Quake I, II, III, or IV?

[Dr. Shadowborg]

I would have to agree, there probably won't be another Quake, if for no other reason than how Quake seems to exist as a nameless fear / crawling chaos within the minds of the commercial gamedev companies. (GameDevs: Oh my god!, we didn't see that!, not there, notherenotherenothere!!! Quake: But I AM here. >=D )

Another aspect of that is that everybody seems to expect heavily scripted interactive movies (railshooters!) or CoD-style games ever since Half-Life came out.

I prefer to imagine that the TRUE Quake 3 (which was never made) was the successor to the first Quake, based off of what little you got to see in the opening movie. (Those guys Sarge was fighting looked an awful lot like Enforcers to me...and where they were fighting looked more like something you would expect to find within the haunted realms of Quake)

[RitzBitz]

In later years I probably put more time into Q3A and loading up custom maps and such, but when it comes down to it Quake 1 has that dark Lovecraftian atmosphere, that just trumps all. Hell, a lot of newer games don't even match the kind of darkness and atmosphere that Quake has. To be honest, I never really even bothered with Quake 4 because it was more of the Strogg, and that just didn't feel like true Quake to me.

[Dimension 0]

Quake one have a unique atmosphere.

[RL Clown]

I know that Quake Live does not belong to the main discussion, but honestly, I do not know why Quake Live exists... I see Quake Live as an odd rehash of Quake 3 Arena. I understand that there are a few small differences (you can read about those differences at wiki Quake). But generally speaking, a human being with an average IQ can quickly recognize that Quake Live is extremely similar to Quake 3. I don't know why idsoftware did that... My guess is, at that time, idsoftware was afraid that it would lose its popularity. The people of id tried to bring back some hype into their games by giving out Quake Live for free. They thought that more consumers would jump onto their bandwagon (I guess). Was it a smart move? Look at it this way... "I already have Quake 3, so why are you giving me another copy of Quake 3? I understand that you did put in some time and some consideration and I appreciate it. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I already have Quake 3." Instead of giving out Quake Live for free, idsoftware should have done this... id should have created a totally original game called "Quake vs. Unreal". (Yes, they should have joined forces with their competition in order to create the ultimate shooter.) Then they should have given out the game for free for a maximum of thirty days. (After thirty days, you must buy the game. Otherwise, you can't access it.) Some software companies have done this in the past... I think that the strategy would have boosted sales for idsoftware. But who am I to judge? I'm just a University student who works at a convenience store (part-time). I do not understand the complicated scenarios of video game designing and selling. That's it. That's the end of my rant.

[Krymzon 45]

Quake Live.

I immediately noticed when I first started up Quake Live I was basically playing Quake 3. All the models were the same and the arenas, textures and everything about the world of Quake Live was from Quake 3 with the main difference being the statistics and level ups and crap like that. Wouldn't it have made more sense just to make that an update for Quake 3 rather than just splitting their Quake 3 arena game off to an online only free game?

[Grim Warlock]

The physics are different in Quake Live.

[NightFright]

I would say Quake offers the most classic experience - also since it is part of the "Holy Trinity" of the best shooters of all time (besides Doom and Duke3D). These three games are also permanently installed on my hard drive.

Quake II had a nice atmosphere too, but the sci-fi approach wasn't the same for me as the gothic-fantasy world which the first Quake offered. If they ever do any new installation of the series, they should really return to this scenario (even though this was only Carmack's idea, and I dunno if id will stick to it still after his departure).

Quake III certainly was (and still is) a milestone regarding deathmatch, but for me, single player is what really matters, so it was nothing for me on long-term.

Quake IV, well... it was really entertaining and also had remarkably long playtime, but it also felt stretched and kinda generic. Raven did a good job with it, but it wasn't anything spectacular.

I am definitely ready for a new Quake by now - we are waiting for a successor for almost nine years now already (on PC), and officially, none is in sight still. If it ever happens, they should resume the episodic idea, giving individual designers the opportunity for different approaches. The game was about exploring different dimensions anyway, so can there be a better opportunity to offer visual and creative diversity? As long as the main features of the classics are included (non-linear gameplay/level design, quicksaves instead of checkpoints, no automatic health regeneration), I'd gladly sign up for it again.

[RL Clown]

I cannot stress this enough... I need to express my love of Quake... You could give me any game... You could give me Halo, Call of Duty, or GoldenEye 007, but I wouldn't care... I would always go back to Quake. I didn't mean to be rude; actually, I would care. But still, Quake is the King of all first-person shooters. There's something magical about Quake. I will always go back to Quake. Quake is life. I know that it sounds silly, but really, in my opinion, Quake is life. I was born in 1989. Even to this very day, I have not seen a shooting game that can compete with Quake. The closest thing I could think of is Doom, but still, Quake has rammed Doom into another dimension. No offense to Doom fans, but Doom can't mess with Quake. Doom wouldn't even dream about messing with Quake. Quake had everything that a gamer could ask for... Incredible maps, challenging/original monsters and enemies, original/tactical/effective weapons, wonderful sounds, flexible controls and so much more! Quake was only missing one thing: snow. Yes, snow! I was born in Canada, so I love the snow. But seriously, that "problem" could be solved instantly! Think about it... Many Quake mods actually feature snowy maps! Quake has a solution for everything! Quake actually means the UNIVERSE to me! That's enough ranting... Thank you for reading my post. Now I'm going to drink some beer.

[PrimalLove]

The physics are different in Quake Live.

Yes, that's why I'd rather play Quake. Nexuiz and Xonotic both use very similar physics to quake.