The war with the Strogg isn’t going well. Their numbers are overwhelming the human forces and the mutations are assaulting mankind on all fronts, with squads being cut off, abandoned, and encircled. As a marine who’s in one such predicament while being armed to the teeth, you’ll have to take up arms with your fellow soldiers and wade through a host of abominations in the hopes of stopping the Strogg threat.

Quake 4 starts off on the right foot: fresh from a crashed transportation ship, you’re up and scurrying through trenches and making your way through a guarded base to blow up the Strogg’s air defenses. Almost from the get-go, it’s apparent that while this looks like DOOM 3, it plays like anything but, thanks in no small part to the fact that you’ll have some help along the way.  From rescuing to escorting to raiding, other marines will be in contact with you and sometimes accompany you as you make your way throughout the levels. Before it really gets rough, you’ll even be able to peruse a makeshift base, listen to ongoing conversations, check out the sights, and even hear about some of your past exploits. When it’s time to strike, you can count on those around you to offer their assistance with their firepower and their tools: medics and mechanics will heal you and repair your armor whenever you approach.  You can ask for their aid by clicking the Action button, which is also a way to converse and also get mods for your weapons (i.e. scope with lock-on for nailgun).  I have to say that the addition of squads was right on point, and the feeling of rushing a room with other marines is one that made the entire experience complete.

All of that isn’t to say that you won’t be going solo. You are definitely the go-to guy for pretty much everything that needs to be taken care of. But while DOOM 3 was claustrophobic and restrained, Quake 4 is the opposite: the weapons are loud, they fire as though they are hammering away at enemies, weapon modifications provide increased capacity, and there’s plenty of ammo to go around. Raven wants you to go all-out when you fight, and that’s exactly the experience I wanted. To be sure, there are tense and eerie moments, thanks to the lighting, sound, and clever scripted sequences, but it’s a healthy combination that errs on the side of combat.

The scripted events come with a price, though, and that is replayability.  The game seems to have an underlying script for every portion, which arranges for clumps of enemies to be released in certain areas as you approach. This means that you’ll know how to approach each encounter in subsequent play-throughs. Mind you, this is only a serious issue if you have an incredible memory, but it is still one that no doubt works against the game’s favor.

Of course, there is always multiplayer to keep you entertained.  With Enemy Territory: Quake Wars coming out, there seems to be less emphasis here on multiplayer than in the past, though that’s conjecture on my part.  The maps available are generally good, including the return of some old favorites, and it still offers a good time in spite of the rocket launcher being somewhat weak, though the machine gun / sniper rifle does a great job in picking up the slack as an awesome standard weapon.  Those who’ve come to expect more extravagant outings, like those in the Unreal Tournament and Battlefield series, will no doubt find much of Quake 4’s multiplayer to be archaic, and it’s somewhat of a disappointment due to the series’ penchant for that sort of thing. Those looking for the same kind of impact as the previous releases might want to rethink their purchase, as I don’t see this kindling the same kind of mod or clan frenzy as the other titles.

The campaign is worth it, however.  Despite the fact that some of the enemies look downright ridiculous, nailing them with a few dozen rounds of ammunition was always satisfying. There is steady progression and achievement, and even though the scenery never changes too much and there is backtracking, it never detracts from the momentum.  There are even vehicles such as tanks and giant mechs that you can pilot. If there is one small thing that bugs me, it’s that this world, with all its blood and mechanical mutations and mutilations, is just too pristine: you can blow up barrels, but you can’t do much else.  It all feels much too sterile for such a devastating and grotesque war.

The transition to the 360, however, is far from optimal. While the game’s controls are great, it suffers from sporadic framerate drops that really put the brakes on the action. The dips don’t severely cripple the game – it doesn’t go down to single digits or anything – but when a game is as fast-paced as Quake 4 is, any deviation from the continuous flow of action is noticeable. As a bonus there is a second disc, in a CD sleeve no less, that contains some behind-the-scenes goods, covering the actors in the game and the development process, as well as a shotgun-VooDoo2-tricked-out full single-player version of Quake 2.  Going from the blazing fast Quake 2 to Quake 4 makes the dips even more prominent.  While it’s expected that a five-plus-year-old game will run smoothly, DOOM 3 ran fine on the Xbox while the optimized Quake 4 runs far better on a PC.  In other words, this game can’t manage to best an Xbox port of a previously, less refined incarnation of the same engine. It’s a shame.

Overall: 8/10

Framerate issues aside, Quake 4 is still a solid title and still recommended. It isn’t the perfect sci-fi complement to the definitive World War II (and perfect port) Call of Duty 2, though, which it could’ve been. The series itself has had such an impact on gaming that it can be difficult to imagine a follow-up taking on the momentous challenge of bettering titles that many consider to be classics. I won’t argue with Quake 1 and 2, but 3 was a disappointment to me, though in retrospect many seemed to enjoy it much more than first; I’m somewhat in that camp, so Quake 4 feels like a return to form. While that form might mean slightly dated mechanics and a shaky framerate, it was a satisfying romp nevertheless. The weapons are back along with the icon style and the slightly gothic sci-fi look, and it just feels good.  I wanted to rock some gigantic monstrosities and Raven gave me the tools to do it. The problem is that the adventure is over too soon and provides little incentive to blow through it again.  Sure, deathmatch and capture the flag are fun, but I’ve got bigger fish to fry online.  Regardless, it’s fantastic while it lasts.