Quake II: Information from Answers.com

Release Date: June 30, 1999
Genre: Shooter
Style: First-Person Shooter
Similar Games: Doom (Atari Jaguar), Quake (Macintosh), Doom (IBM PC Compatible), Quake (IBM PC Compatible), Doom 64 (Nintendo 64), GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64), Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (Nintendo 64), Doom (Sega Genesis 32X), Doom (Sega Saturn), Quake (Sega Saturn), Doom (PlayStation), Doom (3DO), Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (IBM PC Compatible), Doom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Quake (Nintendo 64), Duke Nukem 64 (Nintendo 64), Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (Nintendo 64), Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (IBM PC Compatible), Half-Life (IBM PC Compatible), Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (Game Boy Color), Half-Life (Macintosh), GoldenEye 007 (Nintendo 64)

Game Description

As a Special Operations Space Marine, your mission is quite clear: meet the Strogg head-on before they decimate our planet's population. If you succeed, then Earth shall be forever in your debt. If you fail, well, it is hoped your death will be sure and swift. The Strogg are a particularly gruesome lot of cybernetic warriors; a race that has been formed by processing humans and outfitting them with weaponry -- an unhealthy mix of man and machine.

Quake II is a port of id Software's best-selling PC first-person shooter of the same name. Players assume the role of a marine, traversing through 19 all-new levels set across six worlds. The goal is to make it though the military bases in one piece, while avoiding environmental hazards (including traps, slime, lava and radioactive containers) and shooting the various creatures standing between you and the exit. Mission objectives will also appear in your ocular implant, and a map is always available to help you navigate the foreign worlds.

Ten different weapons are scattered throughout the game, including the standard-issue Blaster, a Super Shotgun, Machine Gun, Chain Gun, Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Hyper Blaster, Rail Gun and the powerful BFG 10K. Besides finding and upgrading weapons, players should also be on the lookout for items to help tip the scales in their favor.

Fourteen different item groups are available, ranging from health kits to silencers, three types of armor, five types of ammo crates, invisibility power-ups, stimpacks (for a boost in health), invulnerability power-ups and more. These items, along with your weapons and progress, can be saved to the Controller Pak or as part of a password given after each completed map. Unlike the PC version, games cannot be saved at any point during play.

Quake II also features a multi-player mode, one where up to four players can compete simultaneously via split-screen. Game types for this mode include the standard Deathmatch (every kill earns your character a Frag Point), FragTeam (two teams try to rack up as many Frag Points as they can), FlagWars (similar to Capture the Flag with two teams) and DeathTag (hold on to a flag for as long as you can; the winner is the player who carries the flag the longest).

Options include setting time limits, frag limits, choosing between ten arenas to fight in, an optional crosshair to help with aiming as well as customizable controls that can be saved to the Controller Pak. Quake II is also compatible with both the Expansion Pak and Rumble Pak accessories, allowing for real-time lighting effects and vibration feedback, respectively.

~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Quake II is a port of id Software's 1997 PC game of the same name, which in turn was a sequel to 1996's Quake. The first-person shooter genre can be traced back to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D, a 1992 PC title where you had to defeat Nazi soldiers within an enemy compound. The follow-up to Wolfenstein was 1993's Doom, a game that put the first-person shooter on the map as a popular form of entertainment. Countless clones would be released across several platforms, all trying to capitalize on the popularity of the aforementioned titles while adding the requisite enhancements to improve upon gameplay.

~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

The first-person shooter genre is certainly one of the Nintendo 64's strengths. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter paved the way for the genre, and GoldenEye 007 became the benchmark from which all other similar games are compared. Numerous other original 3D action/shooters and ports from the PC have appeared, too. For instance, Midway brought the PC's Quake to the system in 1998. Now a little over a year later, Activision has brought the critically acclaimed PC sequel to the Nintendo 64.

Quake II for the 64-bit system eschews the stereotypical port mold. A new development house, Raster Productions, designed the game from the ground up. People who worked on Quake for Midway comprise this new team. Raster designed Quake II by taking advantage of what the system does best and had to add and redesign levels in the process. Furthermore, a much-needed four-player deathmatch was included.

The basic premise behind Quake II is the same as the PC version. If you're familiar with the original Quake, then you'll notice that Quake II seems more like Doom with its characters, levels, and overall design. This also means it's better than Quake. Essentially, you're a Space Marine who's been dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a reconnaissance mission on the Strogg's home planet.

