Quake4 game review X360

[carbonbased_al]

First off, thanks to Paul for giving us a forum to post this stuff in. Very cool. Secondly, read the following knowing that I might drop a spoiler or two. I won't give away the ending or anything, but there is a plot twist that needs going over as it effects the game in general. And hey, if your playing Quake4 for it's story you've got problems

Quake 4 was the first game I decided to power through for my new X360. Now I was given a copy of it for pc, but I don't own a tricked out alienware so it never really ran well. Let me tell you, this game looks awesome on 360. Character design is a bit generic for the human, but the strogg (badguys) are very well done. They look very freaky, kinda like the borg from startrek.The level design has a very Doom3 feel, much is spent indoors in the dark. Thankfully most guns in this game have a flashlight built in. Loads of detail everywhere, the game definetly scores high for its looks.

Gameplay wise Quake is tight. It's a twitch shooter, and has a tendency to be fast and furious. There is basic puzzle solving involved, you know, find the switch to open the door. Nothing hard at all, there was no point during this game I was stumped on where to go next. The game focuses mostly on action, and it does it well.

Id added squadmates during certain sequences, but i've found the only thing they are good for is cannon fodder and refilling your health and armor. But having them around does give the game more of a you versus them feeling, as the soldiers bark orders, duck for cover, etc. They occasionally give you new weapons, and upgrade your old ones which is helpful.

Weapon variety is good. Lots of human and alien weapons abound but I found myself really using only the machinegun and shotgun. They are a bit overpowered. Awesome, but overpowered. Other than those, the only other weapon I used much was some purple matter gun. It rocks. In fact, the final boss went down quick to it.

One thing the developers talk about excitedly is the use of vehicles. They are indeed awesome. There is a speedy hovertank which is quite cool. It has a very current feel to it, just hovering. It's quite cool sending guys flying in a speeding tank. But the walker is king. It's a big mech that has an oversized machinegun and shoots rockets. It's a beast, I love it. Lastly there is a tram ride at the end, but it kind of sucks. You basically just man a rear machine gun and shoot other trams. Snore :s What lets me down is that there is only one level dedicated to each. The vehicles do a great job of breaking up the action, and it would have been nice to drive that mech again.

AI is pretty good. Friendly marines duck for cover and have a good weapon hit ratio. Enemy AI is really varied. You have your basic idiot grunt that runs face first into your gun, some other less stupid but still dumb guys with guns, some smarter ranged foes, a few nasty tough close up baddies, and closer to the end smart tactical troopers. Some excellent tough bosses, except the final one which is kinda a let down. Good variety there, I had some awesome battles along the way.

One thing I need to mention is a performance problem. About halfway through the game (SPOILER ALERT) your caught and there is just a brutal cutscene where you are turned into one of the strogg, but are rescued. You end up looking like robocop on roids. You only get an additional 25 health and you run slightly faster. Kinda a crappy trade if you ask me. All that aside at this point the game has issues. I noticed the framerate drops some as the action picks up. Also a little slowdown here and there. I was really surprised given the power this console puts out. It is only a port though, things good be worse I suppose.

Multiplayer isn't as good as PC. It only supports 8 players on xbox live opposed to 16 on pc. Not good in my book, as i'm a big online gamer.

The musical score is good. It goes well with the hectic action. Sounds in this game are, in general excellent. Guns all sound good, marine voices are varied and have lots of different dialogue. The strogg shout out a varied number of weird grunts and shouts. Vehicles sound good too. I really have few complaints regarding the sound, a good job overall.

The game comes with an additional CD that has some excellent bonus content. Interviews, artwork, and the making of Quake4. And biggest of all, a full copy of Quake2. One of the best shooters of all time ported to X360. It looks like ass compared to today's standards, but i've been playing it heavy lately. It's still a great game, an extremely sound shooter and tons of fun. A true classic.

All in all i'm pleased with Quake4. It's a beautiful, fast paced killing spree. In truth, if you have a high end PC your better off getting it for that just for the mp. The fact that the game is just a port probably explains the performance issues, but that just shouldn't be considering the power of this console. Not enough to ruin the experience, but just enough to annoy you. But if your like me and don't have a crazy pc, it's definetly worth the price of admission.

[CigDaddy]

Another great review. We will probably get this game later on after we beat Perfect Dark, COD2, and King Kong!! Keep the great reviews coming!!