Quake 4 Preview

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All of the press members attendance where then told to go ahead and start a new game. We were also advised to watch the opening scene and not to hit bypass it. Not that I had any intentions to do so, but I could clearly see why they wanted us to see it considering the opening sequence lines up perfectly to the ending of Quake 2.

I have to mention as well that the pre-rendered sequence was flawlessly integrated into the actual beginning level; it was done so well that I didn’t even notice for a few seconds that I was actually in the game and could begin playing. The world of Quake 4, as I mentioned previously is all built around what happens at the end of Quake 2. The marines have landed on the Strogg home planet shortly after the hero in Quake 2 managed to defeat Makron, the Strogg’s collective brain and leader. Clearly this was a absolute blow to the Strogg and they are struggling to regroup their army and fight back against Earth’s marines.

That being said, you can only imagine what the Strogg home planet must look like… an absolute war zone. The opening sequence ended and I was left with the dire feeling that this was going to be a long and hard fought battle across the war torn landscape. Screams, explosions, gunfire, so much many more visuals and sounds filled my senses and left me in complete awe for a moment. I almost “didn’t” want to move from my spawn point. Quake 4 much like Doom 3 delivers that imminent danger attitude to its overall environment. You clearly know right from the start that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park, there is no extremely long back-story to mull through, the adrenaline pumping action starts off right from the very first moment you set foot on the planet.
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Perfection seems to be key with this title, and much like another development company, Blizzard Entertainment, Ravensoft and id Software want to make sure the PC and XBOX 360 versions of Quake 4 are rock solid before releasing them. In saying that, we were given the standard response of “It’ll be done when it’s done” when we asked for approximate release dates. I take comfort however in knowing that the game isn’t being rushed out the door by Activision to make a quick buck. All parties involved know that the game will take its rightful throne as the king of multiplayer (and single-player) gaming if Ravensoft is allowed the time to tweak and perfect every minute detail of the development process.
That being said, all we can do now is wait for this masterpiece of a game to be finished. After all, at least we know Quake 4 will be released at some point and most likely before the end of the year… unlike other legendary franchises that have been stuck in development “forever”.

Quake 4 Preview