Quake II

Quake II is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision in 1997. Although it uses the name of Quake, also from id Software and is considered, in fact, as its sequel, its story completely departs from the mythical-medieval environment seen in Quake to enter in science fiction

The solo action takes place in an invasion of the extraterrestrial Stroggs civilization, the player is a soldier in humanity's (presumably) last attempt to shake off early assimilation by the stroggs: alien cyborgs invading planets to take away their resources, however, the stroggs' resources are living beings to function with their machines thus expanding their domain. The continuation of the Quake II story is not Quake III Arena, but Quake 4. The game's music was performed by the band Sonic Mayhem.

Quake II uses a client/server network system similar to Quake and has all the other features of the Quake engine, plus several additional ones. Unlike Quake, where hardware acceleration was not achieved but later patches, Quake II was released with native OpenGL support.

The latest official version is 3.20. This version includes many fixes and new maps designed for network play. The source code of Quake II was released by id Software under the GPL license on December 21, 2001. There are currently some projects that, based on the source code of the Quake engine II, create new engines either to improve their performance or add features present in more contemporary engines. On August 4, 2007, HeXen was released through the digital video game distribution platform Steam, along with a collection of other classic id Software titles.

As far as players are concerned, the basically simple structure of the game also allows users to customize their appearance when competing online and also the game itself by modifying textures, models and skins (models and skins, equivalent to the appearance in terms of shape and texture that the player would have compared to competitors), the backgrounds of the options, some sounds, and many more details, which contrasts with the relative rigidity of the proto-sequel of the game, which initially did not allow many things to be modified.

Game data

History

The Strogg, an alien race, invaded the planet Earth, in search of energy sources (which supposedly were minerals, fuel and water), but the humans did not stand by and prepared a counterattack against the planet Stroggos (home planet of the Stroggs) with the mission of defeating the aliens, but it turned out to be the humans fallen in battle who were synthesized with mechanical material and turned into Strogg. The humans have found the access point from Earth to Stroggos and are preparing for the assault. The player is a soldier of the Marines, and is about to be launched in his capsule towards the planet's surface, since it is not possible to make a landing with the main ship since the defenses of the planet are still activated, being the largest of they a gigantic energy cannon called the "Big Gun".
When thrown, a nearby capsule hits the character's capsule, losing control of it and crashing into the planet's surface.
From now on, the player must make his way from the southern part of the Strogg capital to its core on foot through tunnels, canals, weapons stores, and Strogg industrial complexes, among other harsh environments. Along the way you will have to solve puzzles, investigate to get weapons, ammunition and secret items, and above all shoot and think about your shots. Next, some of the objectives that you must meet to finish the mission you have been assigned:

• Send a signal from the enemy lines strogg to the army ship.
• Destroy the Strogg industrial complexes.
• Destroy the Big Gun so the ships can land.
• Destroy the portal that communicates the Earth with Stroggos.
• Eliminate the Makron, the leader of the Stroggs.

These are the main objectives, but it will also be necessary to destroy a train, cause the Big Gun's reactor to rise in temperature to disable access control, destroy a pyramid-shaped structure, and of course, shoot at everything to move and part of what not to find secrets.

Enemies

In Quake II there are quite a few types of strogg: weak, medium, strong... Here is a detailed list:

