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Quake 4

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7.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 62 critic reviews
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Based on 82 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Raven Software / id Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action

Players: Multi

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 18, 2005

Summary

Quake 4 is the first game to utilize id Software's revolutionary DOOM 3 technology. In the game, you are Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad and Earth's valiant invasion force. Fight alone, with your squad, and in hover tanks and mechanized walkers as you engage in a heroic mission into the heart of the Strogg war machine. But, in this epic war between worlds, the only way to defeat the Strogg is to become one of them. Battle through early missions as a deadly marine, then after your capture as a marine-turned-Strogg with enhanced abilities and the power to turn the tide of the war. [Activision]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Quake Quake III: Team Arena

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameSpot Guide

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Detroit Free Press

The vehicles really set Quake apart from its cousin "Doom," as levels with vehicles almost always involve huge outdoor areas swarming with bad guys.

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100

GameShark

Although there may be times throughout the game where you will feel as though things are getting repetitive and drawn out, the play gets changed up at the right times and gives you a refreshing perspective to keep you going.

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Game Chronicles

An addiction, a perfect sequel, both in story and gameplay, and a game you will want to explore over and over.

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VGPub

Quake 4 just screams its superiority over other first person shooters.

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Gamezilla!

Quake 4 is fun. It’s not the evolutionary or revolutionary kind of fun, but it’s kind of old school FPS fun that the Quake series helped usher into the gaming world.

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AtomicGamer

I had a ton of fun playing Quake 4, and while the game started off kind of slow, it picked up quickly and wound up being a solid, action-packed experience without the dreaded "realistic" limitations on combat that so many recent games put on the player.

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Thunderbolt

The multiplayer action is fast-paced and furious, just like Quake multiplayer should be and the single-player campaign feels just like it should, even if it is linear.

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Maxim Online

Quake IV shows no mercy.

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Gaming Horizon

If you’re looking for a classic-style FPS with gorgeous visuals, Quake 4 is your cup of tea.

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Cheat Code Central

Quake 4 is not pretentious. It's a hardcore shooter in which you don't have to be a hardcore gamer to experience.

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PGNx Media

The game’s single-player mode is fantastic, effectively using the Doom 3 engine to make a game of its own. It really showcases the engine well and shows its versatility.

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Adrenaline Vault

Quake 4 really delivered on all fronts for me in terms of purely frenetic gameplay. I jumped at the cutscenes, I cried out expletives when I was getting owned by the Strogg, I gasped when the storyline took a major plot twist, and I was moved by the stunningly beautiful graphics.

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GamingTrend

A great extension of the "Quake 2" storyline. While there are certainly flaws in the single player and multiplayer, the game’s fantastic visuals and engaging storyline make it a worthy addition.

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Computer Games Online RO

From a technical standpoint, Quake 4 exceeds all expectations, especially in multiplayer. Considering the game’s excellent performance on even the most modest rigs, cumulated with the traditional gameplay and countless modding options, I have no doubt that Quake 4 is here to stay.

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GameTrailers

Quake 4 is everything that fans loved about Quake 2 and 3 in one package, providing an engaging single-player story and chaotic high-flying multiplayer.

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PC Format

Games this good are extremely rare things, and as such they should be applauded. [Dec 2005 p.80]

GameZone

Linear levels and some suspect AI (mobs that run at you until either they or you are dead) detract a bit from the game, but the controls are intuitive and there is a diverse amount of weapons and vehicles you can use to liven up the game. The pacing is great.

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Game Informer

Old-school FPS fans and gamers looking to get back to the roots of online fragathons will undoubtedly find a lot to love in Quake IV, and the game has perhaps fewer flaws than any I've ever reviewed. [Nov 2005, p.168]

Worth Playing

Basically, Quake 4 took the ball that "Doom 3" started carrying and runs with it in a different direction, one that, for the most part, vastly outshines the original bearer of the engine.

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Play Magazine

Yes, Quake 4 delivers some incredible action to tie everything together, but the campaign gameplay is guilty of being slightly formulaic at times. [Nov 2005, p.104]

FiringSquad

Quake 4 just isn't notably better than "Quake III" in multiplayer, while having the single worst server browser known to man.

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Pelit (Finland)

A pleasant surprise. Since I never liked Quakes' hyperactive online play, I am quite satisfied with the entertaining single player campaign. [Nov 2005]

Computer and Video Games

By all means, enjoy the single-player game, marvel at its visuals, groan at its clichés and enjoy its firefights. However, I can guarantee that six months from now, as you fly through the air firing rockets and screaming in rage in an attempt to take out that railgunning bastard who's just fried your brains five times in quick succession - while all around bodies explode into a thousand blood-caked giblets - you'll have forgotten all about it. [PC Zone]

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Gamers' Temple

New world graphics and old world gameplay.

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Gaming Nexus

Probably the best example of an old-school shooter. It does all of the old tricks just right and adds a bit of spice for good measure, but gamers looking for a fresh experience will be left a little cold.

