Seeing the lost art of idtech2 texturework shine again makes me really happy
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I just encountered some iron maidens for the first time, and they have the badass scowl going on
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I love that the teeth of the cyborg are still beige because we’re still working with paletted textures
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Oh I just checked the options and you can turn off some enhancements, including the new models if you don’t like them
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late night ramblings, i finished quake 2 enhanced last night and it is indeed better than the original but still mid
doesnt feel as good to run around as quake 1 and weapons arent punchy enough, but still feels better than most other games around the same time i think? maybe not
i turned off the music eventually, it feels like generic industrial rock to me, like what people expected nine inch nails to make for quake 1 because they hadnt actually ever heard nine inch nails but stabbing westward instead. no atmosphere to it and didnt match the game imo. his stuff worked better with quake 3
the aesthetic is boring. part of it could be age since so many games have done the fleshtech and space fascists thing now, but also the enemy designs just feel pretty meh. sound design is pretty weak too. also so many of the levels look the same, either a space dungeon or a space warehouse
there were a few cool levels and moments, like the level where you have to turn off all the stroggification machines, or setting an airstrike thing and running into a bunker and coming out to see it blown up, but for the most part it’s just running from a to b. the objectives try to add context to make your button switching more interesting, but its not enough
there is no mystery or intrigue to the level design, its all boring corridors. when you finally get to outdoor areas towards the end it feels so fresh, but again not much is done with it. this aint unreal! oh and all the secrets are really boring since everything is just a tech base, so its like “blow up this cracked wall” or “hit this hidden switch”
the most interesting levels were the secret ones because they actually did something different, even if one was a poor man’s ziggurat vertigo.
the levels arent poorly designed though, they have a decent flow to them though far less imaginative than anything in quake 1… i guess thats the games whole problem, its far less imaginative than quake 1. it feels more… just functional.
the combat encounters get repetitive. i think part of the problem is that enemies all take too long to kill, so you cant get in big battles like in quake where you can take out most baddies with a few super shotgun blasts. also that means you dont get as many interesting combinations of enemies. AND the behaviour of enemies in quake 2 dont compliment each other as well as quake 1. also in quake shamblers were used rarely and scared the crap out of you, but the big dudes in quake 2 are slow and boring and take forever to kill and show up WAY too often. towards the end they were around every corner and i felt the game was just trying to waste my time
i liked the start when you heard a voice in your ear and it felt like you were a part of something bigger, but it quickly went back to “lone space dude destroying an entire army” which would have been fine if the rest of the game held up
i mean it is a solid game and i played it to the end, but ultimately it’s pretty forgettable and i would chose others over it. or just play quake 1 maps.
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Did you play the expansions too?
not yet, but i intend to. i started quake 2 64 which, while not as good as i remember, is still better than vanilla quake 2 so far. for one, you actually go to different feeling places! and you do cool stuff like disable the gravity in space so you’re floating around fighting strogg! and it gives you weapons way earlier, and throws enemies at you way earlier too, it just feels way more interesting and tighter so far (but there are some flaws i’m noticing that i’ll talk about more when i finish it)
oh and the music is spooky space ambience instead of industrial rock which i think suits the game better. i actually think a lot of it is reused from doom 64, but i loved the music there so i dont mind
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its not reused but it is the same composer, Aubrey Hodges, whose style lends itself to making similar sounding music
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They are going to put the vortex rikers ship in fortnite with the automag and eight ball
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THAT DOESN’T FUCKING COUNT
Isn’t CliffyB a literal billionaire. What the hell is he wondering about, if he wants a remaster fucking go pay to get one made
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didn’t epic pull literally all unreal games from storefronts?
edit: yep they’re all unavailable
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I FINISHED QUAKE 2 64
the space station level (unit 2 or whatever) is definitely the highlight of the game. first you disable gravity so you float around! then you plant explosives to take the whole place out! then you have to escape in two minutes which is easier said than done because enemies are everywhere! and you escape by hijacking an enemy spaceship! it feels so cool and badass.