Terrestrial

• Light Guard: They're the weakest, they're wearing a bloster on their right arm, and once they're defeated they can shoot you if they fall off their backs.
• Shotgun Guard: They are a little stronger than the previous ones, they carry a simple shotgun on the right arm, they can also shoot if they die from their backs.
• Machinery Guard (Machine-Gun Guard): They are the strongest of the soldiers, they carry a machine gun in their arm and like the previous ones, they will also shoot you once on the ground.
• Executor (Enforcer): They're a big musculature strogg, with a chain machine gun on the right arm, if you're close, he'll hit you, if you decapitate, he'll still shoot a few seconds.
• (Berserker): They carry a knife on the right arm and a hammer on the left, if they give you the knife, you'll get fired back, they're very fast and they'll need four shots of the two-cannon shotgun. They are very dangerous if you find one of them in an area with lava, because if they give you the knife they can throw you into it. If they attack you with the hammer, you'll be pulled aside.
• Artillery (Gunner): Similar to the Berserker, but with firepower instead of blades. Armed with a Chaingun and an automatic grenade launcher. They can be very dangerous, especially when throwing grenades.
• Doctor (Medic): It is a strogg of the most annoying, armed with a hyperblaster, can relive the stroggs that are not broken down. It's strong, but it has little firepower.
• Cerebro (Brains): A strogg with a shield of power, if you get close, will hit you with a few tentacles, if not, will try to attack you with his arms. It is strong and can do a lot of damage, but the advantage is that it is very slow and appears on very few occasions.
• Parasite: They are a robot "dogs" that absorb your health points with a tentacle. They are not very strong, but in groups they can absorb health very quickly.
• Iron Maiden: That's what's left of women after passing through strogg surgeons, they carry a missile in their left arm and with their right hand, they can cut you off like a paper. They tend to get up when you thought you had eliminated them, so it's not a bad idea to clear their bodies once they're on the floor.
• Tank (Tank): One of the strongest enemies in the game is usually in strategic areas, protecting important targets. They have 3 types of attack: a multiple rocket launcher, a powerful blaster and a machine gun. Since you set the target until you fire you have less than a second to dodge the blaster shot, for the rockets, grab yourself.
• Chief Tank (Tank Boss): It's a huge, very powerful tank. It is equipped with a machine gun and a rocket launcher. It only appears on a couple of occasions.
• Tank Command (Tank Commander):It is very similar to the common Tank, possesses the same weapons, but it is even more resistant and makes even more damage. Replace the tanks in the last unit, act as guards of the Makron Palace.
• Gladiator (Gladiator): One of the most difficult stroggs. They are fast and very resistant. On your shoulder carry a supersonic cannon (Railgun), and on your right arm, two blades for body-to-body attack. He can kill you with two shots of the Railgun. Since you set the target you have less than a second to dodge your shot.
• Mutant (Mutant): Product of the acids and wastes of the strogg refineries, is a fast creature, similar to Quake I demons. Body to body does a lot of damage, so it's best to wipe him away.
• Arachnide (Spider): (only in the PlayStation edition) Fast and resistant. They carry a railgun in their two arms and are very dangerous. It'll cost us several munitions to remove them.

• Jorg: It is the enemy you face before Makron, it is very powerful. It carries with it 2 machine guns and its lethal shot the BFG10K, remote killing is the best strategy.

• Makron (Strogg Leader): He is the final leader of the game, very powerful and resistant, has the 3 best weapons of the game, Hyperblaster, Railgun and BFG10K, their attacks are faster than yours, distance and railgun are the best strategy.

Aerials

• Icarus: It's the strongest flyer in the game. It's a semihuman strogg attached to two turbines, and attacks with a hyperblaster. Towards the end of the game they become very dangerous as they appear in groups. His weak point is his turbines.
• Flyer (Flyer): They're a mini strogg with a propulsor and a hyperbláster. It can attack body to body with the blades it has in its wings. They are weak, but usually attack in group, appearing in unexpected moments.
• Technician: A head in a red cylindrical container, attack with blades and elctrocuandote you closely and a hyperblaster away.
• Hornet: He is a Chief who appears in the Big Gun Scenario, after the Reactor, in the Satellite (Secret Level) and also in the Hangar, the last two can be avoided, but the Big Gun stage must be killed by obligation, his weapons are 2 machine guns and a quadruple Lanzacohetes, is one of the most powerful enemies of the game.

Aquatic

• Barracuda (Barracuda Shark): It's an aquatic snake-tibuster that attacks by entering visual contact outside the water. They are difficult to distinguish if this is brown; in transparent water they are seen. They're weak, but they move fast, so it's hard to point at them.

