Quake 4 - Stroggjammin'

Quake 4 - Stroggjammin' is the title of the video in which Civvie reviews Quake 4. It is the twenty-first episode of season five.
== Syopsis ==
== Video ==
== Transcript ==
*epic military march music*
[CIVVIE] I know what you're saying, "Where's Quake 3 Civvie?" Well, it's a multiplayer game, I am one person,
and maybe two people have requested it, whereas I get asked about Quake 4 all the time and about Raven Software's…
Yes, RAVEN's! …contributions to the Quake franchise. I've played Quake 4… once… in like 2006 around when it came out.
I never really felt the need to go back to it, I remember it being boring and kind of standard, and wondering, as I still do today,
who exactly jumped at the opportunity to continue the story of Quake 2? Who, at Raven, said "I gotta have more Strogg!"
[TIM WILLITS] The story of Quake 4 is Earth fighting back against the Strogg.
You are a member of an elite ground squad and the teammates stay with you throughout the entire story.
[CIVVIE] Elite ground squad? Teammates? Now, I can't say that I have high hopes for this. Because I don't.
I remember exactly one part of Quake 4, and it's the one all of you remember who've played it, you know.
You know. Why wasn't id Software making Quake 4? Because until 2016, id couldn't count to 4.
And they were so scared of the number 4 that they called Doom 4 "Doom" instead of… because technically it is a continuation of that story, the one from Doom 1 and 2 and then Doom 64,
whereas Quake is now a series that's been split down the middle between deathmatch and war against the Strogg, and it's not bad but who was dying to know about what happened to the Strogg?
Okay, we're gonna play this on my brand new Steam Deck that Father Gaben hand delivered to *bleep*…
[H4MM3R] Do you remember, Civvie? Do you remember the blood? [CIVVIE] Yeah, that was hilarious.
Man, come on! I had to wait like a year for that! I was gonna learn how Linux works so I can be one of those assholes!
[H4MM3R] You're already an asshole. [CIVVIE] Yeah!
[COMPUTER VOICE] Warning! Incoming attack! [BIDWELL] All right, you maggots! Haul ass or die!
[CIVVIE] Look at all this Starship Troopers shit. [RHODES] Holy shit! This is some ride, eh buddy?
Who's the new guy? [MORRIS] Matthew Kane. One certified badass. [HUDSON] Yeah, I am the ultimate badass!
[CIVVIE] Okay, you remember how this stuff was getting kind of old in the late 90's so much so that games like Half-Life were lauded for not doing it?
Well, thanks to Halo, it's back! And combat evolved! [STRAUSS] A man like Kane could get us killed.
[CIVVIE] Yeah, I don't know anything about Matthew Kane, this is the first time he's being mentioned… [BIDWELL] Shut the hell up, Strauss! [CIVVIE] Strauss is this game's big Hollywood actor they hired to do voice work, Peter Stormare.
[PETER STORMARE] Quake 4 invited me to be part of the fourth episode…
"I am Private Johann Strauss and you have no doubt heard of me." He is a scientist. He's a smart computer expert.
[KARL HUNGUS] That's why they sent me, I am an expert. [CIVVIE] Before we can learn anything about these characters… [TIM WILLITS] So fighting along your buddy that you've known for half the game,
you know, really makes you wanna keep that guy alive a little bit longer than you would if he was just a stranger. [CIVVIE] Tim, I don't know why you would need to qualify
that you'd want them to not die for a little bit longer than if they were a stranger, but yeah, ooh-rah to ashes, let's kick some ass!
[VOSS] Gentlemen… good news in the war against the Strogg. A lone marine battled through enemy lines and killed the Strogg's leader, the Makron.
He's also disabled the Strogg's planetary defense guns. So it's a ground-pounder's war from here on out.
[CIVVIE] But, to his credit, that lone marine was faster, his weapons were better, and they let him have invulnerability and quad damage power-ups outside of multiplayer,
which none of you will get, good luck. We're shot down as we enter the atmosphere but it's fine, Kane survives, he's a certified badass.
