here.
Appreciate the sub! Definitely more to come
Quake 2 wasn't the first game to have a proto hub system, system shock 1 did it first.
However, most people remebered more quake 2 to do it than system shock.
As for the weapons, I think they retained and perfected the formula for some, but for me the shotguns and machineguns were redundant at some point.
The best weapon regarding is redfaction's shotgun which is twin shot and full auto alt.
Actually the BFG from quake 2 was the one who made all the later BFGs including DooM 3 but excluding Quake sequels, so later dooms benefitted from it, and also rage games, and even mods uses quake 2 as a blueprint much more than Doom 1&2
Quake 2 is more the game that created the blueprint for modern FPS, it have perfect controls, you do have an item system for all your tools, the game is really smooth, and they avoided the melee because it was shit in quake 1.
Despite the original q2 being a cakewalk was probably a thing in its favor for sure, I mean people bad at FPS could enjoy it.
Also the game felt more like a proper campaign than previous ID games ever were.
As for modding I think yeah this game contributed to it much more than older games because there was a strong modding scene, but this one have better tech to work with and we could have detailed meshes that weren't in quake 1.
I believe Quake games should have been separate titles, despite doom and quake games being more or less of the same soup when it comes to the gameplay, the games retain the same fast paced formula with speed, good control and very similar physics and feel.
This is too bad that the HP lovecraft Quake went nowhere after the first game and expansions, because they could have made something with it.
I think they should have clarified the themes of their games, that could have been better, but even doom had its weird approach as DooM 3 came out. I think the game wanted to be system shock at some point...
anyways this was a great video. I really dig your editing and sense of humor.
I am a 90s kid yet my first multiplayer expirience was HL DM, and Q III arena.
Interestingly Q II only wrote it print on my hearth as a singleplayer expirience (and Doom I have never ever played somehow yet, nor it continues).
Oh the Railgun is a love ensured! Both Q II, III and the Gauss gun in HL!
Quake 2 underrated yea. First game I saw colored lighting in, and it ran with the multiplayer hard. Looking forwards to potentially playing a remastered version soon. Have a sub, great video.
Thanks for the sub! Been waiting for a long time for a Quake 2 revival.
@@masterjediarcade I guess last night was the night lol. I jumped on multiplayer and we were all Low Ping Bastards(LPB, if you know, you know.)
The recent remaster adds a compass you can use anytime to get a dynamic waypoint to the next objective. Its an amazing quality of life tool that addresses the bad level design and poor navigation these early 3d games had. I really hope it sets a new standard for remasters, I feel most early 3d games could benefit from it. Its not fun to get lost and backtrack no matter how fun certain parts of a game are. I'd love to see you review the recent remaster right after this. They actually did a very good job with it. Lots of cool new content and quality of life stuff.
I remember playing the Q2 test,this remaster gives me the same feelies
I actually missed the Q2Test but would be curious about going back and trying it.
The Quake series is where I cut my teeth with FPS games. I have fond memories of playing long CTF sessions with friends till the wee hours of the morning! Your video is perfect timing since the remaster came out a few days ago. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.
Thanks! I have many thoughts, eager to share...
Quake 1 is my personal fave, but quake 2 is also amazing, they’re both very special to me.
I bought the Q2 Remaster a few weeks ago. I haven’t played it yet but this video gets me pumped. My only prior experience with Q2 was on the N64. The deathmatches on that game were fantastic. Big Ups, dig the video man, thank you!
we been playin it and i love it
I remember it being HUGE in multiplayer via LAN or online, nobody cared about single player that much.
exactly what I've been trying to say.
True but the real multiplayer fiends know that it felt awesome to run around base2 or level 1 or whatever when either you had a network outage or waiting for a server to restart and so on.
I played this online in the late 90s on my pentium 2 pc, voodoo 2 vid card. One thing I want to mention about the rocket launcher is that you typically want to hit the ground at your enemies feet. I always jump shot to get the best angle. You can also rocket jump with it. Thanks for the video, quake 2 is my favorite as well.
Yep! I had similar setup. PII 350 with 64MB RAM. Had a Voodoo 3 2000 graphics card
Had a similar setup, gonna have to find my old specs
Every time I play Quake 1 I want more industrial grunge levels while when I play Quake 2 I want more gothic type levels, the fact both games have separate core settings really gives the series a best of both worlds feeling.
Finally, a youtuber covering boomer shooters with the CORRECT opinion on Quake 2.
