|
|
UK Mall 1 - Quake 4 (PC DVD)
|
List Price: £19.99
Our Price: £5.73
Your Save: £ ( % )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Activision
|
Average Customer Rating:   
|
|
Manufacturer Maximum Age: 18
Binding: Video Game
Brand: ACTIVISION
EAN: 5030917032370
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Label: Activision
Manufacturer: Activision
Manufacturer Minimum Age: 180
Number Of Items: 1
Platform: Windows XP
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: 2005-10-21
Studio: Activision
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quake 4...What's so good?
Comment: In order for most video games to continue into a sequel, they must have been good to begin with, then as a result, the sequel must be better or equally as good to the prior.
So what is so good about Quake 4?
One that any simple gamer should be able to do is say "Graphics are great" and I would be an idiot to deny that. It is visually stunning.
Effects, gore, geometry...Looks great.
But what to make of a game with linear gameplay? Granted it is neccessary to drive the points home, but then it becomes much more restrictive to truly appreciate the game itself.
It was meant to have the ability to explore more regions of the alien planet.
And we still (almost like Doom 3) get stuck indoors for a majority of the game. And when we're outside, we're limited to our movements. You do get to drive some flimsy but powerful vehicles that seem kind of poorly designed. (e.g, the Walker has somewhat ok firepower, but now resilliance to enemy fire...)
The game just feels unbalanced and further more unimaginative.
Just another bog standard shooter with sharp graphics.
It earns 3 stars because I am a fairly big fan of iD games and the scene where you get captured and have live surgery performed on you was pretty brutal.
Other than this, all I can honestly say is "Don't buy this game. There's nothing new and nothing that particularly challenging."
Customer Rating:
Summary: People don"t buy this game!
Comment: The gameplay becomes boring very quickly (the levels are much alike) and the graphics are not to well, and it's VERY unrealistic. When you shoot someone, the shoot some guts out of them, some blood and that's all: no body just some guts. If you want to play a SciFi FPS, buy Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, that's really a brilliant game: good graphics, good gameplay, and in contrary of Quake 4, it is realistic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So, Is It DOOM 3.5? A Mixed Bag.
Comment: Similar graphics, better maps, updated AI, another set of lame weapons, nice controls, less demons.
When hit, instead of knocking you back, your vision blurs. OK, sure...
Half a step above DOOM3 yet retaining some of the QUAKE Series feel.
How similar? I would be very surprised if they do not share the same graphics engine!
Frankly, I expected more. The new QUAKE games used to raise the standard, and serve as the benchmark of graphics and creativity. Apparently not anymore. Increasing the screen analysis and multiplying the hardware requirements does NOT a new game make!
Another corporate clone following the mainstream FPS trend.
Let's hope they Game Publishers finally show some respect and let Real Game Artists create something NEW and SMART for a change!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must buy, especially if you fan of FPS
Comment: If you are a FPS fan like me, then this game is a must! More or less from the first door you enter its action packed, all the way to the end. I only played Quake 2 as I am more of a doom fan, but I was still a little concerned how they were going to continue the feel of Quake on a new state of the art graphics engine. well they did better then I could have imagined, it feels Quake-ish and the sounds are up-to-date, but still feels Quakes too!
The graphics are superb and even though the doom 3 engine is very detailed, it feels as if Quake 4 has much more detail and depth then Doom 3 even had. The environments are all slightly different, so if people are worried about the repetitiveness that Doom3 environments slightly had, then no worries here. Though do remember that you are on the Strong home planet and so all levels are going to feel Strog-ish....naturally!! The only tweak I had to do with this game was get a community made patch that made the bodies stay. I don't like it when bodies disappear in games so quickly. Ok I did this with Doom 3 too, but those demons evaporated in fire and could get away with it, but Quake 4 use a matrix type style disintegrate bodies after they die style and I personally thought it looks pants. Not only that, but unlike Doom 3, the enemies in Quake 4 charge at you all at once and there are many many more of them, so if you sit by a corner and take cover, shooting all that's runs around the corner, you end up with a lot of Strong bodies......it really does show how much you are killing and adds to the "its war" effect. Talking about the war, the invasion on the Strong home planet, really does feel like its happening. Air craft are being shot down, explosions everywhere, damaged buildings, waves of enemy attacks, tanks, walkers, turrets, everything you expect to be in a massive war zone is here. Including the bodies of both Strong and marines scattered everywhere.