[MILLER over the radio] This is Sergeant Miller, I'm taking Badger Squad in to clear out the facility.
[MORRIS] Well, shit! You're not dead! [CIVVIE] No, not dead at all, just hanging around in that easily escapable wreckage, thanks for noticing!
I'm only a little over a quarter dead! [MORRIS] Lucky for you, Lieutenant Voss was in a hurry to move out. Rhodes wanted to bury you.
The LT left orders that everyone is supposed to hook up with the squad ASAP Just go through those doors. You'll run into them eventually.
[ANDERSON] *explosion* My name's Anserson! *explosion* [CIVVIE] What? [ANDERSON] Here, let me heal you! [CIVVIE] Oh, yeah, sure! [ANDERSON] I'm done!
[CIVVIE] Okay! I have some other issues though, like why do I move so slowly? We're armed with a blaster, which is an upgrade from the Quake 2 blaster
it has infinite ammo, two firing modes, the first being your weak shot that you can spam by clicking the mouse button really fast,
or you can hold down to charge a shot. I thought, at first, that maybe you held down the secondary fire button to charge the shot,
because there's a zoom/weapon special button. No, don't even worry about that button. Yeah, I'm playing on Hard and this isn't going well.
Heal me up, Doc. [ANDERSON] Here's a med pack. You're good to go, Marine! [CIVVIE] Ooh-rah!
I chose center-aimed weapons in the options menu and I thought that would be fun but it's really not and it makes the machine gun look weird to me.
Like that's not center, is it? That's not really important, because the machine gun has gotten an upgrade since Quake 2 that gives it a scope,
makes it display the ammo count, and removes the ridiculous recoil. It feels a bit like the Doom 3 machine gun, especially with the firing sound.
Also, the pistol and the machine gun both have flashlights! [TIM WILLITS] Fans will be very happy to know that you can have your flashlight attached to your weapon.
[CIVVIE] Yeah, flashlight and gun at the same time, take that Doom 3 lead designer… TIM WILLITS!
The pistol and machine gun are the only guns with flashlights, and when you press the flashlight key, it selects the machine gun,
and if you press the flashlight key again, it turns the flashlight on the machine gun off. So you do have a flashlight, in a game that's much brighter, in general, than Doom 3,
but you can't swap directly back to a gun that you'd wanna use by pressing F. What you could do, right, hear me out :
put the flashlight on the player's body so that you don't have to switch weapons all the time to use it. You know… like every game does.
Quake 4 isn't even supposed to be a horror game, let me use the fucking flashlight! I'm not saying that this game is bad, exactly, I mean it's kind of dull for a while.
You shoot Strogg, a lot of the time with squad members, and the Strogg are usually visually updated versions of the ones you saw in Quake 2.
Except this one, this is a Grunt, one of the spongier early-game enemies. It seems like melee attacks are a lot more harmful than ranged ones for the moment,
so I wanna keep my distance. [MILLER] HQ, I have a man down and require a medic. HQ, come in!
You're Rhino Squad? High-tail it back to the landing site, grab your medic and bring him here. [CIVVIE] Oh, Anderson? Yeah, love that guy, he's great.
Just gotta go back through the level I just played through, grab him, and come back. Sure.
[CIVVIE] We're just gonna check out this door first, a bunch of guys came out of here and I wanted to…
Oh, okay… Let's go. [ANDERSON] I have him a med-pack and sedated him. He'll be okay.
[CIVVIE] Wait, he's had med-packs next to him this whole time! [MILLER] Kane, you're free to go now. Take that door and it will get *explosion* you to your squad.
[CIVVIE] What?! [CORTEZ] Ahhh, so you did survive! Hahaha… I won the bet with Rhodes!
[CIVVIE] Why is your machine gun so much better than mine? [CORTEZ] We were not properly introduced. I am Alejandro Cortez, Rhino Squad's *explosion* sharpshooter.
[CIVVIE] I can barely hear you over all the war going on, man, can you speak up? [CORTEZ] Lieutenant Voss stationed me here to guard the flank.
But you are to proceed that way and rendezvous with the rest of our squad. [RHODES] So you are alive!
