Look, we already went and slapped a giant fats 10/10 on Quake Remastered when it dropped virtually precisely two years in the past, calling it “a stellar port of 1 gaming’s true greats and a vital addition to your Swap library.” So what on Stroggos are we meant to say about this positively cracking remaster of its completely cracking sequel?
Properly, let’s not beat concerning the Massive Gun right here, this actually is one other flawless victory for retro FPS followers, a very exhaustive revamp of Quake II that respectfully tweaks and refines the core gameplay of a bonafide basic while ensuring to pack in each bit of additional content material we may have presumably requested for…after which some.
Let’s kick off with the primary marketing campaign itself and, relying on who you ask, that is maybe the easiest Quake recreation by way of its single-player providing (Quake 3 is the nonetheless MP maestro, in case you had been questioning). Throughout its improvement, Quake II wasn’t truly supposed as a sequel to Quake in any respect till it turned clear that utilizing the profitable IP would assist enhance these all-important gross sales figures. And so, what we’ve obtained here’s a recreation that’s a wholly separate narrative entity to the Lovecraftian monster-slaying of its genre-defining predecessor, with dank medieval mazes and cosmic horrors changed by bleak sci-fi environs and biomechanical mutants.
The core gameplay stays a lot the identical at coronary heart, in fact, but it surely’s additionally seen significant enhancements in a number of key areas. Not solely do you get a bunch of attractive new weapons to play with within the type of the BFG, Railgun, and Chaingun, however enemy AI has additionally been enhanced, your Strogg enemies operating away, hiding, regrouping and even ducking for canopy. Add to this a bunch of intelligent loss of life animations which see dying foes hearth off just a few rounds in a determined last-stand try and take you out, and also you’ve obtained an expertise that simply performs that little bit higher general.
When it comes to the multiplayer side of Quake II, you additionally had new additions within the type of a totally co-op marketing campaign, 1v1 battles, and a stupidly addictive Seize The Flag mode which this author might or might not have wasted an virtually unlawful quantity of his youth absolutely hooked on. In its authentic kind, Quake II was a beast, then, however with this remaster that beast has gone absolutely Tremendous Saiyan.
Similar to 2021’s Quake revamp, Nightdive Studios – who just lately served up one in all 2023’s absolute best video games on different platforms within the type of System Shock – takes the reins right here, and as soon as once more reveals why it’s the present grasp of the retro remaster. The crew has expertly enhanced the unique recreation’s graphics with fancy new lighting and shadow strategies, added element and depth to scrubbed-up enemy fashions, thrown in an extremely helpful compass mechanic, and many pretty new touches to enemy behaviour that long-time followers are certain to notice and love. Have you ever seen how the Parasite can get his tongue caught to surfaces when it misses you now? Beautiful, pretty stuff.
Apart from this souped-up model of the unique marketing campaign and multiplayer modes, for the princely sum of £7.99 / $9.99 this bundle additionally contains the sport’s authentic expansions, The Reckoning and Floor Zero, Quake II 64, and a model new episode from MachineGames within the type of Name of the Machine. We’ve spent a bunch of time with this new content material already and it’s nearly as good as you’d anticipate from the Wolfenstein devs, basic Quake gameplay and degree design that feels completely in step with the OG, while additionally bringing a extra fashionable eye for degree movement and environmental design into play.
There’s additionally been an enormous effort put into accessibility choices, with the sport letting gamers know proper from the get-go that it’s obtained a menu packed filled with useful aids to toggle on and off as wanted. What else have we obtained right here? Properly, there’s a wealth of split-screen and on-line multiplayer and co-operative components to dig into, crossplay with all different platforms to make sure you can all the time discover a match, assist for customized maps and mods, an enhanced soundtrack, and — sure — HD Rumble and gyro controls have each been added to the combination. Certainly, as with Quake Remastered, until you simply cannot reside with out 4K/120hz, we reckon the Swap model is definitely the very best one to plump for by advantage of portability, plus these gyro controls (additionally accessible on the PlayStation variations) as they simply offer you that little bit of additional fine-tuning to your aiming that makes pulling off headshots really feel higher than ever with a controller.
Apart from all of this, you additionally get the iD Vault which is packed filled with idea artwork and fashions of weapons, enemies, and pickups which could be rotated and zoomed as you turn between the unique and enhanced graphics. Oh, and dive into the event menu right here and also you get to take a look at some tremendous uncommon unused property, authentic console print advertisements, and even absolutely playable demos of the sport from E3 and ECTS 97.
In fact, by way of the Swap, crucial side right here is all the time going to be efficiency and, in each docked and handheld modes this port appears to be like and sounds implausible. The body charge sticks resolutely to 60fps throughout the marketing campaign, all DLCs, and that all-new MachineGames episode. Even within the temporary tryout of split-screen mayhem that we’ve managed thus far, we did not have any points in any way.
No matter approach you slice this one, what we have got right here is the definitive model of a basic FPS and one of the crucial spectacular remastered packages we have ever had the pleasure of diving into. Quake followers will devour this, and in need of packing in some real-world de-ageing tech to return us to our twitch-shooting ’97 prime, we actually are struggling to consider something damaging to say about this implausible slice of retro shooter sweetness. It is time to bounce into the boots of Bitterman and take the combat to the Strogg as soon as extra.
Conclusion
Quake II arrives on Swap within the type of one of many absolute best remasters we have ever had the pleasure of digging into. With enhanced graphics and audio, refined AI, all-new animations, the iD Vault, a model new episode, and all beforehand launched DLC within the combine — plus the N64 model — that is an exhaustive bundle that Quake followers are completely gonna eat up. Add in crossplay assist, gyro controls, and many co-op and aggressive methods to play regionally and on-line, and you have got a fully excellent launch.