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Gaming Target

The single player campaign uses the old school twitch shooter style that is still enjoyable, but gets repetitive and is ultimately unsatisfying in these days of more sophisticated shooters.

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eToychest

Quake 4 brings an engaging single-player challenge with a refresh of some of the genre’s most popular online play. Still, this is an incremental step, not a leap in design.

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IGN

There's a lot of shiny wrapping, but the gift inside is disappointingly small. If there had been a vehicle-based mode with only one map, I think things could have been much different.

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BonusStage

In terms of multiplayer, we’re still trying to figure out what went wrong in that process, because Quake III ruled in that department.

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Gamer's Hell

Quake 4 places more emphasis on its single-player campaign, and in so doing has slightly neglected its multiplayer aspects.

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Next Level Gaming

I'm not happy with the online gaming, and watching it chunk-a-chunk on my screen at 640x480 isn't good either. But there is enough fun in the gameplay and the story is deep enough to keep you coming back.

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ActionTrip

Voice overs are (thankfully) done by actors who sound like they give a damn. Music is well done and used sparingly as environmental clues when some pivotal plot point is about to occur or to punctuate dramatic moments like the start of a boss battle.

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Total Video Games

Undeniably a better game then "Doom 3" however as a single-player experience it’s hard to justify against "Half Life 2" and more recently "F.E.A.R." It’s everything you’d expect if you’re a fan of id, however there’s little doubt that you’re left asking for a little bit more.

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Edge Magazine

This game's focus is its singleplayer campaign, and it's an involving, dynamic, astonishing-looking 12-15 hour bloodbath. A good, old-fashioned bloodbath. [Dec 2005, p.94]

Jolt Online Gaming UK

Good-but-unremarkable, lacking any significant problems, but equally any real innovation.

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Xequted

The engine has been put to good use and is a testament to id's engine development skill leaving an intense single-player Quake experience and Quake III's multiplayer only prettier.

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GamerFeed

It's a little bit difficult to forgive lackluster multiplayer, especially since the single-player will eventually come to an end, leaving only it to carry the game through.

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Game Over Online

Kane and the battle against the Strogg are handled nicely, and there's enough direction placed in the story to accurately host an expansion pack (which you can probably bet will be on its way next year).

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GameSpy

Call it 2005's answer to "Unreal 2," another game that mashed together a ton of solid sci-fi shooting but never gelled into anything particularly groundbreaking or memorable.

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Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

Quake 4 has set-pieces to knock your jaw off, provides flawless, timeless multiplayer and the Doom 3 engine does the business with the graphics, but the lack variety means the earth won't quite move for you. [GamesMaster]

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Yahoo! Games

While both halves of this schizophrenic shooter play very differently, they share many of the same general qualities: they're solid, immersive, and pretty, but suffer from a severe lack of originality.

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3DAvenue

The problem with Quake 4 is that, for the most part, the single player mode suffers from the same simplicity as "Doom 3" - random shooting through a maze of "appeasing-at-first, but-boring-after-the-100th-time" environments.

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Gamer 2.0

If fast-paced twitch-styled shooters are your thing, you won't currently find a better game in the genre; however, this Quake 4 lacks that certain depth that you'll find in inherently better FPS games like "Half-Life 2" and "Far Cry."

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GameSpot

A fantastic-looking game with a great single-player campaign. The multiplayer, however, is underwhelming.

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GamePro

Raven Software pushed the envelope with the amazing shadow effects in "Doom 3," but unfortunately Quake 4 lacks that same degree of pixel-shader pizzazz outdoors. From the blocky sky box to the drab terrain and buildings, the exterior details pale in comparison to the atmospherically cramped interior spaces.

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1UP

But for all its fire and flash pyrotechnics and soulless premise and execution, there's a delightful source of naiveté powering the proceedings here -- like a raw, juvenile fantasy torn straight out of the id and slopped wholesale onto our PCs. [*Single-Player review]

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G4 TV

Quake 4 delivers fast, brutal shooting action, and it looks good doing it. Sometimes, that’s all that’s necessary.

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Armchair Empire

Although there are multiplayer options included, just as with Doom 3, you can tell that the focus was definitely on the single player aspect of the game. While the storyline isn't exactly gripping, the gameplay is.

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Gamenikki

Quake 4 is a fun game to play. The action is beautiful and fast paced, and Raven did a great job creating a foreboding atmosphere. However, it does not belong in the current FPS upper echelon.

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games(TM)

The single-player may have all the visual trickery and neat little scripted sequences, but in terms of sheer heart-pounding action, the multiplayer wins hands down. [Dec 2005]

GameBiz

The addition of vehicles to the series is a nice touch even if they are a little too cumbersome to control.

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2404.org

Raven took all the good things first person shooters have been doing since Half-Life and Unreal...it works--sort of--but the end result is a bit messy nonetheless.

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WHAM! Gaming

While not the amazing experience we were all expecting, Quake 4 is a worthy successor to the Quake franchise.

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PALGN

A no-nonsense, old style first-person shooter – shoot first, think later. In that sense, it's brilliant fun. However, expect any more and you should prepare to be disappointed.