[RHODES] - Damn… [DALTON] - Damn. [RHODES] …Cortez won the bet! [CIVVIE] Thanks, glad my fellow soldiers are betting on my survival
and possible capture, torture, and transformation into a bio-mechanical monster. I'd keep that bet going a little longer, you might still get something out of it.
Interesting fact about these characters, right : they're mo-capped!
[MIKE PLEVA] Not too many game companies have their own mo-cap studio and it's been a real boon for us.
[CIVVIE] I guess that's why all these characters seem a little more lifelike than the ones in Doom 3. This whole section of the game is pretty boring,
but I'm not gonna fault Raven for implementing this kind of technology. Usually, the worst thing Raven does, right, is this here :
something that's competently made but kind of boring. And HeXen. If you wanna see how bad melee damage can be in this game,
the Berserker returns from Quake 2 with some electric upgrades, and he murders me.
When this guy rushes me, hits me so hard that I don't get a red screen flash, removing 3 points of armor and 65 HP.
The second hit looks worse than it is, that only takes 26 points off, the real killer is when he ground-pounds with his electric mace thing,
which doesn't hit me directly and takes off an additional 51 HP, god bless these old id tech games and their negative health values.
Anything that isn't a standard Strogg soldier is tanky as hell, probably because we're dealing with cutting edge mid 2000's tech
where they had to make the enemies resilient because they couldn't put too many of them on screen at the same time. You know, like in Quake!
So you're shooting some bad guys, and then one of the corpses disappears, and another bad guy spawns around the corner and runs in, like clockwork.
This is how a lot of fights go in Quake 4. In Doom 3, the enemies would just teleport in, so good on Raven for trying to make it seem a little more organic.
That's enough talking about how this video game plays, we gotta go back to : [MAHLER] Comm link signals can't penetrate the rock of this mountain.
[MORRIS] I suppose I could stay here and relay the comm signals for you guys. [MAHLER] That'd be great! C'mon, let's go.
Here, take this shotgun. It's gonna come in handy real soon. [CIVVIE] I bet it is. About time, too.
I'm disappointed that we didn't get that double-barrel from Quake 2 in this game. And I'm turning this center weapon position off cause it sucks.
It usually won't one-hit anything, but the second hit will rag-doll an enemy like they're filled with helium. This shotgun does comparable damage to the grenades and rockets you'll get later
which is more of an indictment of the explosive weapons than it is a complement to the shotgun. [LI] Hey, wait! Your armor is damaged.
Just a few seconds and you'll be right back into the fight! [CIVVIE] Oh, wow! Okay!
Medics will heal all of my health, techs will heal all of my armor. I'm sent off to hit a button to progress.
This is a lot of what you're gonna be doing in Quake 4 : hitting buttons to progress. You go off on your own, shoot some enemies,
who I'm starting to notice maybe don't have the best AI in the world. Doom 3's enemies were lauded for their path-finding abilities, but not much else.
So when this Strogg troop supporting the berserker backpedals into the room with his back to me, stops, and does nothing…
Yeah… Again, this isn't a bad game! The Strogg design is great and in some places an improvement on the original,
like having skeletal animations is great! Can't fault the production value. But a lot of this plays out like the Dark Room.
The Dark Room
My squad enters the dark room, and of the weapons I have, the one that I wanna use doesn't have a flashlight on it.
That's fine, not a lot of rooms in this game are this dark. I wait to enter the Dark Room because my squad has to catch up.
The lights on the door turn green so it can open. Monsters spawn around a corner out of sight. When they're done, I hit up the medic for health and the tech for armor.
I find the next door with green lights so I can progress. [RHODES] Still alive and kicking, eh Kane?
I'm beginning to see how you made it off that space station. [MAHLER] Wait a minute, this is the Corporal Kane? Thought he'd be a lot bigger.
[CIVVIE] Okay, who the fuck is Kane supposed to be? What did he do? To the wiki! *batman transition*
Okay, so Kane was the only survivor of an attack on an Earth-orbiting space station. That's all we know.