PLOT SPOLIER - Many know already that after running about as a marine you eventually get captured and turned into a Strog. The process is not pleasant, it almost made my stomach turn! Having your legs cut of by a crude rip saw and implants welded onto you etc Though just before the Strog machines can activate your brain implants to make your mind fully Strong you get saved just in time. This is were the story gets interesting!!
Once a Strog you are the last hope of winning the war, you are used bit like a tool by the marines in their plot to win. Being strong gives you many advantages, stronger, faster, can pass through Strog defenses etc. I found my self fighting differently, I was not afraid to simply charge in and splatter anything that gets in my way, taking revenge on the Strog for what they did to me!!
The game play is fairly long, but again, so action packed!! I have played the game about three times now and enjoyed the experience every time. Music is good too that kicks in from time to time. You are not always alone and are helped by many different marines along the way. The strog are just brutal, sick, war machines and its portrayed very well in the game.....you just hate the Strog....their not just a target to shoot at like many games. Ok, this this review is long enough now, so go buy this game, you cant regret it!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: With a remarkable Graphics engine this game takes you through the thrilss and spills of interplanetary war
Comment: Overview:
Those who don't know the quake series will have little to fear when entering this game, it is easy to get into and requires little prior knowledge of the series. The Strogg are a bizzare Alien race who have recently been thrown off Earth by the military, an act which has now been backed up by a counter offensive on the Strogg homeworld. You play the character Mathew Kane who is attached to Rhino squad as part of the invasion force. Your mission, shoot anything that moves.
Graphics:
Do not listen to the people who say this game has 'average' graphics. This game has near photorealistic humans and animation. The unified lighting and shading archetecture means that their are large and realistic shadows generated in real time. With the mild revision of the code since Doom 3, the game has managed to escape the 'plastic people' effect and has some of the best looking graphics you will see. However this comes at a price, there are almost no outside enviroments, the engine does not do them well. The meat and bones of the of the level is a system of corridors with occasional large rooms with deep and ominous shadows. The few outside areas do however have a new edition to the engine since doom 3 with the inclusion of mega-mapping (ultra-hd paintings) which allows detailed backgrounds, letting you see outside windows, or have landing platforms. There is even a breif period where you fly in a launch pod, letting you view the exterior of Planet Stroggos which its vast structures and rocky scenery. The engine allows you to really connect with the team mates you fight along side with the realistic faces and perfect lipsyncing of dialogue. While this games graphics are now surpassed by the likes of Dawn of War's Unreal Engine 3 and the up coming Crytech 2 engine, it is still a contender and runs easily on lower spec machines.
Plot:
First off, dont expect much of a plot. This is no adventure game like dreamfall, nor does it have the sort of plot seen in Half-life. This game has a plot just detailed enough to get you to finish the level, but not enough to make you really think.
You are a Marine who have been sent to planet Stroggos to mop up the remaining forces of the Strogg army whose leader has recently been assasinated by the unnamed arine who was the protagonist of Quake 2. Your transport is hit however and you and your squad are badly damaged. Your first mission is to set up a landing base for the USS Hannibal, which will then give you the missions allowing you to destroy the strogg once and for all.
The plot has its twists and turns but it can best be compared to that of a fast paced action/war film. You only watch it because it has explosions at the end. That said the cutscene when the USS Hannibal is attacked really gets your blood pumping and the resulting scenario really sets you off to a good start.
Gameplay:
This gameplay is both very similar and very different to the game which it shares the engine with, Doom 3. It is similar in the fact all the guns are simply point and shoot and it is largly a run and gun affair. However it is very different to Doom 3 in the way the enemies react and the way the game was put together.