Weapons

There are 11 weapons (as in most first person shooters) assigned from 1 to 0 and the G stands for grenades:

• "Blaster" The weapon you start with, it has unlimited ammunition, but it's very weak. It only serves to annihilate the guards.
• Shotgun. A gun shotgun, more effective in short distances, uses rounds like ammunition (Shells). It's the first weapon you get in the game, on the first level. As the game progresses, however, it becomes less useful.
• "Super Shotgun" 2-gun shotgun is very powerful, but it consumes 2 rounds per shot. Getting it is the goal of the secret level of the first unit.
• "Machine Gun" Subfusil with quite retrocess, uses bullets like ammunition (Bullets). One of his flaws is that when you shoot, you lose precision because of the setback. Very useful for enemies not very strong.
• "Amethrawer" (Chain Gun) The machine gun consumes ammo very quickly, but it is very effective. With a gunshot, he already spends six bullets. Special to remove fast enemies like the Berserker, or the Mutants.
• "Grenade Launcher" If it strikes directly over the enemy it damages as much as a rocket. Use grenades as munition (Grenades). It is a weapon of dispersal damage, so you have to be careful and use it only for distant enemies. It is especially useful in labyrinth levels.
• "Rocket Launcher" It is very harmful, even for the shooter, using rockets as ammunition (Rockets). Like the Grenade Launcher, it's a dispersion damage weapon. Just use it with enemies away. Special for very strong monsters like Gladiators and Tanks. Also with it you can perform a technique called "rocket-jump rocket" with which you can access areas that seem inaccessible.
• "Hyperblaster" An automatic and very powerful machine gun-blaster uses energy cells as ammunition (Cells). It is recommended for areas with many enemies, or to annihilate the flying monsters, such as Technicians and Icarus.
• "Magnetic Canyon" Magnetic Canyon that shoots uranium charges (Slugs). It's a very powerful weapon. Two shots are enough to kill a Gladiador. Most other monsters don't resist one. Ideal to kill several stroggs at once if these are aligned. Their only disadvantage is slow recharge.
• "BFG10K" La Bio Force Gun is the most politically correct name for the weapon, but the original is Big Fucking Gun (originating rhyme of Doom), uses 50 energy cells by shooting and is the most powerful weapon of all. Just shoot in an area full of stroggs and you'll see how the walls stain red. Ideal for areas full of enemies, or against the strongest.
• Hand grenades. They are equipped by pressing the G (by default). Once activated they explode at four seconds or when they touch an enemy. If you keep the shot button, you can keep it in your hand until you release the button or explode in your hand.

In addition, there are six types of ammunition:

• Shells. Cartridges (Double Canyon Shotgun and Shotgun)
• "Bullets" Bullets (machine and machine gun)
• "Grenades" Granadas (hand and for Lanzagranadas)
• "Rockets" Cohetes (Lanzacohetes)
• "Cells" Energy cells (Hyperblaster and BFG10K)
• "Slugs" Uranium cargo (Railgun)

Objects and utensils

In Quake II there are many different and useful objects:

• Underwater breather (Underwater Breather): Serve to hold longer underwater, is activated by default with "b"
• Environmental (Enviorement Suit): Acid won't hurt you, however you don't have to be trusted, it doesn't protect you from lava. "e"
• Invulnerability (Invulnerability): It will make everything invulnerable and will not lower your state of health or lose armor. "i"
• Power Quadrant (Quad Damage): With the shape of the Quake II symbol it multiplies by 4 the damage inflicted, better in complicated combats. "q"
• Silencer (Silencer): The shots won't be heard so much and you'll be unnoticed if you're in a safe position. "s." With little use in history mode, but very useful in multiplayer.
• Bandolera (Bandolier): It increases the space for light ammunition.

• Ammo Pack: It increases the space of all munitions.

• Ammo: Ammunition, see section.
• Weapons: Weapons, see section.
• Armor: They are very useful to reduce the damage caused by weapons. They are divided into Armor Shard, Jacket Armor, Combat Armor and Body Armor.

Armor Shard: Increases your armor level by 2. Jacket Armor: Increases your armor level by 25 with a maximum of 50. Combat Armor:Increases your armor level by 50 with a maximum of 100. Body Armor: Increases your armor level by 100 with a maximum of 200. There is also a special armor called Power Shield, with which you can use the energy cells to offer you protection.

Multiplayer mode

Without a doubt, what raised the popularity of Quake II, and which caused it to still maintain small but faithful communities around the world, was the fact that it was highly modifiable, and the innumerable modifications that appeared, both for one and several players.

