Quake

there needs to be a specific distinction between what way you're playing this game, that completely changes your entire basis of enjoyment 1. you're playing it like a speedrunner, going fast, finding skips, ignoring secrets, etc. this way of playing the game should be experienced on the easy difficulty 2. you're playing it like a completionist/normal person who's going through the levels slowly, finding most of the secrets, and engaging in all the combat. this is best experienced on hard (if you're a wimp) and nightmare if you actually want to have fun the reason i say this is because this is a game whose gunplay benefits from a higher difficulty, and whose movement benefits from a lower difficulty, and if you play it like a completionist on easy, you're not gonna have any fun

shub-niggurath

no other game had me hooked like this to 100% it and beat it on nightmare mode, it's like playable meth

Quake is the single weakest entry I've played in id software's FPS catalogue. Enemy design is boring and the level layout barely takes advantage of the ability to aim in any direction, becoming increasingly sloppy as the game progresses. Hunting for secrets is mind-numbingly uninteresting, and the color palette has me begging for any amount of actual visual stimulus outside of the occasional lava pool or stained-glass window. I don't know why this was a classic. The original DOOM, or even Wolfenstein 3D inspire me to replay them multiple times. Quake does not.

Quake is a classic, a cult game. It's one of the first 3D FPS games in history ( the most famous predecessors being Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Hexen: Beyond Heretic and Duke Nukem 3D.). It had great value in the year of release and years and years after that. It featured a very unique and dark (even occult) atmosphere, because the player was thrown in strange dimensions, controlled by evil, occult monsters and over-lords. It was fast paced and had a coherent level design and recognizable gothic locations. A positive aspect of this remaster is that it comes with all official expansion packs/DLCs ( 4 of them ), and that makes the campain much longer. Also fans made a lot of player-made levels and mini campains for those who want to continue playing ever further. Having said that, I just can't recommend this game in 2025 because it's incredibly outdated. Needless to say, the graphics is very outdated ( of course, it's a 1996 game ) but it's interesting to note how the fourth and last DL...

https://archive.org/details/quake_dos is the better version. no privacy infringing eula, no microsoft bullshit, and hosted on the internet archive

It's Quake with two additional expansions. Updated for modern graphics. Game runs great without glitches. Basically just modernized.

Quake is one of the all-time greats. A pure classic Id Soft FPS game. Featuring fun, addictive gameplay, amazing atmosphere, great music, and enjoyable level design. You must play Quake. This version includes all the expansion packs, and honestly the Kex Engine has become my favorite source port for Quake.

NightDive casually proving they are and remain the absolute GOAT's when it comes to remastering classic titles.

The 90s levels don't hold up super well, even the beloved Scourge of Armagon which is more miss than hit IMO. Dimension of the Machine, on the other hand, is fantastic. It's amazing what they can push the engine to do after lifting .bsp limits. Level design becomes Half-Life esque at times, while still preserving the superior boomer shooter gameplay of Quake, and preserving the Quake aesthetic, which no other game has come close to capturing. Next I'm going to explore the 25 year backlog of fan made levels, many of which are reputed to surpass the MachineGames levels.