That's how he got his status as a legendary badass. Cool. *batman transition in reverse*
Your free health and armor bros leave and you have to walk through the Dark Room again to get to a door where the lights turned from red to green so you can go through it.
Rhodes places a charge, you face a room full of Strogg and abuse their absolute inability to work together in any meaningful capacity.
Rhodes places another charge in a nearly identical room. A door that was once locked becomes unlocked. The hangar explodes.
[RHODES] C'mon! Let's go see the fireworks. *explosion* [RHODES] Wooo! Yeah! Those hangars are permanently closed for business!
[CIVVIE] The game tells you to regroup with your commander, so you walk to a nearby elevator and hit a loading screen. [STRAUSS] Corporal, I refuse to repair this power transfer until I am assigned additional *explosions* protection.
[VOSS over the radio] Strauss, we've been over this, it's not gonna happen. [STRAUSS] But I am in mortal danger! This area is filled with Strogg!
[VOSS over the radio] Thank you, Private Strauss, your grievance is noted. [STRAUSS] Ah, hello, Corporal Kane. It's good to finally meet you.
I am Private Johann Strauss, you have no doubt heard of me. [CIVVIE] Yeah, that's right, bitch, now fix my armor!
I'm being yelled at through my comms to get down there. [CIVVIE] I'm walking slowly through an area I've already cleared,
now occupied by Raven squad, you know, because Raven. [MORRIS] What the hell were you doing? Chatting it up with the local Strogg women?
[CIVVIE] Have you seen the Strogg women? We're back in the same trenches from before, when we get a grenade launcher that I don't really like.
I feel like it does a lot less damage than it used to. It's hard to know with how tanky the enemies are in general.
You open a door that was locked before and enter a room where enemies spawn in closets between the doors opening and closing.
I'm allowed to use a turret that will destroy a big door and 3 Strogg.
Then nothing. I walk through some metal hallways and shoot some Strogg. Out of desperation, I find a place where I can leave this path.
They blow up the gun I just used.
[RHODES over the radio] Whoo! Ah ha! Do I love my job! [CIVVIE] No, that's fine, didn't want that turning into an interesting set-piece.
[LAW] Let's head to the LZ and join the party! [DUKE NUKEM] See you at the party. [HANNIBAL PILOT over the radio] The Hannibal is now in the troposphere : Landing Zone in sight.
[CIVVIE] Oh, yeah, I get you, gotta take down those guns, save my buddies, heat of battle, all that stuff…
[HOUCHARD] All right! Thanks Hannibal. [HANNIBAL PILOT over the radio] Our pleasure! [CIVVIE] No, that's fine, didn't want that turning into an interesting set-piece.
Sure, the ship landing is cool, an impressive use of technology… but nothing really happens… and now the first act of the game is over…
I'm gonna be real with you guys, the first couple acts of this game are fucking boring! I couldn't say that at the start because YouTube has rules
and I feel like the qualifier "fucking" is extremely important. I tried playing this game again a few years ago after picking it up on Steam
for like a quarter of a Perilous Warp, thinking, "Yeah, I'm gonna do this for the channel eventually because people wanna see a Quake 4 video"
and sometimes, just sometimes, shit is boring. But nobody remembers the boring parts,
they remember that part we're gonna get to when I'm done with the boring stuff. So strap in, kids, because you wanted this.
In Blum
Again, it's not bad, exactly, it's not incompetently designed, because it's Raven.
This mech is moon-walking! *Billie Jean by Michael Jackson*
Each section of the game is broken up by a trip to the Hannibal, the ship the marines have been using for command and briefings and such, and also studying Strogg.
Mostly it's for you to go around and hear people talk about stuff. To establish characters. I can very definitively say that this game had a writer.
Whose name is Bob Love. Also known as Bob "The Doctor" Love, and Robert "Bob" Love.
"Bob Loblaw joined the Raven Software programming staff on October 31st, 1995.
"He spends his free time writing Science Fiction/Fantasy novels and short stories. "Born on the shores of Monaco, Bob spent his childhood making balloon caricatures of rich tourists.