Quake II also maintains the id Software tradition of keeping the gameplay fast, fun, and furious. The "kill it before it kills you" formula remains intact. This time, however, some mission objectives have been added to the mix. Fortunately, for fans of fragging, the mission objectives don't require too much thought or strategy. The game is still all about running, shooting and killing.

For example, mission objectives might include finding items (explosives, a data CD, etc.) and then using those objects in the correct place. Alternatively, you just might have to find an exit. As you achieve each objective in a level, new ones will sometimes be presented to you. But the average level only has two or three objectives. Furthermore, you almost will come across those objectives automatically, as the levels don't have too many branching paths and aren't too non-linear.

If you're tired of following a stringent list of objectives, or if you're sick of collecting a million different things, then Quake II might be for you. It's all about action here.

The arsenal in Quake II is decent, but it's hard to live up to the Turok series. You get a standard rechargeable energy side-arm blaster, instead of fists, as your basic weapon with unlimited ammo. Additionally, you'll find a shotgun, super shotgun, machine gun, chain gun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, hyperblaster, railgun, and BFG 10K. The military supplies will seem familiar, too: ammo, armor, health, environmental suit, invulnerability, invisibility, adrenaline, and more are available.

Enemies range from humans to humanoids to mutants to metallic beasts. They look better and animate a little better than the crew in Quake, but animation is far below the likes of Turok and GoldenEye 007. The game's violence factor isn't as gory or realistic, either.

In addition to the Single-player mode, Quake II includes a Multiplayer mode. Wisely, unlike the original Quake on the platform, Quake II features four-player action. You can choose from Deathmatch, FragTeams, FlagWars, or DeathTag. Deathmatch is your standard kill-or-be-killed mode that Quake's predecessor, Doom, invented. FragTeams is Deathmatch with the ability to play 2-on-2, 2-on-1, or 3-1 competitions. FlagWars is a violent version of "capture the flag" in which you must capture your opponent's flag and bring it back to your base. Finally, DeathTag is mode in which everyone vies for the flag and sees who can hold onto it for the longest.

Quake II's Multiplayer game options let you select your marine, enter your name, set frag and time limits, configure controller configurations, and choose the arena. All information can be saved to the Controller Pak.

The default control scheme, which can be switched between five other preset configurations or can be modified button-by-button, is your standard Turok-like control. The Control Stick looks and turns, while the C group moves you forward, backward, left, and right. The Z button fires your weapon, the R button jumps, and the A and B buttons switch between weapons.

You also can toggle a few options like turning the crosshair on or off, displaying the status bar or not, adjusting the Control Stick's X/Y sensitivity, having Auto Center on or off, and keeping Always Run on or off.

Quake II has its graphical advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, everything is smooth and colorful, especially if you have the Expansion Pak. High-color textures and lighting effects work in conjunction with levels that are perspective corrected and have no pixelation. The game maintains a steady 30 FPS most of the time, but you will notice an occasional drop. Furthermore, the multi-player mode, with levels specifically designed for the N64, is relatively smooth and definitely fast. You'll notice a big difference when going between GoldenEye 007 and Quake II.

But there is a trade-off for the smooth, fast graphics, and this is evident in the character design and animation and in the level design. As mentioned before, the characters animate poorly compared to the likes of GoldenEye 007 and Turok. They aren't as detailed, either. Additionally, the levels are more enclosed with less wide-open space. Elaborate, exotic alien structures or highly detailed textures won't be found here.

Like its older siblings on the platform, Doom 64 and Quake, Quake II goes for ambient sound in the audio department. Once again, the desired effect is a good idea, but it just doesn't come off as well as it should. Music plays a slightly bigger role compared to Quake here, but the weak MIDI tunes don't do anything for the game. Sound effects are a little on the weak side. They provide a little more "oomph" than the original before it, but they still don't sound clear or realistic enough.

Quake II is a much better game than Quake on the PC, N64, and otherwise. The level design is much improved, because it's less boring and more varied. And for the N64 version, the four-player multi-player mode, which is one of the best on the system because it's fast and smooth, is a huge addition. If you want less adventure and stealth, and if you want more action, then Quake II is for you.