there are other cool moments in the game too, but that’s the definite highlight. oh i also need to talk about this games version of the prison/torture area, it feels way more bleak because on PC you’re turning all the death devices off, but you dont do that here, it’s just like “dont fall into that meat grinder like those other losers LOL”. there are multiple times where you can optionally kill humans in the devices, with it even rewarding you with bonus armour after slowly dropping a bunch of people into lava lol. i mean in theory you’re stopping it all by shutting down a computer core or some shit, but it sure feels like you’re ignoring all the death
SO ALL IN ALL, QUAKE 2 PC VS. QUAKE 2 64 VIA THE REMAKES
(in my opinion)
(also for the record i played both on hard)
PROS FOR QUAKE 2 64:
- gives you the shotgun and super shotgun within the first 60 seconds so there’s no fucking around
- throws tougher enemies at you earlier so there’s no fucking around
- doesn’t spam those big robot enemies all the damn time like quake 2 did
- got rid of some of the more annoying enemies, specifically those giant dog things that brought enemies back to life
- moodier, darker soundtrack over an ill-fitting industrial rock one
- cranks up the stupid coloured lighting and looks AMAZING, don’t at me
- it starts playing a little victory ditty when you finish the objectives for a level, PC goes to silence?
- no hub bullshit. it was a cool idea, but nothing interesting is done with it and it just leads to backtracking, getting lost, and levels looking the same.
- levels flow much better, i never had to use the compass once
- feels more like an adventure in space rather than just ww2 in space
- much more varied environments
- powerups are instant use. in theory i like having an inventory as in quake 2 pc, but in practice i just forget i have things until i find another one that i cant pick up. would rather just get powerups when the game thinks i may need one.
PROS FOR QUAKE 2 PC:
- the secret credits room, no such thing on 64
- has an actual boss fight. the ending of 64 is just fighting some of the tougher enemies from PC for the first time, and is quite anticlimatic. also there isnt much of an ending
- has the dopefish, even if it’s in bastardised form
- i dont like the ww2 in space theme much BUT when it works, it feels pretty cool
- tends to have larger, more open environments, and allows larger groups of enemies. quake 2 64 is often cramped which leads to its biggest problem…
- i said the combat design in quake 2 was decent. well the combat design in quake 64 2 is frankly often bad. it LOVES putting enemies around 90 degree corners, and using monster closets (and just spawning) to surround you with enemies. the latter isnt bad in of itself, but too often this happens in areas with little room to move, and little to no cover, leaving you with few combat options. its just too damn cramped a lot of the time, which leads to frustration and deaths. i found this WAY harder than quake 2 pc (which was a cakewalk for the most part). though the fact you dont get a powershield probably contributed a lot, since that protected me through 90% of quake 2 pc.
i actually think quake 2 64 may benefit from the original dumbass AI, the beserkers are a bit of a nightmare here with the new brains
SO who comes out on top? I’m actually not sure. Obviously I prefer Quake 2 64 for most of the part, but the combat design is really lackluster and that’s obviously a major part of a FPS. I still had a good time with it, but I definitely have taken off my rose-tinted glasses.
something good about both games that i forgot to mention: they are relatively short. one of my biggest complaints against unreal is that there are too many dang levels, it went on forever and i burnt out
anyway time for the expansions i guess!! i’m saving the new one for last
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oh also thanks to the devs for putting in that contrast accessibility option for people like me, you could learn a thing or two from them mr blow!!
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also, quake 2’s silencer: the most disappointing and useless fps powerup of all time??
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they seem sort of ashamed of unreal, probably because not counting the tournament branch of the series 2/3 of those games were farmed out shit no one likes
the unreal expansion pack is, seriously, probably one of the worst of the era. they give you an AR that makes every other weapon in the game obsolete and make you fight shitty human enemies because half life had marines. not to mention that it is 100% repurposed cut assets and levels from unreal and the lack of quality shows
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you deal double damage to unaware enemies you shoot from behind.
I don’t recall if the game ever tells you that this is possible, but this is literally the only use of the silencer powerup, as you can sneak up on more than one enemy in an area (if you’re lucky and they’re mid-patrol and turned away from you).
So yes, absolutely the most useless powerup.
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UNREAL SUCKS…
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I still have the Unreal disc and I don’t know whose it was originally. Certainly not mine! I’ve never gotten all the way through Unreal because I came to it late (like mid 2000’s after it was already being surpassed/obsoleted by other games) and because it is just so long. But back in the day I was blown away by how big the levels were. Would definitely love to play a remaster from Nightdive. Will probably give it another shot on PC at some point.
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