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Quake vs Quake 2

R

RoyaleDuke

Banned
I'm curious about the general consensus, mostly because I saw More_Badass post about grabbing Quake 2 in the GOG sale thread.

It made me think about how much I fucking hate Quake II, you take an awesome lovecraftian first person shooter with great level design...and make a boring science fiction shooter with terrible bosses, boring design like Quake IV sucked not just because it was terrible but because it was tied into Quake 2 which is honestly the worst Quake Game.


See, the lovecraftian technology angle of the first game was so much more interesting than the boring Strogg dudes and generic sci-fi guns. Like really, the strogg are just boring ass weird looking cyborgs with a hive mind intelligence.

It's boring science fiction.


Shit like the Dimensional Shambler is top tier fucking awesome, the final boss of the game is fucking Shub-Niggurath, a being so powerful that it makes Cthulhu look like a tiny space baby shitlord.
He fucking is, he literally appears for 5 seconds in the material world before "dying" in the Call of Cthulhu.
 
I've actually been playing both of these on my N64 the last few days (Quake 2 is actually a different game on N64 if I recall) and really been enjoying them. I think I prefer the original overall. I've got the Saturn version too as well as the PC original. Love the game.
 
Stylistically. Q1 a thousand times over. Q2 is lifeless and grey. Also like the fast pace of the SP in 1 more, but 2 had a good proto-tactical feel to it.
 
Quake 2.

Because it had the most amazing mod of all time, Action Quake 2, from the original creator of Counter-Strike.

AQ2 is the gold standard by which I judge all other shooters.
 
RoyaleDuke said:
If I may ask, what did you like about Quake II versus Quake 1?

The first Quake is like perfection to me, and I can't understand how they went so wrong with the sequel.
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Quake 2 had some amazing multiplayer maps included, and introduced one of the best FPS guns of them all - the rail gun. The mod scene was also exceptional.

I definitely prefer Q1 singleplayer, but honestly Quake 2 was my favourite multiplayer in the series even if Q3 is objectively better. I just preferred the map design, weapons and general feel of Q2 multiplayer. Obviously Q1 rocket launcher is the GOAT though.
 
I think I prefer Quake over Quake 2 for single player playing, but I still freaking love Quake 2 especially for multiplayer memories. Namely Instagib or "rail-arena" (whatever it was called) with grapple hooks.

The Sci-Fi setting is much less interesting though, I agree.
 
Q2 multiplayer was significantly more accessible if I recall. You were at the mercy of LPBs in original quake multi, even after Quakeworld and being able to adjust movement so you're not completely at the mercy of latency there was some jankiness to it. Single Player atmosphere is up to taste, Quake had a much more horror feel to it between the monster design and music, also felt less coherent than Q2.

Nonentity said:
Quake 2.

Because it had the most amazing mod of all time, Action Quake 2, from the original creator of Counter-Strike.

AQ2 is the gold standard by which I judge all other shooters.
Click to expand...

Rocket Arena and Threewave CTF was great, but I'd have to agree about how fun AQ2 was.
 
Quake 1 by a country fuckin' mile.

Q1's design and aesthetic to this day is still pretty unique, not a whole lot plays or looks quite like it. And the design of the levels were tighter compared to Q2 so that you are almost constantly in action and never in a lull.

Q2's design by contrast feels more modern in the sense that linear sci-fi military campaigns are a dime a dozen now and have improved upon Q2's formula several times over. In spite of being the more recent game, it feels much more dated than Q1.
 
Quake 2 was very fun and good, SP and MP, but Quake 1 has amazing level design and single player balance, plus it is the God King Grandfather of all online multiplayer FPS.

Theme wise I too also prefer Quake 1 because of how messed up a combo of fantastic and sci-fi with a distinctly other style it has.

I might dare say Quake 2 is the more interesting MP game, but Quake 1 is a classic. Just... go for that armor and rocket launcher.
 
Q2 was my in for multiplayer fps over the internet, so my preference for it is purely circumstantial.

I also love the sound design of Q2. The weapons, noises associated with movement, grenade bouncing and gib sound effects, as well as the Strogg barks in single player, are all fantastic.

I go back to Q1's single player every couple of years, though, which I can't say for 2.
 
Though the Strogg aesthetic is less striking than Lovecraftian, Q2 had better polish, weapon balance and level design consistency. Technically it had smooth animation versus Q1's stop-motion, and pretty colored lighting for the time.