Unlike Doom 3, the enemies do not spawn randomly, and they show some inteligence. Smaller weaker Strogg will hide behind pillers and shoot at you while larger brutes will recklassly charge at you. Elite Strogg with try to to alter your vision with a strange energy field before stabbing through the chest with the large metal claw on their arm. This means their are some tactics in knowing how to deal with each enemy.
Their is a vast, vast selection of weapons in Quake 4 and they are all very satisfying to shoot. Weapons include the machine gun, hyperblaster, lightning gun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, railgun, dark matter gun, nail guns and shotgun to name a few. All behave differently and allow for different tactics. Your standerd issue machine gun will be the gun you use most requently for the first half of teh game, its built in torch is usefull for illuminating the scene and its ammo bites into the early enemies with ease. However as you progress you get more weapons and far more ammo and it becomes more a matter of personal preference. The Railgun is a one hit kill and upgraded it can take out multiple enemies, it is perfect as a long range sniper, the shot gun has an almost one hit kill at point blank but is hopless at mid-long range. I personally use my hyperblaster most of the time as its rapid rate of fire, bouncing ammunition (after upgrade) and illuminating balls of plasma make it very usefull at mid-long range and it easily fells all enemies. The Dark matter gun was the most surprising of weapons. It fires a mini black hole which sucks enemies inside and implodes them in a shower of blood. However it has very limited ammo and a long reload time.
Joining you for roughly 1/2 the time are your squad mates. These are the most usefull things in the game that I know of. Unlike team mates in most games these ones can actually shoot and although you have to pull your weight you'll find the members of Rhino/viper/cobra/warthog squad very useful as they help you mop up the Strogg. Medics can heal you, Techies can repair your armour or upgrade your weapons. Not to mention having another guy behind you releaves some of teh tension and you aren't constantly scared of whats behind the next door (unless you are low on health).
Multiplayer:
Quake has some remarkable multiplayer according to other reviews, I dont know because I cant get it to work. If you have a wireless connection I suggest you dont buy this for its multiplayer. I get an average ping of 500 which is barely playable (like a frame a second). Not enjoyable. Although I did get to play breifly on a local server (ping only 200 yay!) I didn't get enough time to accuratly review it.
Bottom line:
For the £[...] that Quake is selling for now I cannot think of a waste of your time. The campain is about 15 hours long on a medium difficulty and experianced FPS fans should have no worries about the harder difficulties. I would recomend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction, action films or just likes blowing stuff up.
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quake 4...What's so good?
Comment: In order for most video games to continue into a sequel, they must have been good to begin with, then as a result, the sequel must be better or equally as good to the prior.
So what is so good about Quake 4?
One that any simple gamer should be able to do is say "Graphics are great" and I would be an idiot to deny that. It is visually stunning.
Effects, gore, geometry...Looks great.
But what to make of a game with linear gameplay? Granted it is neccessary to drive the points home, but then it becomes much more restrictive to truly appreciate the game itself.
It was meant to have the ability to explore more regions of the alien planet.
And we still (almost like Doom 3) get stuck indoors for a majority of the game. And when we're outside, we're limited to our movements. You do get to drive some flimsy but powerful vehicles that seem kind of poorly designed. (e.g, the Walker has somewhat ok firepower, but now resilliance to enemy fire...)
The game just feels unbalanced and further more unimaginative.
Just another bog standard shooter with sharp graphics.
It earns 3 stars because I am a fairly big fan of iD games and the scene where you get captured and have live surgery performed on you was pretty brutal.
Other than this, all I can honestly say is "Don't buy this game. There's nothing new and nothing that particularly challenging."
Customer Rating:
Summary: People don"t buy this game!
Comment: The gameplay becomes boring very quickly (the levels are much alike) and the graphics are not to well, and it's VERY unrealistic. When you shoot someone, the shoot some guts out of them, some blood and that's all: no body just some guts. If you want to play a SciFi FPS, buy Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, that's really a brilliant game: good graphics, good gameplay, and in contrary of Quake 4, it is realistic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: So, Is It DOOM 3.5? A Mixed Bag.
Comment: Similar graphics, better maps, updated AI, another set of lame weapons, nice controls, less demons.
When hit, instead of knocking you back, your vision blurs. OK, sure...
