Quake (game)

''"Primal fear in a strange dimension..." '' - Introductory text to Episode 3: The Netherworld

Quake is the first game in the Quake series by id Software, and the first game to use the Quake engine. It was released in 1996.

Background
The development of Quake went through several phases, and as such the game exhibits a variety of influences. It is primarily a blend of science-fiction, gothic fantasy, and lovecraftian horror.
 * One of the earlist 3D FPS games
 * John Carmack/engine development
 * Development of plot + themes, etc.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Quake is fast-paced and movement-heavy, and is probably the fastest of all the Quake games. It has many movement techniques to master, including Air Strafing, Bunny Hopping, Rocket Jumping and Air Control, which, thanks to its non-linear level design, creates a very open game with a high skill ceiling.

Multiplayer
Twenty years after its release, the original Quake still has a small but significant multiplayer scene, often played through the QuakeWorld client and an associated Source Port. Typical gamemodes include Duel, Free-For-All, and Team Deathmatch, while other gametypes can be played through various mods, such as ThreeWave Capture the Flag, and the original Team Fortress mod.

Quake's multiplayer has been described as a "game of imbalance"; specific weapons and items are inherently more powerful than others, and the key to winning is in controlling the areas on the map where they spawn. This makes for games where there can be dramatic shifts in the balance of power between players and teams.

Characters
Quake's protagonist, simply known as "QuakeGuy" (in reference to Doom's protagonist being known as "DoomGuy"), and later known as "Ranger" in Quake III Arena, is known to be a marine from Earth and the last remaining member of Operation Counterstike, whose goal is to destroy Quake.

Quake's antagonist, Shub-Niggurath (codenamed "Quake"), is one of the "Old Ones" of Lovecraftian myth, and takes the appearance of a fleshy, tentacled mass. She is the mother of the monsters that the player faces, and appears as in the last level as the final boss, although she does not attack directly and cannot be harmed by the player's weapons. Instead, the player must make their way to a teleporter at the end of the level and Telefrag her, all the while fighting off monsters spawned by her to attack the player.

Weapons
Quake features eight weapons with mostly distinct uses, although three of the weapons - the Double-Barrelled Shotgun (Super Shotgun), Super Nailgun, and Rocket Launcher - can be considered upgrades of the Shotgun, Nailgun, and Grenade Launcher respectively, as they use the same ammo types. The two remaining weapons are the Axe, a fairly pathetic melee weapon, and the Thunderbolt, a lightning gun that fires a sustained hitscan beam. The Thunderbolt can also be lethal to the user; if the player fires while in a liquid (water, slime, lava), the discharge will kill anybody in the volume or nearby.

Quake's inventory is notable in that it's default weapon is the Shotgun, which remains useful throughout the game even after the Super Shotgun is obtained, thanks to it's narrow spread and decent range. This is in contrast to many early FPS games, in which the starting weapons are quickly outclassed by the later ones.

Locations
Quake features a variety of disparate environments, ranging from sci-fi techbases to gothic castles, and dimensions beyond.

Broadly speaking, Quake is divided into four episodes containing 6-8 levels each. Each episode commences with an "idBase" themed level, and progresses through several more levels in search for that episode's Rune.

The episodes of Quake are as follows: As well as the single-player episodes, Quake also features six dedicated Deathmatch Arenas, and was one of the earliest First-Person Shooters to do so.