"Later, he studied at a pretentious cooking school where he left after his 'Spaghetti on a Stick' was ridiculed.
"Broken hearted, Bob traveled to America "where he worked for a short time as a professional wrestler under the name of 'The Smurf'.
"Eventually he managed to gain employment at Raven Software. "Soon, his life will be the subject of a major motion picture entitled 'Why wasn't I born rich?'
"Bob's willing to bet they won't let him write his own bio ever again." This used to be on Raven's website before, and now Raven's website is all fucking Call of Duty.
These "other games" don't link to anything, and Quake 4 is listed as "Quake". Call of Duty Vanguard is described as "Insert COD VG Copy and Link Here."
Jesus Christ, Raven, what have they done to you!? Did your web designers walk out with the QA team?
Well now, I'm bored and sad! [RENNER] …unable to send and receive signals in that area due to Strogg interference.
[RICHARDS over the radio] But a Strogg unit is headed directly for Cougar squad! [CIVVIE] Oh, no, I'm sorry, that's just too easy. [RENNER] Sorry, there's nothing we can do, corporal.
[RICHARDS over the radio] Then they're all dead men. [CIVVIE] Yeah, okay… By the year 2150, half of all humans will be voiced by Steve Blum.
[KARN (Steve Blum)] Sorry, I'm a kinda occupied right now. [MCCLANE (Steve Blum)] So, are they certain it's dead?
[FARNSWORTH] I was assured by Lieutenant Peers it's completely dead. [CIVVIE] Oh, my mistake, some of them are Phil LaMarr.
[HINZMAN (Steve Blum)] All higher brain functions have atrophied… [CIVVIE (Steve Blum)] Look, it's another character voiced by- [panicking] oh… oh god, oh god no! No god, please…
[AX3] Medical technicians to Level 105. Another inmate has Blum'd.
*Super Mario Bros. 3 Sky Land Theme* [CIVVIE] Let me introduce you to the Technobabble twins.
[HOLDORF] …but the HB-607 has internal compensators and the XK-1000 doesn't. [LUCH] I know that! But if you'd read the manual, you'd know the XK-1000 has primary and secondary converters.
[HOLDORF] What kind of converters? [LUCH] Radcliffe 12s. They operate at 25 milliamps. [HOLDORF] 25 milliamps isn't nearly enough.
[LUCH] You're crazy! Maybe if you use a G-Moss splitter but those are highly unstable. [HOLDORF] Could you be any more misinformed? G-Moss is the wave of the future!
[LUCH] That's ludicrous! G-Moss is a fad! Reformattable K splitters will soon be the norm. [CIVVIE] They're fucking in my head canon.
[MCKENZIE] Heard the mechanics are prepping four heavy trucks. [SCOTT] So what does that mean? [MCKENZIE] Not sure. But with that many trucks, HQ is planning something.
[CIVVIE] Four whole trucks? They sure are planning something! [VOSS] Intelligence division has discovered that the Strogg function
through a massive communication system called the Nexus… …our target, known as the Hub, houses major communication lines to the Nexus.
We will be escorting a convoy carrying an electromagnetic bomb to a sub level of this building. The convoy will proceed to a designated position and detonate it.
The blast will overload a device known as the Tetranode and effectively cut off the Strogg forces from the Nexus and therefore their commanders.
[CIVVIE] Cool plan, but I question the execution of it. Not from a military tactical standpoint, from a "I'm sitting on a truck doing a turret section" and that is boring even in 2005 one.
Convoy
I haven't gotten to a turret yet, so I'm shooting Strogg that spawn behind boxes when their friends die. This somehow feels more artificial than hell portals now.
All right, we're off the truck, time to get back on the truck. [BIDWELL over the radio] Kane, protect Rhodes! He's the only one who can disarm those mines!
[CIVVIE] Really? *Super Mario Bros. 3 Sky Land Theme*
[CIVVIE] Oh, you were serious about that? *Super Mario Bros. 3 Sky Land Theme*
[RHODES] Another's done! Got 'em all! Now, let's get the hell out of here!
