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After a long break, Sokar takes a second look at the black sheep of the popular shooter series. Does Quake 4 really deserve this title? Or is the shooter even an unrecognized classic?
On Quake 4 There were great expectations when it was released in 2005: five years after the pure multiplayer title Quake 3 – Arena came a new part (again with a single player campaign) of a popular series. It didn't come from the original studio, but it came from competent genre veterans who also had a close connection to the main studio. What could possibly go wrong? As we know today: a lot.
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Despite all the good omens and hype, the game is now considered the black sheep of the series, unable to convince fans in single player nor to shake the throne of its forefathers in multiplayer. At least in popular opinion. But, is this really the truth? Was Quake 4 unfairly punished? And how is it doing today? That is the big question that I would like to clarify here.
Difficult inheritance
The Quakeseries from id Software has a long and eventful history, which I will discuss in more detail elsewhere. The fourth part stands out in several ways: It was developed by Raven Software, a long-time partner of the franchise's creators. Developers from the predecessors were only involved in an advisory capacity, provided they still worked in the company at all. The game also became a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, but from what I've heard, that didn't do well. The technical condition of the game was probably poor and the version was written off quite quickly, meaning many problems still exist today. Since I don't own this console (and apart from that I only play shooters on the PC), I can't say this first hand. That's why this is purely about the PC version.
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| The scenario throws you into a major Strogg war against humanity, so you are often on the move with AI comrades. |
It's never easy to develop a new part of such a well-known and popular series. But veterans of the genre work at Raven Software; they made their first attempts in 1993 Shadowcasterbased on the engine of Wolfenstein 3D, that's how far back the connection between the two studios goes. Created in close collaboration Witches and Hereticyour portfolio includes Soldier of Fortune, Star Wars – Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast and Star Trek: Elite Force other classics of the genre. Not bad conditions, but Quake is still a different story.
In addition, it is not a very simple series: Up until then, three parts had been released, all with completely different settings and focuses. Through Half Life and the first Call of Duty The genre had also developed towards more story and staging; Classic shooters were not in demand; the age of boomer shooters was still a long way off. For the fourth part, it was decided to follow on from the second, probably because it still has the most story to offer.
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I'm primarily concerned with the single player campaign. The multiplayer mode is still played, I was able to find a handful of running servers with players, especially for the capture-the-flag mode – of course only with the international version. Which brings us to the topic of the German version.
The fourth quake
When Quake 4 was released, publisher Activision also brought the international version onto the market in Germany, without the USK seal. Similar to import titles, the game could only be purchased by adults. This approach is also an invitation for the game to be indexed quickly, which unsurprisingly happened shortly afterwards. Some time later, a new version of the game came onto the market, but with a new blue seal on it – this version had been approved by the USK for ages 16 and up.
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| In all versions, dead Strogg dissolve, in the German version on clean ground. |
In order to achieve this classification, major cuts were necessary. There is simply no blood in this version, not even green like other games liked to color it. Not to mention bodies that are not completely intact and parts that no longer belong. Even loading screens were replaced if they contained even one red spot. Two particularly violent scenes in the game were completely deleted; instead, players in Germany only see a fade to black. At another point, during a particularly gruesome murder of a comrade, a wall is pushed forward, but the camera focuses on it – on the wall. Things get unintentionally funny when scientists talk about the structure of Strogg organs while staring at empty glasses. In general, I have the impression that quick solutions were preferred here to remove anything that could pose a risk of further indexing.
However, these drastic changes have also resulted in a significant problem: Since data has been removed and changed, the game files differ from the international version, which means that the local version is not compatible with others in multiplayer. The version runs in single player, but you have to make sure to select “German Language Files” when installing the latest patch 1.4.2, otherwise the game will acknowledge the loading of a specific campaign map with an error message. I'm honestly surprised they even thought of it. I had assumed that this version had simply been copied. You can only buy the international version digitally – but not yet from Germany. The German version is only available on disc. But “German” is only the level of violence, texts and voice output are completely in English.
The lower age rating had one advantage: Since there were fewer child protection requirements to consider, the game could have been better presented as an eSport. However, that didn't work at all, mainly because of the technical incompatibility with the prevailing international version. The German version was only used in exceptional cases, like one Match at Giga Games. Local players therefore mostly resorted to importing.
In this article I am covering the German version, for the simple reason that, as far as I know, the Internationale is still on the index and is therefore difficult for me to write about. All screenshots come exclusively from the version mentioned.
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| Important events such as a boss fight are introduced with short cutscenes |