Back in December 1997, id Software released a game for the PC that once again revolutionized the first person shooter genre. For those non-PC gamers, that game was Quake II. Quake II featured huge improvements in both gameplay and visuals over the original. Even with a buggy release, the game enjoyed much praise from the press and ended up selling an incredible number of copies. After all this success, it was only natural that the game would eventually be ported to home consoles.
FPS titles don't usually win awards for storylines or plots, and Quake II certainly isn't an exception to the rule. The evil Strogg have been pounding away at planet Earth for years, and unless something is done, the human race will be wiped out. Players take the role of a soldier who is chosen to combat the Strogg on their home planet. If the Strogg is not successfully eliminated, the world as we know it will not exist.
There obviously was some trouble in bringing Quake II to the Nintendo 64, so the developers had to alter a few the levels and weapons in order to bring it over as close as possible. Unfortunately, many changes were not for the better.
Firstly, the animation for the weapons and enemies has been cut down dramatically. It was assumed that a few frames would have to be removed, but this is just sad. When firing the blaster, it seems as if there are a total of about four frames. Enemy death animations aren't much better. After blasting a grunt a few times, they'll begin to awkwardly jerk from side to side, which is when the lack of frames really starts shining through.
Another change, one that isn’t necessarily for the worse, was the architecture for the stages has been altered. The Nintendo 64’s small amount of RAM meant that they couldn’t fit the huge levels from the PC version on the Nintendo 64. So, to make sure they could fit in as much as possible, the original game's levels have been split into smaller sub-sections, most being completely new.
Thankfully, most people interested in purchasing Quake II for the N64, will not recognize the difference in the animation or levels as compared to the PC original.
Overall, the visuals have translated rather well. Regardless of the animation, the enemy models, frame-rate and lighting are all very close to their PC counterparts. Each of the models look nearly identical those in the PC version, the frame-rate remains contant no matter how many enemies are on the screen at once, and the lighting effects are spectacular. The highest quality lighting effect can only be viewed if an Expansion Pak is being used in conjunction with the cartridge. Instead of bumping up the resolution, which would chop up the already smooth frame-rate, Raster Productions opted to have the Expansion Pak add new visual effects. That was a good choice in my opinion.
Ask just about any PC player what the best part of Quake II is and I can almost guarantee the answer they’ll give is the multi-player mode. The Quake series has started the internet gaming renaissance, and with good reason. It is addictive, not too difficult to get into, and has long lasting replayablity. Included in the Nintendo 64 version are two to four player versions of regular deathmatch, tag, capture the flag, and team deathmatch.
Even though multiplayer games place within a split screen, and the element of surprise is somewhat ruined, when in the heat of battle it is not much of an issue. Your only option is concentrating on shooting accurately and quickly. Throw in a bunch of well designed levels (although a bit large for just two or four people), and you have a great party game.
There is one more complaint I have about the N64 version Quake II. I’ve been weaned on the mouse and keyboard method of playing FPS games since that control option existed. With the Nintendo 64, I had to get used to aiming with the analog and shooting with the Z button. Needless to say, it was more than just a bit strenuous to relearn how to aim correctly. But, with a bit of practice and a lot of patience, I was fragging like nobody’s business in no time.
Raster Products has done a good job with the conversion of Quake II. There are a few problems with the control and the animation, but in the end, it looks like they put a lot of work and heart into making it the best it could possibly be. My recommendation is that if you’ve played the PC version, either pass this up or rent it. But if you have yet to experience the world of Quake II, this is your chance to see what everyone has been raving about.
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