‘Quake II’ is back and remastered, coming off the back of Quake’s remaster, the second game in the series gets its own work up. Originally developed by id Software, now with the combined efforts of Nightdive Studios and MachineGames has brought us a revamped version of the original with new features and a fresh coat of paint. While this has excited many and for good reason, it didn’t hit the same and the nostalgia wore off quickly.

Currently, there are so many remasters that have graced our presence and for me, it’s not hitting the mark, and it is not just Quake. I played it and it was great, it took me back to when we had six kids in the house fighting over who got to play on the PC. The same with most of the other remasters, it is great, fans will love it, and they will play the hell out of it.

Just imagining a remake of the original Quakes gets me giddy so even though I can’t say too much negatively about the game itself, if I was to compare it to any new or remade game it wouldn’t hold up. With the added multiplayer modes however, I can see a lot of value in getting together with friends for either co-op or PVP parties as that is always a good way to spend your time.

Most people should know the story but for those who don’t, it’s not extensive and the gist is pretty basic, until you deep dive but I will let you do that. Earth is being invaded by an alien race called the ‘Strogg’.

You play as the marine, Bitterman, who takes part in a mission to attack the Strogg planet and disable their defenses, their means of space travel, and assassinate their commander. Your ships were shot down in the war, so you must go it alone as all the other marines are either dead, scattered, or captured.

Being a game from the 90s, the controls are basic and easy to get the hang of, though the hardest thing for me is the unreliability of the aim and hitboxes. It always felt clunky making the game chaotic which let’s be honest was always the vibe but being remastered I was expecting it to be slightly more controlled and precise.

Other than that, it is pretty much exactly how I remembered it, with the secret rooms still one of my favorite mechanics of the game.

The hardest part of reviewing remastered games, especially ones this old is the fact that if I was to review it using today’s standards it would automatically get a low score. Particularly in the graphics department. Even though it is a remaster the graphics aren’t overly improved. The game is still very pixelated and younger gamers will probably avoid it, but ‘Quake’ alone has a large fanbase that for us older gamers it wouldn’t be that much of a turn-off to re-live our youths.

The sounds though are nothing to carry on over but I still love it. The groans of the tortured and the warbled vocalization of the enemies just light up the kid in me and are the one thing I can confidently say doesn’t need refining.

Remasters aren’t for everyone and reviewing them is a difficult task. While it was an outstanding game in 1997, by today’s standards it doesn’t hold up even to low-budget games. Taking into account its fan base and nostalgic value plus the added multiplayer features it is still a viable game worth playing. Especially for the older generations, the multiplayer feature is the real winner here and the recreation of old-school LAN parties with friends.

Written by: Adam Brasher