*Super Mario Bros. 3 Sky Land Theme*
[CIVVIE] You know, none of this game feels like Quake. Or even Quake 2. It feels like a run-of-the-mill mid-2000's space marine game.
For a while. The cacophony of battle noise and a turret and a missile lock sound that you will hear, endlessly,
because the homing missiles that get fired at you in this game can't seem to be shot down until they're fairly close to you,
don't worry about splash damage, your truck regenerates health. Your truck regenerates health.
[VOSS] Get down to Sub-Entrance 1 and free the engineering team that's trapped. Then escort one of the engineers up here to cut through that door.
Take Singer and Rodriguez with you. Good luck. [CIVVIE] Oh, I get it, go down, open a door to get a guy who can come up and open a door.
At least I get a nailgun, which is great.
Is it as good as the shotgun? Yeah, you know what, I think so! I don't have a ton of ammo for it, or any weapon now that I think about it.
Ammo seems to be drip-fed to you through the campaign until near the end when you're usually stocked up pretty well. The nailgun doesn't help me as much against the Gladiator,
these guys with railguns from Quake 2, except now they also have a shield. Quake 4 has weapon upgrades.
You get them by having NPCs hand them to you. I can imagine there was a system where you could purchase them or find them in the world
and then the devs realized they didn't have time to implement that so hey, now your machine gun magazine holds 80 rounds, your shotgun gets a mag with 10,
your nailgun gets a scope and the ability to home in on enemies. So yeah, you know what, I think I like the nailgun more than the shotgun!
Now that I've got a nailgun upgrade, it's time for the tank section. Wait, what?
Surprise, kids! It's also a sequel to Hovertank 3D! You've got pew-pew and boom-boom.
It's… fine. Because it's hovering, you don't have to worry about shitty tank controls.
Missiles still seem strangely hard to shoot down and there's an enemy that spams you with them. You fight a giant spider robot or two
and some of these areas are copied and pasted, aqueducts, tunnels, but it never gets confusing because you're going in a straight line the whole time.
It's not very interesting, but it's not bad?… It's a Raven game so the worst parts of it are competently designed.
Let's give the upgraded nailgun a spin, huh?
This nailgun fucks! We're here to shut this place down because communication, this is what the convoy was for.
The gladiator still tanks a lot of nails so I move to explosives. Grenades explode on contact sometimes.
Sure. Fine. [STRAUSS] Let me patch your armor!
[CIVVIE] Thanks, Strauss! I take Strauss to press buttons but he has to stay here to continue to press buttons so I backtrack to where I started from.
They try to fire that EMP but a giant spider robot destroys it and leaves. [VOSS] Damn it all. Bidwell was a good man. A good marine.
[CIVVIE] Which one was he? *sad guitar music*
[TIM WILLITS] So fighting along your buddy that you've known for half the game, you know, really makes you wanna keep that guy alive…
[CIVVIE] They send Kane off to destroy the Tetranode by himself while the giant robot spider tears through a bunch of your budd-
Oooh, shiny new gun! It's the Hyperblaster, you remember that, basically Quake 2's plasma rifle,
now more plasma rifle than it's ever been. This is a lot closer to Quake 3's plasma rifle than anything.
[STRAUSS] That is… The Tetranode! Destroying it is our primary objective.
[CIVVIE] A fun thing I encountered a few times in this game is when you've got your squad with you, there's some idiot who will stand directly behind you and keep you from backing off a bad situation.
Strauss! God, these grenades are weak as shit!
[STRAUSS] So far you have done well, Corporal Kane. Your final task will be to shut down the coolant pumps. This will cause a complete meltdown of the Tetranode.
[CIVVIE] All right, let's go, I'm psyched about this plan, because you're staying here. [STRAUSS over the radio] There should be a console in the center of the room, Corporal Kane.
Activate that and the coolant pumps will shut down. In a matter of minutes, the Tetranode will overheat and destroy itself…
[CIVVIE] I wonder what's in this big open room following that smaller room where I picked up all of this ammo. [STRAUSS over the radio] Ah, excellent. Corporal Kane, the Tetranode will soon be destroyed and the Nexus will become inoperative.