Half a step above DOOM3 yet retaining some of the QUAKE Series feel.
How similar? I would be very surprised if they do not share the same graphics engine!
Frankly, I expected more. The new QUAKE games used to raise the standard, and serve as the benchmark of graphics and creativity. Apparently not anymore. Increasing the screen analysis and multiplying the hardware requirements does NOT a new game make!
Another corporate clone following the mainstream FPS trend.
Let's hope they Game Publishers finally show some respect and let Real Game Artists create something NEW and SMART for a change!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must buy, especially if you fan of FPS
Comment: If you are a FPS fan like me, then this game is a must! More or less from the first door you enter its action packed, all the way to the end. I only played Quake 2 as I am more of a doom fan, but I was still a little concerned how they were going to continue the feel of Quake on a new state of the art graphics engine. well they did better then I could have imagined, it feels Quake-ish and the sounds are up-to-date, but still feels Quakes too!
The graphics are superb and even though the doom 3 engine is very detailed, it feels as if Quake 4 has much more detail and depth then Doom 3 even had. The environments are all slightly different, so if people are worried about the repetitiveness that Doom3 environments slightly had, then no worries here. Though do remember that you are on the Strong home planet and so all levels are going to feel Strog-ish....naturally!! The only tweak I had to do with this game was get a community made patch that made the bodies stay. I don't like it when bodies disappear in games so quickly. Ok I did this with Doom 3 too, but those demons evaporated in fire and could get away with it, but Quake 4 use a matrix type style disintegrate bodies after they die style and I personally thought it looks pants. Not only that, but unlike Doom 3, the enemies in Quake 4 charge at you all at once and there are many many more of them, so if you sit by a corner and take cover, shooting all that's runs around the corner, you end up with a lot of Strong bodies......it really does show how much you are killing and adds to the "its war" effect. Talking about the war, the invasion on the Strong home planet, really does feel like its happening. Air craft are being shot down, explosions everywhere, damaged buildings, waves of enemy attacks, tanks, walkers, turrets, everything you expect to be in a massive war zone is here. Including the bodies of both Strong and marines scattered everywhere.
PLOT SPOLIER - Many know already that after running about as a marine you eventually get captured and turned into a Strog. The process is not pleasant, it almost made my stomach turn! Having your legs cut of by a crude rip saw and implants welded onto you etc Though just before the Strog machines can activate your brain implants to make your mind fully Strong you get saved just in time. This is were the story gets interesting!!
Once a Strog you are the last hope of winning the war, you are used bit like a tool by the marines in their plot to win. Being strong gives you many advantages, stronger, faster, can pass through Strog defenses etc. I found my self fighting differently, I was not afraid to simply charge in and splatter anything that gets in my way, taking revenge on the Strog for what they did to me!!
The game play is fairly long, but again, so action packed!! I have played the game about three times now and enjoyed the experience every time. Music is good too that kicks in from time to time. You are not always alone and are helped by many different marines along the way. The strog are just brutal, sick, war machines and its portrayed very well in the game.....you just hate the Strog....their not just a target to shoot at like many games. Ok, this this review is long enough now, so go buy this game, you cant regret it!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: With a remarkable Graphics engine this game takes you through the thrilss and spills of interplanetary war
Comment: Overview:
Those who don't know the quake series will have little to fear when entering this game, it is easy to get into and requires little prior knowledge of the series. The Strogg are a bizzare Alien race who have recently been thrown off Earth by the military, an act which has now been backed up by a counter offensive on the Strogg homeworld. You play the character Mathew Kane who is attached to Rhino squad as part of the invasion force. Your mission, shoot anything that moves.