Lol, it's an underrepresented market, opportunity knocked and I answered
Can we stop calling them Boomer Shooters? Not a single Boomer played any of these games, it's more like Gen X/Millennial Shooters.
As someone who never played Quake and just got into it, I love Quake 2 more. The AI is smart and relentless, I've never seen enemies duck your shots with such precision. I wish Quake 2 had more mod levels like Quake 1, because I'm having a blast with this one.
I love that you start with the music. Funny enough, the first time I played Quake II, was by a pirated copy a classmate burned on CD for me, where the CD music tracks were missing. So, I didn't hear any music throughout the entire game. I didn't even know there was supposed to be music. So, all I heard was the enemies, the ambient sound (like the big gun firing in the distance), and my character's grunts. It was a very atmospheric experience. Only years later, when I bought the Quake 4 Special Edition, which came with Quake 2 on disc as a bonus I got to listen to the amazing masterpiece of a soundtrack from Sonic Mayhem, which to this day I have ready to play either on my phone or laptop.
Quake 1 is one of my all-time favourite games, and I've been playing it since the 90s. I have tried to play Quake 2 a few times, but can never get past the first couple levels. The enemies look like cutsey anime puffballs, the gibs look like you're rolling red dice, explosions are weird low-poly blobs that look nothing like explosions, the enemies look blurry, bloated, and indistinct.
Very nuanced video. I love the industrial feeling of the second part. In Q2 you're here to kick ass and the game really delivers on feeling like a one man army. The first Quake is you cought in a feverish nightmare. Both are amazing games. But fans gotta acknowledge that part 1 was born out of chaos, a development rollercoaster. AFAIK several rpg elements were cut and the result was condensed into losely connected worlds, which has turned out amazing.
I imagine ID wanted to realize their vision of a well-planned and executed game from A to Z with Quake 2 - and it worked! I feel right at home in both quake universes.
Wow, this is amazing, i might actually play Quake 2 now, good job mate 👍
Thanks for watching! There's no better time to play than right now
God, I miss lan parties. The biggest I've been to was 32 guys playing Battlefield 1942. We also played Red Alert 2, Quake 2 and a few others. Great days!
Quake 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. Loved it back then, still love it today.
Same here!
Good vid. Feels like a video from a much larger channel
Thanks for watching! I try to put in a lot of time in editing so I appreciate the comparison.
Really can't decide between Q1 and Q2. Love the lovecraftian horror vibe of Q1. But Q2, really love the gunplay and the pacing.
Comment for the algorithm. This game was a major milestone for me. It was the first game I played multiplayer online, and up to that point I had always played FPSes with the keyboard only. It forced me to adopt the now standard keyboard+mouse setup. I really hope this remaster brings back the multiplayer and especially CTF.
Good video, subscribed.
I remember playing Quake 2 back on HEAT and MPlayer. It was my introduction to online gaming and it was marvelous.
Likely one of my earliest experiences as well, can't quite remember the server host as we played mostly LAN
The railgun showcase felt chillingly well-scripted.
Both in your delivery of the voice-over, and the fact that the Makron visibly tried to duel you with its head-mounted railgun, got outpaced by the damage, panic-fired its blaster, then was annihilated in one final blast.
You got it spot on. Great video. I've rambled to myself for hours about this game and I'm surprised you've managed to condense all those thoughts with such elegance.
It really isn't. Quake 1 has far more of a unique identity and legacy to it that makes it more than just a game. It's a revolutionary era in gaming, technology, and entertainment.
There quite literally will never be a game quite like it. But there's many like Quake 2
Thank you for taking me down the memory lane. I still remember how frustrating it was to be forced to use a mouse for vertical aiming. .. oh how the times have changed
Great memories of attending and hosting Quake LAN parties back in the late 90's and early 2000's.
Incredible video thank you for the nostalgia trip. Quake 2 was the first PC game I bought with my own money when I was 11, we also were one of the first houses in the area to have broadband since my father worked for the cable company... getting into a good multiplayer server for the first time was life changing.
My brother had his own house on our family property and when this game came out I bought cable lan cards and linked our houses for 4 ping server destruction. Everyone else was playing at dial up speed. Best 1st person shooter ever. This is due to the lack of player run speed (q3 was too fast to keep the rail gun a super lethal weapon). Rocket jumping was created/perfected on this game.
Sounds like a hell of a setup for the time!
I also remember opening up the street laying down 10mbit coax network cable accross the street to my neighbours. Man, what a hassle just to keep that network up and running. But when it actually worked, it worked very well and we could play with six pc's together, fun times :) With ISDN I had pretty good online ping too, don't remember exactly but is was close to 5 often.