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My Gamer

Seems comfortable to rest squarely in the warm embrace of the genre that id pioneered a decade ago. Certainly, that’s not a bad place to be.

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Computer Games Magazine

For both better and worse, Quake IV parties like it's still 1999. [Jan 2006, p.40]

Computer Gaming World

Breaks no ground, but good old-school stuff with amazing graphics. [Jan 2005, p.100]

PC Gamer

This old-school shooter suffers from a lack of 21st-century game design. [Nov 2005, p.72]

Eurogamer

Feels like an uninspired, by-the-numbers sci-fi B-movie of a game with high production values. It's 'fun', for the nine, ten hours it lasts, but only in the same brainless sense that allows us to enjoy dumb popcorn action movies.

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Sydney Morning Herald

As far as the multiplayer goes, it's nothing much more than Quake 3 with a fresh slap of paint, which is probably the biggest disappointment of all.

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Game Revolution

The result is more sad than monstrous, a beast you’ll put down not with hate, but pity. You’d be far better served dipping into the likes of F.E.A.R. than treading down this overgrown path again.

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Boomtown

The Quake 4 we have is ultimately not the Quake 4 that was born of four years worth of development. There is just no way in hell. And from a developer this kind of game is appalling.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 82 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lee W. gave it an8:
The multiplayer is nearly identical to that of Quake III except there are less community-created maps and less players, so play this game for the single player, which is nice. The guns are amazingly fun to shoot, and the teammates aren't too dumb, which is a change for friendly A.I., but they still have trouble between understanding how they need to move to avoid fire and follow the player at the same time, which is always present in video games. The enemy AI doesn't really get advanced until you meet these orange-suited guys in the second half, but it's worth it. As with all Raven games, the art direction is fantastic. The environments are beautifully designed, and the sound is amazing. Again, the second half of the game is mentioned, as piles of bodies and guts, flayed human skin, and gigantic Strogg blood vessels are strewn about the environment making it lovingly dark and eerie. By the end the number of bosses you face (including the silly "challenge room") is ridiculous, but the boss fights are amazing, also a property of Raven games. The story is pretty puh and meh, and many things are stereotypical of science fiction, but it's is a typical video game that doesn't carry its own torch, but excels in many ways.

Shawn D gave it a7:
The biggest problem, IMO, is that this game is very hard on the eyes. It's like it's too dark and too bright at the same time; I can't even describe it. Another problem is that the story is retarded. This game tries to have a bunch of characters in it, but all of the characters suck. Dealing with these assholes and being on the ship wastes a ton of time and it slows the game down. The driving parts sucked. A lot of the weapons sucked. The shotgun only has 40 ammo max, machine gun is useless, nailgun has exploding ammo so it can't be used close range, hyperblaster bounces off walls so it can't be used close range, explosives are not close range, railgun is mostly a sniper weapon. Can you guess what range most of the fighting is? You guessed it - close range. It's like the developers took Quake 2 and thought "let's cripple the hell out of this game then improve the graphics or something and call it Quake 4".

Mark S. gave it a9:
Great game. Single player campaign shines like no other id game previously but multiplayer scores only average. The graphics are amazing, the environments and details phenominal, music and sounds very high quality. I have always loved Raven games and this is no exception. In 2008, now that I finally have a system that can run this game at Ultra High, the game really comes alive. This is my third of fourth time playing it through, fantastic game. A huge step up from Doom 3 in technology and gameplay. A++.

Jag gave it a9:
Quake 4 is a Sci-Fi FPS that picks up were Quake 3 left off. This game's graphics are great. There Doom 3 times 2. The game is somewhat like Doom 3 at times with the dark vents and corners. And yes you flashlight is on your gun. Gamespot said that the story was just deep enough to keep you interested in what will happen next. I found it to be a bit more imersive. You charicter doesn't say anything but all those guys around you will completely distract you from that fact. You really feel like your apart of somthing in this game. The story has been found to be shalow by some people but that part is pretty much up to you. However there is a major twist in the story. I won't ruin it for you but it is deffinetly the most shocking story twists I have ever seen. The A.I was good you guys really help you which imerses you even more into the expereance. The multi-player was very fun and traditional. Its mainly quake 3 with better graphics and a couple of new maps one new weapon. The dark matter gun. IT OWNS. In my opinion this game is classic I could go on for a long time about it. If you like shooters BUY IT.

Shodan gave it a5:
Pretty forgettable.

Mathew P. gave it a3:
This game is short, it is 0 scary, and you almost never are alone, you are always with nooby soldiers helping you, i don't know how people can like this more than Doom 3. They are just fucken morons. Doom 3 It's a SOLO style game, no fucken fools helping you, and made for panic. This game suxs, when you run out of armor or ammo there's always a soldier to give you shit, you don't have fun. Yes, maybe u get solo sometimes, but just for some minutes, I give a 3 for it graphics and plot.

Bert R. gave it a10:
I think this game was made by god. OK the german version suck because there was no Blood and no OP but the english version is greater than Far Cry. So many action and... I dont know wht it was but it was great.

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Quake 4

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