Introduction

Now, I realize that this is an old game. However, since it comes with Quake IV special edition, I figured that people would be interested in knowing how it stacks up against games that we have today.

Graphics: 5/10

The graphics were great at the time. Now, they aren?t really that great. They are slightly worse than the graphics in the original half-life. Many things are somewhat pixilated, and some of the objects are laughable. Overall though, they are passable.

Gameplay 17/20

The gameplay is similar to that of the generic FPS. Your mission is to fight through a series of levels, and kill the Strogg Makron. On the way, you deal with shutting down a huge gun, fighting through a prison complex, and more. The levels are atmospheric, but not as much as the Quake IV levels. In some ways, this is more generic than it could have been. All the levels look almost alike, and the game itself is very dark. I don?t know how much could have been changed at the time to make it a bit better, but they could have had some more things laying around. The map design, besides being very similar, is decent. You have to backtrack a lot, which is the only real shortcoming in the mission design. Fortunately, there are new monsters when you backtrack, so it doesn?t get boring. Until you realize that you are supposed to jump off the platform. :)

Weapons

Weapons are fun. You get a fast firing rocket launcher, which is nice for clearing out the bigger guys. There is a chaingun, and double barreled shotgun. You even get the BFG-10k, which is the best gun in any game to date. That is one point added right there. :) Ammo is placed liberally; I never had an issue with running low. Same thing with health.

Enemies

The enemies are varied. Some of them are generic guards, while others are really nasty. There are tanks, which are huge guys with rocket launchers and machine guns that are very strong. There are medics, who can revive the guys you already killed. When those get boring, there are berserkers, who run around with a mace arm and a sword arm. The bosses are really strong, and one of them even shoots a BFG at you. The ai is passable, they generally duck when you shoot large weapons at them. However, most of them have a short animation before they fire, which gives you time to get out of the way.

Sound 8/10

The sound is decent. Some of the enemy voiceovers can get boring very quickly. The weapons, on the other hand, are great. They sound suitably *big* and *boomy*.

Stability 5/5

No problems here.

Controls 5/5

Uses WASD, and can be reconfigured to whatever you want.

Appropriateness

First off, there is no bad language in the game. Now, onto the problems. The object of the game is to kill lots of guys. There is (fake looking) blood when you hit something. If you hit something hard enough, they explode into a (fake looking) bloody mist. One area of the game is through the Strogg prison. While it isn?t as gross as the Strogg prison in Quake IV, it is still very blood filled. You can also torture some of the prisoners by pressing switches. There is also one monster that runs around in a rather immodest outfit. On the flipside, it is an enemy, representing evil, trying to kill you, in a game in which 50 polygons is considered awesome graphics for a character.

Conclusion

This was a fun game, and I would recommend that you try it if you have the opportunity, and if the violence doesn?t bother you.