Quake 1 and Quake 2 are DIFFERENT - it's like comparing Porsche and Ferrari and they cater to different audiences with varied preferences. I've been a fan of Quake 2 since it was released and have continued playing it - especially the updated KMQuake2 version which is brilliant. I've started playing the "remastered" version and my conclusion so far is that it is "harder" than the original - the enemies are definitely more aggressive and creative. However, the graphics "improvements" are probably a step back - at least compared to the KMQuake2 update. Having kept on playing Quake 2 since 1997 I will admit it does have one fault - and that is the ending which is a complete anticlimax and far too easy to beat - especially if you've saved your quad damage and invulnerability power ups. They could have done better here.
"They could have done better here" feels like an accurate description for most of id's endings in the 90's.
Everyone mocks the Spider Mastermind, I've yet to talk to anyone who thinks the Icon of Sin was a satisfying boss fight, and the best I've heard (from my own mouth, at that) about Shub-Niggurath is that it's conceptually cool to telefrag the big boss.
I disagree, beneath the superficial game fiction and atmosphere, the actual core gameplay of Quake 1 and 2 are actually VERY SIMILAR, even down to particular enemies (rotfish -> Barracuda, Fiend -> Mutant, etc.) and other entities in the SP campaign. Quake 2's overall level design and story were more coherent, but the actual gameplay loop is almost exactly the same. The multiplayer was the REAL focus, and there almost everyone would agree that the MP in Q2 was better than q1, especially at the time. Weapon balance alone in Q2 is vastly better than "race-to-the-rocket" Quake 1 MP.
There might be structural similarities - as there are with many games - but they are completely different in terms of style and mythology. Quake 1 was much darker and more Lovecraft based - in many ways a Horror based FPS. Whereas Q2 owed a lot more to the original Doom - SF FPS.@@Wobbothe3rd
In many ways I agree, but also very alike. I'd say comparing a Challenger and a Charger, comes down to taste (mostly)
Quake 1 is a Pontiac Fiero. Quake 2 is 60’s-80’s Ferrari.
Love your writing, fantastic video!
What I really like is the military chatter over your comms. It helps it sell a full scale military operation and not just one man going against the horde.
I got the Quake 2 edition for the Switch and it had the music in it. It instantly transported me back to being in middle school and jamming to the music of this game and fragging some strogg. Good times!!!!!!!!
Helluve review! Good luck with the channel.
Quake 2 is my most played one, somehow blowing away Strogg to the tune of some raw industrial metal never gets old
Never quite got the negativity around the game
Quake 1 was a classic..this was an event when it came out.. this was 1997/98 childhood.
Quake 2 was also my favorite, from debut in 1997 to my final multiplayer romps in 2012, with the first 10 years playing multi on 56k dialup & the last 5 years on fiberoptic. That's 15 years total for me. Favorite multiplayer mods included Awakening, Lithium & WoD. I pretty much stopped playing when the deathmatch servers were starting to dry up by 2012. The good old days.
Dude, best video I've seen in a while. Reminds of the golden old days of RUclips when people actually posted beautiful and inspired long-form videos. Before RUclips decided that it wanted to be fucking TikTok. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.
Dude this is not the remaster review, what a legend!
With my Diamond Voodoo card this game was the coolest thing I had ever played. The only downside was the LPBs and either the rail gun or the hyper blaster while I was on a 26k modem and and watching a slide show. But packing up my 17" CRT and PC and driving half way across Dallas every weekend to meet up for a Q2 LAN party was the absolute best times ever.
The remaster's subtle changes really made Quake 2 pop. I love its evocative 'Payback' atmosphere, something I didn't appreciate as much before for whatever reason.
Great first video, keep doing your thing. Would like to see more reviews of classic shooters :)
The spliced in clips of Hudson made this video 300% better.
I'll find a way to work Aliens into anything :)
Great video. I'll go to my grave defending Q2 Team DM as the pinnacle of the genre. The weapon timings + weapon drop made it a tactical masterpiece.
man, this is really good video, thank you
My first FPS game, I played it when I was 10 or 9, my dad recommended to me as he played it when he was little. The enemy designs introduced me to the concept of cyborgs. An awesome experience, couldn't recommend it enough.
