Quake II

Quake II is a remastered release of the iconic 1997 FPS of the same name. It was developed by the same team as the original, id Software, with help from Nightdive Studios and MachineGames. It includes the base Quake II, two of its expansions, The Reckoning and Ground Zero, an entirely new expansion - Call of the Machine - and Quake II 64, originally released on the Nintendo 64.

Plot

Contrary to what the title suggests, story-wise Quake II is not a sequel to the first game.

The game is set in the distant future. An advanced, biomechanical Strogg civilization made contact with humanity, seemingly intending to peacefully co-exist. The people of the Earth, however, discover that the Strogg are secretly preparing an invasion, and so attack first, invading their homeworld. The elite marines unit they send is defeated and routed. Not all is yet lost, as one of the few survivors is the game's protagonist, Bitterman. From that point on, it's up to him to see the mission through to the end.

Quake II: The Reckoning has us playing as an elite operative tasked with infiltrating a Strogg facility. Quake II: Ground Zero has us playing as a soldier on the surface of Stroggos, tasked with destroying the gravity well - a powerful Strogg superweapon. The new expansion, Quake II: Call of the Machine, has us facing the Machine - a space-time distorting singularity - and the mighty Strogg-Maker.

Mechanics

Quake II is a first-person shooter. The game is divided into missions set in numerous futuristic locations, such as military bases, factories or warehouses, dispatching hordes of enemies along the way. The game's wide roster of weaponry includes a shotgun, a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and some more sophisticated tools, such as blasters, hyperblasters, railguns and miniguns.

Compared to the original Quake, the game stands out with its new plot, futuristic style and much larger locations. The game's pace has also changed, as the new protagonist moves slower and can now crouch.

Game modes

Quake II supports singleplayer and multiplayer. The later is available locally and online, featuring co-op (the entire campaign can be played together) and competitive modes.

Technical aspects

The developers have slightly refreshed the original game's visuals. The remastered version was adapted to support high resolutions (up to 4K) and wide-screen displays. The models, textures, animations, lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field and enemy AI have all been enhanced.