Quake (Mac)

Other products by Macsoft

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002S6EO
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,571 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #20 in

  Video Games > Mac Games > Action > Shooter

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Made by the creators of Doom and Doom 2, Quake features free and fluid motion, ambient sound, and incredible lighting effects. Play solo or against others using Internet, modem, local area network, or serial connection.

GameSpot Review
After generating more hype than any unreleased game in history, Quake is finally here. And it makes good on its promise, big time. With no compromises, no excuses, and no bull, Quake delivers an edge-of-the-seat adrenaline rush that begins the moment you set foot in its darkened halls.

If it sounds like I'm gushing about this game, I am. Quake is a masterpiece on every level, with its ominous atmosphere, silky-smooth animation, incredibly well-balanced gameplay and level design, and unparalleled soundtrack. Once again, the team at id Software has created a no-apologies, ultra-violent gorefest sure to be the new battleground of choice for single and multi-player combatants worldwide.

New Gameplay, New ControlsThe most important distinction between Quake and the drove of first-person action games currently available is that it's set in a true 3-D world. Compared to other titles, Quake's enemies and objects have an entirely new level of depth to them - you can view any game element from any angle with consistently smooth and realistic results. The architecture of the levels is much more sophisticated than it is in competing titles; so are the real-time animations, which include such effects as explosion particles flying in every direction and enormous, spike-like objects shooting out from hidden compartments. The true 3-D environment also allows totally new attack strategies, like bouncing a grenade off a wall in order to blast an opponent skulking around the corner.

In Quake, you can attack (or be attacked) from almost any angle or altitude. But gone are the days of merely pointing your gun in the general direction of your enemies and blazing away; if you want to hit something, you're going to have to aim your weapon carefully. That's not as easy as it sounds, because the Quake interface breaks rank with the standard control set of previous id software titles. The new system takes some getting used to, but once learned, provides an unmatched level of control.

A three-button mouse is almost a must, since it allows you to simultaneously move, turn, and fire in any direction. Although it's possible to play with the keyboard or a game pad, most players will find that in underwater and Deathmatch situations, only the mouse will ensure mastery over both the environment and unruly opponents.

Killer Weapons, Killer EffectsAnd speaking of unruly opponents, there's only one way to deal with them: violently. Quake sports a wicked complement of weapons--grenade and rocket launchers, shotguns, lightning guns, and a nailgun that's so fun to fire I ran out of ammo just shooting it at the walls. (Note to beginning players: Don't shoot at the walls and run out of ammo until ALL of the monsters are dead.)

A host of power-ups are also hidden throughout the game, and collecting them can instantly shift the balance of power both in single and multiplayer battles. These items include the Circle of Protection, which gives you 666 hit points, enough to go toe-to-toe with just about anyone; the Ring of Shadows, which makes you invisible (except for the two glowing eyeballs your enemies can spot floating in space); and Quake Power, a true humdinger that dramatically increases the damage levels of all your weaponry (you can open up a family-size can of whoop-ass on anyone once you've collected this icon).

All this is backed by graphics that are awesome in their own right. The creatures that fill the game's four worlds and 28 levels are, as you might expect, sick, twisted, and perverse. The visceral effect of the bloody grimaces and entropic bioforms is intensified by animation that's unusually smooth and utterly convincing. The first time I was attacked by a hook-wielding enemy, I actually dropped the mouse and backed away from the computer. (Second note for beginning players: Don't drop the mouse and back away from the computer until ALL of the monsters are dead…)

The graphics are perfectly complemented by sound effects and ambient tunes from the darker regions of Trent Reznor's musical mind. Simply put, this is the best soundtrack ever created for a computer game. Reznor's eerie sounds and unsettling background music push Quake's already dark and creepy atmosphere into the realm of pure evil.

Deathmatch DeluxeYes, kill, and keep on killing is clearly the message here, and with Quake's 28 artfully balanced multiplayer maps, it's a hard message to resist. I spent two days playing against Quake's design team in Deathmatch mode (third note for beginning players: Don't EVER play Quake's designers in Deathmatch mode), and the experience was truly unforgettable. Quake's designers have created Deathmatch environments that reward skill rather than luck, and are filled with nooks and crannies and other lovely places to hide while you wait for the unwitting opponent to stroll by. And if merely killing your opponents isn't enough (and for the guys at id, it apparently isn't), Quake includes a set of extremely debasing death messages - Player 1 sucks down Player 2's rocket, for example - along with an easy-to-use chat system that enables you to add a few custom pokes of your own.