Quake 2 just can't be beat. The variety of level design, weapons, inventory items etc etc was top notch. The backtracking in the Palace chapter gets to be a pain in the ass but that's the only negative thing for me. I was 17 when Quake 2 was released. Man being a teen during the dos era of fps games was an amazing experience and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Doom, Quake 1-3, Duke 3-d, Dark Forces etc. Ok even Blake Stone 'cough' What a time to be alive! I have a soft spot in my heart for Red Faction lol. I'm so happy Dash Faction was created.
How can I forget Wolf-3d/Spear of Destiny and of course Rise of the Triad.
Brings back memories..this is how i started my PC gaming hobby.. GL Quake.
My first ever game. Must have been about 4 or 5 when I played it lol. Also just realised this is your first vid. Great work man!!
I 100%'d Quake 1 on Nightmare when it got remastered. Afterward i gave Quake 2 a shot and stopped cause it felt so different and i had to do a lot of setup with the source port
I'm not playing the Q2 remaster and after being 4 missions in it's quickly becoming one my favorite shooters ever. Weapons feel satisfying and on Max difficulty the game feels tough but not unfair.
I did the same with the Q1 remaster, been waiting a long time for this one.
Love the remaster. I was surprised to encounter a giant shambler from Q1 in one of the expansions.
I love Quake 2 , I remember playing it first time on PC in 99 , I was like Wow!! I love level design, sound of weapons..especially machinegun/chaingun, enemies, its fast-paced.. I have it installed on every computer I had ever since , even this one now😂 and I beat game every now and then🙂
Same here, every PC
I ride with Quake's 2 soundtrack full blast in the helmet. I also have the Doom Sigil soundtrack which is also tremendous. I appreciate that you made the analysis around the music as focal point. Subscribed!
18:48 To some, this might sound cringy but people like _us,_ will _get it._
Great video, you've absolutely nailed what Quake2 was all about back then.
Still got my big box on the shelf and the new Remaster from Night Dive is everything Quake2 and _then_ some.
Because the people at NightDive Studios also ablsolutely _just get,_ what these games were all about back then
Ah, good times...
Nice video man like the content, looking forward to more.
Quake II has always been my favorite, but I hold ALOT of love for the original Quake as well.
Good video. Good stuff!
Thanks! More to come
I had the psx version of Quake 2.. played it still love it all these years later, Sonic Mayhem's OST was straight fire, March of the Strogg slaps so hard
Nice timing....soundtrack is now included btw
good first video
can't wait to see the next one
As a consolero, I just played Q2 26 years after release for the first time... only knew Q3 in 1999 from the mighty Sega Dreamcast.
Apart from slow Weapon switching and puzzling levels, I was intruiged by the Strogg Conflict but *stayed* for the amazing Music and THAT Railgun....
*OMG*
QUAKE 2 is still absolutely amazing to play and still one of the best FPS games of all time. In fact, my entire top 10 best games of all time list is made up of nothing but DOOM and QUAKE games.
1. DOOM ETERNAL
2. DOOM (2016)
3. DOOM 1 PLUS DOOM II ENHANCED
4. DOOM 64
5. QUAKE 1 ENHANCED
6. QUAKE 2 ENHANCED
7. QUAKE 3 ARENA
8. QUAKE CHAMPIONS
9. DOOM 3
10. QUAKE 4
Brings back memories. My brother and I played this game to death. Great levels, weapons, secret rooms, etc. Hands down, Quake is the best FPS in gaming history. I use the BFG for taking down big bosses.
We need a quake film
Starring Christian Bale? Lol
I always liked the soundtrack to Quake 1 way more than Quake 2. Back in the day, I honestly just played without the music.. It was bad ass for a level or two, but I grew tired of it quickly. Quake 1 music was so atmospheric and awesome. I use to listen to it in my car in highschool.
This is both a well-made and well-timed video! And another reminder for me to replay the game
Awesome video dude I subscribed!!!!
Quake 2 multi was my jam back in the days. I spent so so many hours playing that, also the best soundtrack to shoot things by.
bro.. Nothing beats Trent Reznor's soundtrack
Quake 1 had a sound track from Trent Reznor and NiN band it was my favorite Quake game by far. It was so much of a darker themed game.
i played quake 2 with my twin brother... without a mouse. we shared the keyboard. I sat to the left doing the shooting and aim up & down using A and Z. He sat in the right side using up, down, left, right. He map the wole game, it was like the palm of his hand lol
Great video! Glad to see there are others that love Quake 2 😅 hope that rumored reboot turns out to be true
First played q2 on ps1 and this blew my mind. Graphics, atmosphere and when i first witness what strogs doing with prisoners - that was gruesome.
I feel like crying when remembering the servers i used to join are gone.