Graphics:
Do not listen to the people who say this game has 'average' graphics. This game has near photorealistic humans and animation. The unified lighting and shading archetecture means that their are large and realistic shadows generated in real time. With the mild revision of the code since Doom 3, the game has managed to escape the 'plastic people' effect and has some of the best looking graphics you will see. However this comes at a price, there are almost no outside enviroments, the engine does not do them well. The meat and bones of the of the level is a system of corridors with occasional large rooms with deep and ominous shadows. The few outside areas do however have a new edition to the engine since doom 3 with the inclusion of mega-mapping (ultra-hd paintings) which allows detailed backgrounds, letting you see outside windows, or have landing platforms. There is even a breif period where you fly in a launch pod, letting you view the exterior of Planet Stroggos which its vast structures and rocky scenery. The engine allows you to really connect with the team mates you fight along side with the realistic faces and perfect lipsyncing of dialogue. While this games graphics are now surpassed by the likes of Dawn of War's Unreal Engine 3 and the up coming Crytech 2 engine, it is still a contender and runs easily on lower spec machines.
Plot:
First off, dont expect much of a plot. This is no adventure game like dreamfall, nor does it have the sort of plot seen in Half-life. This game has a plot just detailed enough to get you to finish the level, but not enough to make you really think.
You are a Marine who have been sent to planet Stroggos to mop up the remaining forces of the Strogg army whose leader has recently been assasinated by the unnamed arine who was the protagonist of Quake 2. Your transport is hit however and you and your squad are badly damaged. Your first mission is to set up a landing base for the USS Hannibal, which will then give you the missions allowing you to destroy the strogg once and for all.
The plot has its twists and turns but it can best be compared to that of a fast paced action/war film. You only watch it because it has explosions at the end. That said the cutscene when the USS Hannibal is attacked really gets your blood pumping and the resulting scenario really sets you off to a good start.
Gameplay:
This gameplay is both very similar and very different to the game which it shares the engine with, Doom 3. It is similar in the fact all the guns are simply point and shoot and it is largly a run and gun affair. However it is very different to Doom 3 in the way the enemies react and the way the game was put together.
Unlike Doom 3, the enemies do not spawn randomly, and they show some inteligence. Smaller weaker Strogg will hide behind pillers and shoot at you while larger brutes will recklassly charge at you. Elite Strogg with try to to alter your vision with a strange energy field before stabbing through the chest with the large metal claw on their arm. This means their are some tactics in knowing how to deal with each enemy.
Their is a vast, vast selection of weapons in Quake 4 and they are all very satisfying to shoot. Weapons include the machine gun, hyperblaster, lightning gun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, railgun, dark matter gun, nail guns and shotgun to name a few. All behave differently and allow for different tactics. Your standerd issue machine gun will be the gun you use most requently for the first half of teh game, its built in torch is usefull for illuminating the scene and its ammo bites into the early enemies with ease. However as you progress you get more weapons and far more ammo and it becomes more a matter of personal preference. The Railgun is a one hit kill and upgraded it can take out multiple enemies, it is perfect as a long range sniper, the shot gun has an almost one hit kill at point blank but is hopless at mid-long range. I personally use my hyperblaster most of the time as its rapid rate of fire, bouncing ammunition (after upgrade) and illuminating balls of plasma make it very usefull at mid-long range and it easily fells all enemies. The Dark matter gun was the most surprising of weapons. It fires a mini black hole which sucks enemies inside and implodes them in a shower of blood. However it has very limited ammo and a long reload time.
Joining you for roughly 1/2 the time are your squad mates. These are the most usefull things in the game that I know of. Unlike team mates in most games these ones can actually shoot and although you have to pull your weight you'll find the members of Rhino/viper/cobra/warthog squad very useful as they help you mop up the Strogg. Medics can heal you, Techies can repair your armour or upgrade your weapons. Not to mention having another guy behind you releaves some of teh tension and you aren't constantly scared of whats behind the next door (unless you are low on health).
Multiplayer:
Quake has some remarkable multiplayer according to other reviews, I dont know because I cant get it to work. If you have a wireless connection I suggest you dont buy this for its multiplayer. I get an average ping of 500 which is barely playable (like a frame a second). Not enjoyable. Although I did get to play breifly on a local server (ping only 200 yay!) I didn't get enough time to accuratly review it.
Bottom line:
For the £[...] that Quake is selling for now I cannot think of a waste of your time. The campain is about 15 hours long on a medium difficulty and experianced FPS fans should have no worries about the harder difficulties. I would recomend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction, action films or just likes blowing stuff up.
Array
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
