Review – Quake (Switch) –

I was a fan of the original games, so when I heard about the new Switch port of Quake, I was all in. The game has many of the great elements of the original Quake. The graphics are impressive, the gameplay is solid, and the multiplayer options are great. If you want to play Quake the way it was meant to be played, this is the game to get.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a full on review of a new game. It’s been far too long, really, and this was a game that I’d wanted to play for a long time. Back in the day, I believe I first saw Quake in 1997. It was on a demo CD with a friend at a friend’s house, and I was blown away with the graphics, and the gameplay. The game looked amazing, and I was hooked. Quake still holds up today, and it’s still a tough game to beat.

The new “Quake” is a fast-paced first-person shooter that has you wielding the power of lightning to annihilate your enemies. With a minimum of set-up, players are thrust into the middle of a raging battle on the moon where they must fend off hordes of mutants who are pummeling them with every shot. Controlling the character is done using the Switch controller as well as a mouse and keyboard. The action is quick, fluid and fun to play, and after about an hour, you’ll have had your fill of the game.

Quake is more than a legendary video game series; it’s a cultural institution. Crysis was the first game to make players want to invest hundreds of dollars on a graphics card simply to play with their friends, and it was also one of the first titles to really promote online gaming. It set the path for today’s eSports and produced critically praised sequels. It even created a convention, which is still going strong today. Speaking of “Quake Convention,” Bethesda quickly announced a surprise release of the franchise’s original game in remastered version, courtesy of the turbo wizards at Night Dive Studios, during this year’s Quakecon. What a perfect fit for each other.

The nailgun is Quake’s equivalent of Doom’s BFG.

This brand new Quake remaster is now available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. The game’s next-generation versions will be published shortly. For all intents and purposes, playing this game on the Switch would entail deliberately playing the “weakest” of all the remasters, but here’s the thing: this is the first official portable version of Quake ever published. I can’t believe it’s taken so long for us to have a real portable Quake, since it’s ideal for a system like the Switch. Its short levels (usually take between eight and ten minutes to complete) and rapid pace are ideal for short bursts of play.

Because of its performance, I label it the “weakest” of the remasters. At first, the game plays at a rock-solid 60 frames per second with the default settings and improvements, all while looking much better than the original Quake, with enhanced textures, lighting, and fully redesigned opponent models and animations. If you enable any other option, such as anti-aliasing, you may notice a few framerate hitches here and there, particularly when the action onscreen becomes too frenetic. Given that we’re talking about Quake, this implies it’ll happen often after the first chapter or two.

Back in 1996, these square droplets of blood were the most realistic effect available.

That didn’t bother me in the least. It’s a shame, since this is an old game that should run well on the Switch, despite its shortcomings. However, Night Dive’s effort always ends in a massive remaster that makes the original game outdated, and this is no exception. It’s still a lot of fun. On the Switch’s tiny screen, anti-aliasing or texture smoothing didn’t seem required. Meanwhile, while I was playing the game on Xbox (remember, it’s on Game Pass), I switched on all of these features since the visual improvements are far more apparent on a 60-inch screen, and there was no framerate glitch.

I’m curious whether there are any hidden traps in this area full of neatly placed objects and ominous walls.

The sound department is a unique creature. When Nine Inch Nails were in the height of their fame in the mid-90s, Quake was renowned for having a soundtrack written by them. Trent Reznor’s theme tune for the game is one of his most well-known works. With that stated, those of us who grew up with the Nintendo 64 version of Quake, such as myself, remember the dark ambient music created by Aubrey Hodges, who also wrote the soundtrack for Doom 64. Both soundtracks are included in this remake of Quake, which is fantastic, but they sound compressed, much like they did back in the day. It’s a shame, since both soundtracks are fantastic, and I adore how Night Dive allowed me to relive my N64 glory days. They deserved a little more attention.

These scorpions irritate me to no end.

Night Dive, on the other hand, is without reproach. This version of Quake plays like a dream, much like the rest of their immaculate remasters. Depending on your playstyle, you may need to adjust the aiming sensitivity in the pause menu and turn off the gyro aim help. I’d also suggest turning off the aim help option, but after you’ve tinkered with the game’s settings to your taste, be ready for the greatest Quake gaming ever. Everything you know and love about it is still here: fast-paced, chaotic, and ridiculously difficult. Not to mention the fact that online multiplayer and crossplay are both available in all versions of the game!

That isn’t even the most exciting aspect. This version includes every level ever published via official methods, including the original game and its numerous additions throughout the years. There’s even a new expansion, demonstrating Quake’s significance and durability after twenty-five years. New levels are continuously being created for the game, and they’re just as excellent as the ones created by John Romero and American McGee (yup, he worked on Quake). All of this for just 10 dollars. This remaster gives you a ridiculous amount of bang for your money.

I like Quake, but this game has the worst rocket launcher sprite I’ve ever seen. Yikes.

I can’t believe this is the first time Quake has been published on a handheld device. It’s a dream come true to be able to play this on the Nintendo Switch. Its fast-paced action, insane speed, bite-sized stages, and crazy quantity of material are perfect for the system. Other versions of the game, I’m sure, don’t have the same minor speed problems our port has when you put on a lot of visual improvements all at once, but portability more than makes up for it. I may be playing Quake for the billionth time, but it still seems as new as it did when I first played it. I’m also looking forward to a remaster of Arena II and III!

Quake is currently accessible on an unfathomable number of consoles and PCs… The Night Dive version, on the other hand, is now available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

On Switch, the game was reviewed.

As an example:

As if Loading…

Look at them!

Quake on the Switch is a remake of the original game with updated graphics, and a rebalanced game mode. It is basically the same game, but with a few new features, and this new version is surprisingly fun. I began playing the game after the first few levels in the campaign mode to get used to the controls, and I was surprised by how solid and responsive they were. I played quite a bit of the game using Joy-Con controllers, and found that the motion controls worked well, and that they were a lot of fun.. Read more about nintendo switch reviews and let us know what you think.

Related Tags

This article broadly covered the following related topics:

• quake nintendo switch
• switch eshop reviews
• switch game reviews
• nintendo switch reviews
• quakespasm switch