[CIVVIE] Oh my god, a giant spider thing! Oh my god, a second giant spider thing!
But not like the last giant spider thing, I suppose when you're talking about spider scale in this game, like relatively, those are medium spiders,
because regular non-Australian spiders are pretty small, and the spiders I needed a tank to destroy were huge,
dare I say Half-Life 2 Strider-sized… So I'm confident that we're looking at medium- sized semi-arachnid cybernetic organisms,
I assume cybernetic, I don't see any fleshy parts from here.
[STRAUSS over the radio] Corporal Kane, this is Strauss, I have detected a tremendous large life-form in your vicinity.
You must get out of there quickly! [CIVVIE] - Okay, but "tremendous large" implies bigger than the large spiders, [STRAUSS] - Kane! It can't be! It's the Makron! [CIVVIE] - Okay, but "tremendous large" implies bigger than the large spiders,
[STRAUSS] - Kane! It can't be! It's the Makron! [CIVVIE] - which, like one of those would never fit in this room, right? [CIVVIE] Hey, wait a minute, didn't I body you in the last game?
And I'd do it again if this game wasn't cheating! He pulls me in with his black hole gun, the screen fades out, then in again,
the Makron laughs, and now… well now it's time for the part everyone remembers!
The Stroggification
Again, I haven't played this game in like 15 years and I remember this. I also remember it being worse, and I'm still not sure I can show it on YouTube.
I must have shown worse stuff in a Postal video. The Fortress of Doctor Radiaki made people way more sick.
It's not fucking Terrifier, is it?
*ARGH!* Oh, god, they're pumping me full of Baja Blast! Hey Doc, could you do anything about my running speed or is that more of a cardio issue?
I get the next injection but the slice over the chest was just petty.
There's no way this is a sterile medical environment. There's blood all over the walls, and not just the walls next to those big circular saws.
*screams* I've had worse than this!
*Argh!* Ech! Again, the needle to the dick just seems petty.
Ooh! Ah! Metal thigh-highs! Metal everything! Do I go to a laundromat or a car wash?!
*ARGH!* Oh, you can't even see it! I get needles in my brain all the time and they don't give me a cool heads-up display,
mostly they just make me pee a little. [STROGG A.I.] Behavioral program downloaded to neurocyte.
[MORRIS] We're too late for this one! [VOSS] Wait! Take a reading on him! [ANDERSON] Lieutenant! According to the med-chip, this is Matthew Kane!
[VOSS] Is he Strogg? [ANDERSON] No. The neurocyte in his head hasn't been activated. The Strogg don't control him.
[CIVVIE] Wow, good job, Strogg, you do the brainwashing last? Bunch of fucking amateurs. [RHODES] How do we know the neurocyte isn't gonna suddenly switch on and he winds up fully Strogg?
[ANDERSON] He won't, I guarantee it! [CIVVIE] Just trust me bro, it's fine. [VOSS] HQ, this is Rhino Squad, we've got an injured marine who needs immediate evac.
[CIVVIE] Yes… [evilly] Take me to your leaders. [ANDERSON] You can't go running around unarmed. Grab Moore's weapons.
[CIVVIE] Okay. [ANDERSON] Yeah. The Strogg really did a number on you! [CIVVIE] Yeah, so… this is way better.
I can read the Strogg language now, overhear their broadcasts, and oh yeah I can now move fast enough so that someone might mistake this for a Quake game.
[PILOT] Anderson, this is Falcon Five. Sorry but we have to dust off now. We have incoming. HQ... HQ, this is Falcon Five.
[CIVVIE] You know you can shoot those missiles down, right? [ANDERSON] Holy shit… That was our ticket out of here. [CIVVIE] Yeah, you guys suck.
The next cutscene gives us our first look at Kane all Stroggified, how you doing, buddy? You okay bro? Broseph? Bromero? Brobocop?
Oh no, they killed Anderson because he was stupid! I liked him! I think.
*sad guitar music* [ANDERSON] My name's Anderson! Here, let me heal you!
