Mt. Tiburon Testing Labs

Opening scene, all hell is breaking loose.

I recently got a copy of “Quake 4”; you should get one, too. You should get one if you like FPSs, with stunning graphics, lots of action, lots of weapons, opponents, and levels. If you don't like that kind of stuff, well, go play “Everquest,” or “WOWC.”

As many you know, I've been on a rant for the past year or so about the lack of originality and the overuse of sequels (I'm so looking forward to “Doom XXVII”). But go tell that to George Lucas-wouldn't you line up to see just one more Star Wars?

OK, so sequels work, and why shouldn't they? When a good story is told, with interesting characters, we want more of it. Look at Sherlock ­Holmes (watched a prequel the other night, about how Doyle was influenced by Dr. Bell, his mentor, and the prototype for Holmes). This story and character will never end.

Developed by Raven for ID, “Quake IV” uses the Doom III engine, and some great art work. Its characters have great detail, the 3D models of the structures are complex and rich, and the texture maps are well done, bumped, lighted nicely, and used in subtle ways so you're not distracted by any crappy graphics. The game has a lot of qualities of a sci-fi movie except you're in it.

The Maries take on the Harvester.

You are Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad and Earth's valiant invasion force. Fight alone and with your squad (some damn smart AIs with mixed effectiveness and mortality), and in hover tanks and mechanized walkers in a mission into the heart of the Strogg war machine. But, in this epic war between worlds, the only way to defeat the Strogg is to become one of them.

Now where have we seen that before? Was it when Picard got Borg'ized back in 1990? Or should we start with Ripley in Aliens 3, 1992, although she tried to keep it unpublicized? Since those examples the concept of becoming your enemy to defeat him has obtained its own genre class, and we saw it in “Doom3” and Doom the movie, and now in “Quake 4.”

So in “Quake 4” you have to battle through early missions as a deadly marine, and just when you start to get the hang of things, and have taken out some really tough Nexus protecting cyberspiders, you get bonked, and then captured, and turned into a partial Strogg (Strogg'ized) with enhanced abilities and the power to turn the tide of the war.

The enemies are great, and one of them, the Harvestor, is a throwback to early Quakes with its oil-rig-like piercing claw-nail.

It'll take all the GPU you've got to give it. If you like FPS this definitely should be on your list.

The game has lots of levels, and almost all of the characters will either talk to you or be talking to each other, and they talk like grunts, so if a little foul language bothers you, you better zip up your flak vest.

After you blast your way through a couple of tunnels you get to visit the Marines' mother ship, the Hannibal, which has just landed. The exploration of the Hannibal ship is most fun and interesting. You pick up a few items, get a lot of back story, and just kinda meet some of the guys.

Also, a good portion of the game is outside. I get so tired, almost claustrophobic, when it's all tunnel maze stuff. That was one of the main things I like about HL2 (and didn't like about “Doom3”).

Part of your mission is to protect Strauss, a whiny Russian tech, who is amazingly effective despite his complaining; this is one of the best AIs in the game.

Parallez Mapping mod

What could you do to make a great-looking game even better? Download the Junkguy's Parallez Mapping Engine 2.0, that's what (http://quake4.filefront.com/file/Parallax_Mapping_Engine_20;49663).

Also known as virtual displacement mapping or offset mapping, it's an advanced graphical technology that simulates physical displacements on textures, resulting in a fuller 3D experience. This is the sequel to the popular Doom3 Parallax Mapping 1.0, and it incorporates an improved central shader with more than 1,000 custom height maps. All other textures benefit from the author's proprietary Simulated Parallax Mapping algorithm. The result is a significant improvement over standard bump mapping.

Loner or team player

You can play single, using the AIs as you team mates, and, you also can play online after you've gone through it all, which is my recommendation.

Cons

There's nothing to not like in this game. But there are a couple of system things that could use improvement. The display resolution is restricted to four fixed ranges with max resolution of 1600 x 1200. I would have liked to have been able to use three monitors and/or Apple's 2500 x 1200 so you could get a really wide wrap-around view. Also there's no input control selection, it's mouse only, no joystick, no game pad.

Which is a little weird, because it's going to be available on the Xbox360.

This is a definite must-get game if you like FPS and MMOLs, and we give it a hardy thumbs up.

Get the book

One last thing. There's a great book for the game from Prima Games (http://www.primagames.com/) for $19.99 printed or $12.99 electronic-highly recommended. Beautifully illustrated, informative without being a handholding walkthrough.

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