Much more could be said of Quake, but I'll leave the rest for you to discover. The hype surounding this game has been almost unbearable, but in the end, Quake deserves every bit of advance - and until now, unverifiable - praise it has received. If you're into action games, and even if you're not, you should be playing Quake right now - it's as good as PC gaming gets.--Trent C. Ward

--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Improved Doom system, unimproved Doom storyline, October 19, 2000

By	Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine (Fairfax, Virginia) - See all my reviews

Quake is a fast-paced, first person combat game that combines an improved Doom-style system and monsters with unimproved Doom-style weapons and storyline.

Four "dimensions," or game sections, each divided into five to eight levels, comprise the world of Quake. These sections, "Dimension of the Doomed," "Realm of Black Magic," "Netherworld," and "The Elder World," are dungeon-like settings infested with a wide variety of monsters, traps, secret areas, and hazards. Players must locate keys, typically two per level, in order to progress to the finish. No "action" button(e.g., the space bar in most Doom-style games) is required to open doors or push buttons; such feature are automatically activated when the character is in proximity. Looking and shooting in all directions, including up and down, and swimming are some of the improvements upon the Doom-style system.

A unique interface at the start of a new game allows a player to select different hallways for "Easy," "Medium," "Hard," or "Nightmare" difficulty levels (although the entrance to the latter is actually hidden, so people don't wander into it accidentally). Once difficulty level is selected, the player can enter any of the dimensions. While it is recommended that the dimensions be played through in order, this sort of interface essentially allows players to switch difficulty level in between levels, if desired.

Characters start off with an axe--decidely less dramatic than the Doom chainsaw--and a shotgun with 25 shells, and rapidly acquire an arsenal of progressively deadlier weapons, including a double-barrelled shotgun, a "nailgun," a "perforator," a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and a "thunderbolt," as well as ammunition, armor, and various power-ups, such as health, protective suits, rings of invisibility, pentagrams of protection, and a rune that temporarily quadruples your damage, turning you into even more of a killing machine. When a new dimension is entered, your character once again starts off with a shotgun and 25 shells (and the stupid axe).

Monsters include rottweilers, grunts and enforcers (basic soldier types), knights and deathknights (heavily armored, sword-wielding fiends), rotfish (to make the water hazards even more hazardous), zombies that won't stay dead, scrags (sort of like flying worms), ogres (armed with chainsaws and grenades), spawns (big ugly bouncing blobs), fiends (demonic werewolves), vores (spidery monsters), and shamblers (huge beasts that sling lightning). According to the manual, grunts are "goons with probes inserted into their pleasure centers, wired up so that when they kill someone, they get paroxysms of ecstasy." Gratefully, no evidence for this is provided in the game.

Unfortunately, for all that it has going for it, many aspects of Quake also suffer from a marked unoriginality. "You get the phone call at 4 a.m. and by 5:30 you're in the secret installation," the introduction to the game begins. Oh no, not 4 a.m.! Horrors! It then goes on to explain how you are a top notch government agent that must keep some evil being from opening the gates of hell and overrunning the world. Sound familiar? It should, seeing as it is the plot for fully half the Doom-style computer games on the market, including Doom. For a game that clearly required many months of work to produce, it is a bit sad that only about 20 minutes went into developing the background.

And while the weapons are pretty neat, they are not overly original. Essentially, you get two types of shotgun, two types of machine gun, two types of grenade launcher, and an energy weapon. Oh, and that damned axe, which does not even go "swish" or "chunk." In short, a selection that does not measure up to the weapons arrays of Doom or Strife. And some of the monsters, such as the grunts and enforcers, seem repackaged from earlier games.

Overall, however, Quake is a very worthwhile, challenging game that is certain to be a hit with most people who like this style of game. Its hackneyed elements do not really detract from play; a bit more originality, however, might have made this game even more enjoyable.

--Michael Varhola for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Game!, August 23, 2003

By	an FPS gamer (Alabama) - See all my reviews

Excellent Game! You get to use 8 different and unusual weapons, and kill monsters that can use those weapons against you, such as the ogre and his grenade launcher! I recommend this great game to anybody who likes FPS games, and everybody who doesn't!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars id does it again, May 21, 2000

By	Geoff Holtby (Canada) - See all my reviews

Quake is dark, incredibly atmospheric and just palin cool. The graphics engine was revolutionary for its time, which is id Software's tradition. As usual, John Carmack and his minions blend astounding new technology with their trademark nightmarish art to create an incredible gaming experience. While the later single-player episodes are somewhat inferior to the first, the real fun is to be had 'fragging' your friends in multi-player mode.

Another high point is the excellent ambient musical score by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails)