Quake 4

I am hot and sweaty right now and it has very little to do with the fact that the power is off here in the media center at the LA Convention center. For the first time in the 4 years that I have been coming to E3, the show floor is actually more cool and comfortable than the less crowded corridors. Of course the fact that I just sat through a demo of Quake 4 at the Activision booth does not help matters. The Doom 3 graphics that look crisper, the squad-based game play with drivable vehicles added with the raw blood and guts we witnessed in the 15 minute or so demo all make for that true 'Quake' feel.

This gives new meaning to the phrase 'evil scientist'.

Did that tattoo on your forehead hurt? I'm thinking about getting one.

The game picks up right as Quake II ends. The Strogg leader has been defeated clearing the way for waves of marines to secure the final victory. This time you play Matthew Kane, a member of the Rhino Squad marine unit. As we watched the intro I was reminded of scenes from Starship Troopers and Aliens as the marines piled into drop ships far above the Strogg home world. As the small troop carries left the massive space ships, you could see trails of plasma fire as they arced away from the planet towards the mass of battleships above.

As Rhino Squad's drop ship screams through the upper atmosphere, the craft is targeted by homing missiles and typical to 75% of all drops ship scenes in video games, the next thing you know you are waking up in a pile of burning wreckage. Once you wake up, the scene around you is utter chaos. Marines are everywhere, running, shouting, shooting, dying as low altitude Skogg fighters rush overhead. A large mech tromps by firing at unseen others followed by a large spider-like machine that begins stabbing at fleeing men. One of your squad mates points you towards a doorway and tells you they rest of your group thought you were dead and you had better haul ass to catch up to them.

That's when we got a major curve ball thrown at us by Raven. Our hero's return to his unit is short lived as we are told that we get to see how the Strogg treat the marines that they capture. The combat we had been watching faded to black and as the new scene fades up and we see through our hero's eyes that he is strapped to a motorized gurney and despite all his struggling, he cannot get free. Helpless, we can only watch as the gurney in front of us with another marine prisoner rolls forward, stopping only briefly as a series of devices first scan his body with a series of red lasers. As interesting as that is, the huge needle attached to a mechanical arm that swoops down from the ceiling is a barrel of laughs as it's plunged into his chest, with a sound like an ice pick going into a side of beef. He screams as blood gouts from the wound and the needle smoothly slides out of his chest and retracts out of view. His gurney rolls forward and onto the next butcher station as our gurney rolls forward for our turn with the needle. It's even more gruesome up close than it was from a few meters back.

After an agonizing 30 seconds or so, the gurney shuttle forward to whirling saw blades that slice our legs off from below the knee. We are not crippled for long as our missing limbs are replaced with robotic ones. It's clear now that this is not just torture, but our hero is being transformed into a Strogg, right before our eyes. It's gruesome and frankly, it was hard for me to watch. The process was all so smooth and efficient that it made the whole thing even more monstrous. And half the audience was smiling with pleasure at the carnage on the screen. Maybe they were Strogg themselves. Who knows.

Robotic limbs do not make a marine a Strogg. The final transformation is nearly completed with another robotic arm that swings down from the ceiling and implants a glowing red electrode into the skull of our hero. Once the device is implanted, the HUD changes to reflect your new 'programming' your health and ammo monitors take on an orange-ish glow and you can now read all the Stroggish signs that line the transformation chamber.

Before the electrode can be fully activated, your squad mates burst into the room and shoot the place to Hell, springing you in the process. I thought it was a fresh and clever way to let players experience the battle from the other side of the lines while still keeping your good guy affiliation. But it's not just Strogg weapons we got to experience. After we were sprung from the torture transformation chamber, the devs changed the scene yet again and this time we got watch as our hero climbed into one of the mechs we saw at the start of the demo and go stomping around blowing things up with missiles and heavy machine gun fire. That was a rush.

In all, Quake IV looks like it may be the first great game using the Doom3 engine. It looks like it has a good single player game that does not limit the player to cramped, dark corridors. It also appears to have squad mates to back you up in fire fights and craft you can pilot as you try to bring the Strogg menace to its knees. Still not convinced Quake IV is doing it right? Then make your decision based on this final bit of info: the assault rife has a flash light in the stock that can be used without switching out the weapon.

I have high hopes for this one.

Vince 'Moesha' Massa