Quake 4 Multiplayer Impressions
- September 16, 2005 15:31 PM PST
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Reloading and sniping? Too slow-paced for this frantic fragfest.
In addition to the Quake 4 single player hands-on, we also got a chance to try out the multiplayer, which proved to be the highlight of our hour-and-a-half Quakefest.
Camping Begone
Whether it's Halo or CS: Source, you can always count on the uber camper skulking in the shadows, waiting for a head to pop out in his zoom scope. Such skirmishes won't be happening for Quake 4, and it's refreshing. Similar to Quake III, you run about looking for that instrument of pwn, which in this game (so far) are the Lightning Gun and Rocket Launcher. The weapons are all geared toward fast-paced strafe shootouts--the scope on the rifle will scarcely be used, if it all. Get in close range and pump that shotgun into a marines gut, or use the buzz saw melee weapon to "Humliate" an opponent.
Deathmatch is pretty much how you'd expect it to be--furious and quick. The tightly designed levels mean there's almost no downtime, and strategically placed weapons, lifts and jump pads encourage hardcore gamers to memorize every single tile and texture of the levels. While the formula of Deathmatch has always been simple, for some reason it works extremely well, especially when compared to Doom 3's disappointing multi-player.
Capture the Flag also showed Raven's prowess in designing levels. The two bases are close enough to not have long stretches of downtime, yet still large enough so that enemy spawns won't quickly destroy a well-executed flag return. Even with the faster pace of multiplayer, Capture the Flag and team Deathmatch still demand team coordination and strategizing.
Bam bam bam, Headshot!
Even in the preview state, it's obvious Raven's taking game balance seriously on multi-player. Headshots aren't as game breaking as others, and with an assault rifle given to you by default there's always a fighting chance even if you're not a Quake veteran. Power ups come in the usual form of armor scraps, health packs, and most importantly, Quad Damage--which flattens enemies especially if you have the Lightning Gun. Other weapons featured include: Grenade Launcher, which is great for shooting those blind corners; Nail Gun, which is similar to the assault rifle except with a bigger punch; and the omnipresent Rail Gun, which is the sharp shooter's weapon of choice.
When considering that both the multiplayer and single-player are rock solid, it'll be hard for PC gamers to pass up Quake 4 when it hits this holiday season.
