Quake II (Sony PlayStation 1, 1999)

Quake II is the Playstation port of a classic FPS PC game. As far home ports of Quake II go this would have to be the best available and it is something of an impressive technical feat given the limitations of the original Playstations hardware. Quake II is a game from ID the developers who also made the Doom the first game to really put first person perspective shooters on the gaming map, and like Doom Quake can be considered among the true classics.
 
Quake II sports one of the very best 3D graphical engines on the Playstation One, while it may look dated by today's standards this port is not far from being a perfect port of the PC original. Even the N64 the more powerful of the two systems of the time though a decent port in it's own right didn't quite manage to live up these standards so it is something of an achievement in programming. Not only does the game look good but also it actually manages to maintain a smooth framerate throughout.
 
As well as sporting impressive (for the time) visuals Quake II has it where it counts in the form of offering a great game playing experience. The action is full on, fast, non-stop, utterly violent, and above all it is fun all the right ingredients for a fast action and gore soaked Doom style FPS game.
 
The music is pretty good, as well, that is if heavy metal is your cup of tea, but it accompanies the action very well. Each enemy has it's own trademark sound or phrase so you will often know what is waiting for you around the next corner. The loading times are surprisingly short considered what ID managed to accomplish in this game. It can sometimes take a couple seconds to load when walking through section sections of the stages, but this is barely noticeable at all.
 
Quake II offers vast sprawling and enemy filled levels that presents a lengthy challenge to all but the most seasoned of Quake players. Those players who really know all the games short cuts and can dispatch enemies in short order can however complete the game within an hour though of course it takes many hours of practice to become that good.
 
As in the classic FPS game series Doom the layout of the levels in Quake II are exceptionally well designed and packed full of goodies and secret areas to reveal and explore. Sometimes going around shooting randomly at walls can be a good thing to do, as you never know what you might find.
 
There are a total of 5 missions each mission comprising of numerous smaller levels. As well as blazing away at everything that moves Quake II features a number of simple puzzles to help break any potential of monotony. These puzzles don't particularly detract from the constant flow of the action of the game however they generally only involve finding keys to open door and using computers to open doors and access elevator shafts and so on. This is very much a heavy action FPS and doesn't require a great deal of brain work as you would have in games such as Half Life or Metroid Prime, this is either a good or bad thing depending entirely on the kind of FPS gaming experience you like.
 
There are a large number of grotesque cybernetic monstrosities arrayed against you in Quake II from grunts, attack dogs, and walking tanks each presenting their own unique weaponry and attack styles. Often you will have to find the best weapon to take on whichever opponent your facing at any particular time. For the more powerful enemies in later levels you certainly need something more powerful than your trusty blaster pistol that never runs out of ammo.
 
Weapons in this game are each located in convenient and accessible locations however ammunition is relatively scarce and must be used conservatively if you are to have chance of making through the level.
 
It is often a better tactic to try and avoid killing every in sight by instead find ways to bypass them altogether and so help conserve your precious ammo supply for when you really need it. Completion of the levels does not require to have to kill every living thing in sight even if the game does encourage it. Taken together the utilisation of different weapons on different enemies and who to kill and who to avoid add an element of strategy to what otherwise could have been a fairly mindless shooter and helps keep the game all the more interesting.
 
Originally Quake II on the PC utilised a keyboard and mouse control scheme but the game has been well adapted to work with the Playstation analogue joypad with responsive an easy to use and easy to master control scheme.
 
There are one or two glitches to look out for, sometime collision detection is slightly off whereby enemies take damage from near miss shots. Also if you stand nose to nose with an enemy you will sometimes find you won't be able to hit them so you will need to back up a little. But these glitches don't impact the game in any great way.
 
Quake II will present a tough challenge for may gamers even on easy mode and particular mention has to be made in regard to the end of game boss who is utterly rock hard, so there is plenty of gaming action here to keep you occupied for a long time.
 
So all in all Quake II features great graphics (for the Playstation) good music and intense high action gameplay that will keep you coming back for more even all these years later. For classic FPS game fans, and Playstation game collectors this is a must own.

Recommend this product? Yes