The retail version of Quake II (v 3.14) came with limited multiplayer capability. Although it is true it allowed organizing cooperative games (participants connected to each other, playing as a team and trying to beat the levels and enemies of the game) of up to 4 people over the Internet, and up to 16 players in Deathmatch games (death combat), it wasn't until the release of the final update (v 3.20) that Quake II revealed its true potential. Eight arenas or maps designed exclusively for multiplayer deathmatch were now included. In addition, some versions of the patch included a new game mode called CTF - Capture the Flag, which offered a new dimension of multiplayer entertainment, pitting two teams against each other to guard the flag of their color, and at the same time once capture the opponent's.

This triggered the appearance of dozens of modifications (known as Mods) with the most diverse rules, game styles and presentations. Some of the most notable and successful ones were Rocket Arena, Holywars, Vortex, Action Quake 2, and D-DAY among many others.

Missions and Maps

Soundtrack

• 01 - Sonic Mayhem - id Logo (0:05)
• 02 - Bill Brown - Intro (1:03)
• 03 - Bill Brown / Rob Zombie - Ntro (3:30)
• 04 - Sonic Mayhem - Operation Overlord (3:28)
• 05 - Sonic Mayhem - Rage (2:17)
• 06 - Sonic Mayhem - Kill Ratio (2:32) (Very similar to the song "Cowboy from Hell" by Pantera)
• 07 - Sonic Mayhem - March of the Stroggs (2:51)
• 08 - Sonic Mayhem - The Underworld (2:34)
• 09 - Sonic Mayhem - Quad Machine (3:35)
• 10 - Sonic Mayhem - Big Gun (3:03)
• 11 - Sonic Mayhem - Descent into Cerberon (2:35)
• 12 - Jer Sypult - Climb (1:59)
• 13 - Bill Brown - Showdown (2:00)

Reception

Sales

Quake II entered PC Data's monthly sales ranking of computer games in December 1997, behind Riven. Sales of the game in the United States reached 240,913 copies by the end of 1997, after its release on December 9. It was the country's 22nd best-selling computer game of 1997. The following year, Quake II secured fifth place on the PC Data charts for January and February 1998, before falling to #8 in March. and to #9 in April of the same year. It stayed in PC Data's top 20 for another two months, before coming out in July 1998. The game surpassed 850,000 units shipped in May 1998, and 900,000 units shipped. in June.

According to PC Data, Quake II was the 14th-selling computer game in the United States for the period January to November 1998. It eventually secured 15th place for the entire year, with sales of 279,536 copies and revenue of $12.6 million. GameDaily reported in January 1999 that sales of Quake II in the United States had reached 550,000 units; this number increased to 610,000 units in December of that year. Worldwide, Quake II sold more than 1 million copies in 2002.

Critical Response

Reception
Reviews Evaluator Rating GameRankings (PC) 87.31% (N64) 81.27% (PS) 79.81% Criticism scores Publication Rating AllGame GameSpot 9.0/10 Macworld

Quake II received positive reviews. Review and critic website GameRankings gave the PC version a score of 87.31%, the Nintendo 64 version 81.27%, and the PlayStation version a score of 79.81%. AllGame Editor Michael L House praised Quake II stating that "the beauty of Quake II isn't in the single player gameplay, it's in the multiplayer feature." Gamespot editor Vince Broady described Quake II as "the only first-person shooter to make the original Quake completely obsolete".

Quake II won the Macworld award for Best Martian Killer' of the year 1999, and of the magazine Christopher Breen wrote: "In any single-player or multiplayer mode, for careening through runner-satisfying carnage, Quake II is a must-have." It also won the "Action Game of the Year" of Computer Gaming World from 1997. The editors wrote that "for pure adrenaline-pumping, visceral and instantly gratifying action, Quake II is the hands-down winner. No game gave us the rush Quake II did ".

Video games that use the Quake II engine

• CodeRED: Alien Arena
• War§ow
• SiN
• Anachronox
• Heretic II
• Daikatana
• Soldier of Fortune
• Kingpin: Life of Crime
• UFO: Alien Invasion