For 1997, Q2 was markedly superior. But yet the abstract Lovecraftian design of Q1 aged better.
 
I am pleased to see most people seem to like Quake 1 for how superior it is in overall design, aesthetics, etc compared to Quake 2. I will agree the MP in Quake 2 was pretty great but I still preferred Quake 1 Single Player and Multiplayer. My closest friend is a huge Quake 1 nut, and sometimes we both just wax poetic about how great the overall design of every single aspect of Quake 1 is compared to Quake 2. I also feel like Quake 2 hasn't aged anywhere nearly as well, I can pick up Quake today and still enjoy what it has to offer. Quake 2 feels comparatively archaic in that sense.

If we are going to talk about the best Quake MP though that probably belongs to Arena.

Nonentity said:
Quake 2.

Because it had the most amazing mod of all time, Action Quake 2, from the original creator of Counter-Strike.

AQ2 is the gold standard by which I judge all other shooters.
Click to expand...

Action Quake also brings back the sweet memories of The Specialists mod for Half Life. Ahhh, man the old days...
 
Quake II was the first modern 3D FPS I played. Before that, I was used to playing Doom with just the keyboard, so the jump from a 2.5D shooter with little in the way of verticality to a full 3D polygonal shooter that pretty much required me to adapt to a WASD and mouse control model made a big impact in my young mind. It also helped the graphics were amazing for the time. Oh, and it has the GOAT soundtrack.

In fact, I only played the first Quake years later and while I also like it a lot, it didn't do as much for me as Quake II did back when it was the hottest shit in PC gaming.
 
Which one has Quad Machine? Quake II.

Quake II is superior.
 
The original Quake team fortress mod was my first true online gaming addiction so the original Quake will always be better to me. Quake 2 was awesome multiplayer too though no doubt. Both fantastic games and genre defining in what they did for FPS multiplayer.
 
Revolutionary said:
Quake 1 was the shit. Sad they never went back to that aesthetic.
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I think it makes it worse when they showed some of that Aesthetic again with Quake Heroes or whatever that new hero based Quake game is called, especially with the soldier dude in Quake 1 armor dropping quake 1 lore in battle. It hurts fam.

I mean, if they brought back Doom with DOOM 4 I think Quake can work too, but they have to stick really close to that aesthetic while paying attention to verticality and complexity in level design both of which Quake excelled in. Rocket Jumping through shit never gets old.
 
Quake II is ok in its own right, but otherwise, I agree. Quake I was an event horizon moment, it felt unique and special in every way. Quake II just didn't have that same magic, in part due to its more conventional setting and look.
 
Quake 1's movement and shooting still feel amazing to this day. The only thing to scratch that itch for me is Doom 2016.

Quake 2's not a bad game by any stretch (though the expansion packs are terrible), but I can't find myself wanting to replay it in the near future. I did appreciate, though, that the game didn't take itself seriously in any way, what with Big Guns and all.

Put it this way, Quake 1 got me to check out a bunch of community maps because I couldn't get enough of the gameplay. Quake 2 got me to miss the gameplay of Quake 1.
 
id should've stuck with the original plan of making Quake 2 a new IP, so we could forget it properly.
 
Quake II has definitely become something of a black sheep of the trilogy. I don't hate it but given the choice I'd pick Quake over it every time. Time hasn't been kind on it but at the time the space marine angle hadn't been completely played out, and it did introduce the railgun so I will give it points for that. But I find it interesting that structurally it was doing the things that Half-Life got credit for in terms of level design before Half-Life.
 
Quake 2 gets way too much shit.

- It has waaay better level design than Quake 1. It creates "hubs" of multiple levels and they all interconnect in interesting ways. Clear one stage to open up a path in another which gets you the key to access another and so on. It's really really well done.
- The soundtrack is absolutely fucking *godlike*. Trent Reznors Quake 1 score while some nice ambient music, doesn't fit the game *at all* and would feel more fitting in something like Silent Hill. These are super fast paced, adrenaline filled blast em ups so having super subtle ambient music really doesn't work. Sonic Mayhem knew exactly what Quake was and make a fantastic shredding metal soundtrack.
- The enemies are more interesting and fun to fight. Not only is the beastiary in Quake 2 much larger then Quake 1, but the enemies are much more interesting. You've got enemies that duck and avoid your gunfire, they take visible combat damage as you shoot at them and they have more complex AI behaviors.
- The weapons are more fun in Quake 2 (except for the Rocket Launcher, Quake 1 wins that one). I mean: Rail Gun.
- Actual boss fights!

