Quake II Remaster: Quake II 64 + E3 Demo [BQTN E196 | PC/Steam]
7Like its Quake 1 counterpart, the Quake II remaster also includes Quake II 64, playable for the first time on PC and modern consoles. This is an even bigger deal this time around, since Quake II 64 had a completely different set of levels than the original PC release.
I previously tried playing through Quake II 64 on original hardware, but gave up on the second-to-last level, where the extremely low framerate, high input lag, and lack of mid-level saves was compounded by an overabundance of death traps. (The final level is probably easier by comparison.) Being able to play the game on modern hardware solves all of the tech limitations, making the remaining death traps far more manageable, so I figured I'd give it a try again.
Given the relative simplicity of Quake II 64's levels, I figured I'd play on hard difficulty. The game is infinitely more enjoyable on modern hardware with PC controls, but there are two things I didn't account for in my difficulty selection: ammo distribution becoming rough towards late-game, and the updated enemy AI inherent in the remaster.
Last time I mentioned I'd save one rant for next time, and here it is: while some of the new (or restored?) enemy AI features do make the game more interesting, the berserker's pounce is a huge mistake. It's as if someone looked at the gug's unavoidable earthquake attack - AKA the worst feature in the entirety of Quoth - and thought, "that looks like the greatest idea since sliced bread, let's have more of that." I can understand wanting to give berserkers a way to quickly close distance since it makes them much more of a threat, but including near-guaranteed instantaneous unavoidable damage basically makes them a hitscanner in the process. Seemingly the only way to mitigate it is to voluntarily close the distance yourself and cross your fingers that they don't decide to pounce before then.
Original maps were probably not designed around berserkers being this OP, which becomes evident in a few areas where you encounter multiple at once. (I also have to wonder whether the pounce behavior was added before or after most of Call of the Machine's maps were designed, since there are a couple of opportunities for cheap-shot instant deaths due to the pounce tossing the player into voids or lava.)
I'm glad I got to replay Quake II 64 this way, but as for the rest of Quake II, I'm inclined to stick with the original over the remaster for balance reasons.
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For more BQTN (Better Quake Than Never), see details and the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGxDQwmTH6y1mhQzUaCZ6XxXxspG7Z19
This was originally livestreamed. Catch Quake and other FPS playthroughs live on weekends at 8PM US Eastern on Twitch! You can find links to both on my site at https://cney.stream/ along with a BQTN page listing all of the Quake paks I've played.
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