I literally just finished re-playing through Quake 1 and it's expansions and Quake 2 and it's expansions on Tuesday. Overall Quake 2 was a lot more fun.
 
Coming from Quake 1, Quake 2 was jarring. By the end though, 2 got really good. I'd give 1 the edge, but both are fantastic in their own ways.
 
Quake 2 is what i would play right now given the choice. i liked Quake when it came out but felt visually it was a step down from DOOM. too many same textures, too muddy, not as much variety as something like DOOM II (i idolize the art design in those hell levels). Quake just wasn't as impressive. it was still a good game. maybe this is because i tracked the development on pre-internet BBSes. Quake was originally going to be much more like maybe Skyrim or something, they were really hyping up something big. Quake ended up feeling more slight than DOOM.

my main memory of Quake 2 is being astonished to how smooth it ran. i was a lower-mid-tier PC gamer using hacked together 386/486 for my gaming, and after Wolf 3D (which ran like butter) the iD games were all a little choppy until i upgraded my systems years later. Quake 2 ran as smooth as Wolf 3D right out of the box. plus it was much more colorful/visually distinct than Quake. i admit there is something to the orignal's grimey, muddy, medieval flavor that really has this dungeon quality that is lost in the later entries, but i found Quake 2 more fun.
 
Quake 2 railgun matches in that one user mod that was a Brobdignagian apartment house with a giant bouncy bed.

YASS QUEEN
 
Never played Quake 2 but I did recently finished Quake 1.

Man, good times, remember playing the demo back on my first PC late 1990s.


Cant wait to try out Quake 2.
 
Quake 1 is a top ten favorite. Quake 2 has one of the most throwaway campaigns I've ever played through. Also, the Strogg are lame.
 
I can respect the MP in Quake 2 onward; though I never got into it, I know it has a dedicated fanbase. But my heart does ache for a spiritual successor to the first Quake. Quake 2's campaign did nothing for me.
 
Quake 2's SP campaign is boring and tedious. It definitely looks better on a technical level, but the art direction is underwhelming, and the personality and bravado of the first game is missing.

However, Quake 2 shined in its mod community. Fond memories of TF, Rocket Arena, and Jailbreak.
 
Poimandres said:
Quake 2 had some amazing multiplayer maps included, and introduced one of the best FPS guns of them all - the rail gun. The mod scene was also exceptional.

I definitely prefer Q1 singleplayer, but honestly Quake 2 was my favourite multiplayer in the series even if Q3 is objectively better. I just preferred the map design, weapons and general feel of Q2 multiplayer. Obviously Q1 rocket launcher is the GOAT though.
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I agree with every last bit of this.
 
Quake 1 all the way, strafejumping around rocketing things at 90MPH is the best.

I have some nostalgia for the strogg stuff though so if Q2 had Q1 movement it might have won out.
That said I do like a bit of Lovecraft.
 
Yea, I loved Quake 1 and didn't like Quake 2. I even tried to mod Quake 2 to make it a dark gritty look that's like Quake 1. Still shitty. I hate the gameplay. I hate the weapons. I hate the enemies. I hate everything bout Quake 2. If we get another single player Quake game, I hope they look at Quake 1 and build upon it, and surpass it or at least as entertaining. Like Wolfenstein The New Order/The Old Blood and DOOM 2016.
 
Quake 2 >>>>

For pure nostalgia reason. It just resonates better with me, but Q1 is better in all objective aspects.
 
I love Quake 1's single player and atmosphere

but Quake 2's multiplayer, thanks to amazing mods (Action Quake, Battle of the Sexes, Rocket Jump Olympics), puts it over the top. Honestly, nothing even comes close to topping the greatness of Quake 2's multiplayer for me. Quake 3 was a snoozefest in comparison.
 
I prefer Quake 1 as a game because it has the labyrinthine, puzzle solving, figuring out the way yourself kind of level design that nobody makes anymore.

As for the art direction... i remember not liking it that much because it felt like a step down from DOOM. I did like the more sci-fi oriented opening for each episode levels but the Gothic castle ones weren't that interesting. I also didn't like the way the weapons looked. Doom had the amazing looking shotguns with the amazing reload animations and Quake had ... whatever that was.

So yeah, i did like Quake 2 visually more, even though i did prefer Quake 1's atmosphere overall. But DOOM wins both.
 
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