I guarantee it! [TIM WILLITS] …you know, really makes you wanna keep that guy alive a little bit longer than you would if he was just a stranger.
[CIVVIE] Wow, Anderson could have probably taken that Strogg. Even if he was a puny human. These guys aren't very tough, even if they have some kind of poison attack.
This game feels so much more alive, faster, stronger, better, with an emphasis on- SHIT!
I got auto-switched to the rocket launcher. Not the worst weapon, though it feels a bit under-powered since the shotgun does comparable damage
and you spend so much time in tight corridors in this game that you'll nearly always be dealing with splash damage.
No reloading though, which is cool I guess. Later on when it's upgraded it can fire a bunch of missiles rapidly making it a lot more useful.
And now that I'm no longer human I can use these Strogg health stations that have been scattered throughout the game. They'll give you a quick 80 points.
Human armor still works too even though I'm not sure it's as effective as the Strogg's metal. If you're wondering what a fully-baked Strogg looks like, one kidnaps Lieutenant Voss.
Not only has the gameplay gotten better, I think the levels are also more interesting, at least to look at with these winding hallways and dark arenas.
The game throws the Teleport Droppers at you, dog-like enemies that have a really cool design who I hate because they might as well be the game's arch-viles.
They spawn enemies. We've only just gotten over the halfway point in this game and if this is the worst that it has to offer, I'm happy.
It takes a few hours for Quake 4 to become a Quake game, but thank Shub-Niggurath, we've arrived!
But then…
Human Obsolescence
The previous vehicle sections of this game were passable. This one's not, this one sucks. The mech has basically the same function as the hovertank,
except the missiles are much less powerful and require reloading, and it controls way more like a tank than the tank does.
It's hard to describe it to someone who isn't playing it because of how the mech handles, you can't just sidestep in the mech,
the movement feels extremely clunky and awkward, you can't even moonwalk! Playing on Hard, I didn't die once during this sequence, though I wish I did.
Because that irritating "missile lock" sound is back.
One burst from these enemies here will kill your shield, which is fine because it regenerates. Just when we got to the fun part of this game, it drops the worst vehicle section on you.
And, it makes you fight the in-retrospect-actually- quite-large-but-maybe-not-giant metal spiders again. This isn't hard because you can shoot down missiles and your shield regenerates.
It's so not hard that I'm at a choke point with this thing and it still can't really do much.
That's it though, mech part is over, though it's gonna lead me to a little more disappointment. Aside from these Tactical Strogg, who are basically what you are minus the functioning amygdala.
They're about twice as tough the regular grunts but just as dumb. They're an embarrassment to the perfect blend of meat and steel that I have become.
That's not the disappointment, although I am disappointed in them, they're like finding out your brother has a sex doll and that's what that smell has been this whole time,
no, my disappointment is primarily directed at the railgun. It's not nearly as punchy as its Quake 2 or Quake 3 versions.
It takes at least two shots to take down most weaker enemies and the magazine only holds 3, when you first get it, it doesn't even pierce through monsters,
you have to get an upgrade later for that. The gun is already recoiling as it's firing. Enemies barely notice being hit with a uranium slug traveling at the speed of go-fuck-yourself.
I bet it's killer in multiplayer but in the campaign, you might as well be shooting a rocket. Let me know in the comments how it's actually a good weapon
and that you used to merk kids on Xbox Live with it at 12 frames per second. [SASAKI] Hey! Help me! I'm down here!
Hey, you're Matthew Kane! [CIVVIE] What gave it away? [SASAKI] Right after we got word about you, the Strogg attacked my squad.
I was the only survivor. C'mon, let's get the hell outta here. [with a clearly different voice] Here, let me adjust your nailgun.
[CIVVIE] Oh yeah, this upgrade, with the homing nails. This one is great! I don't know where he was keeping this scope when they dragged him off to prison.
The nailgun might be the only thing that Quake 4 truly improved upon from previous games. Maybe the lightning gun too.
This is where Quake 4's gameplay is the best. Once you've got most of the weapons. I was swapping between them based on whatever I had ammo for and only really avoided the railgun.
I suppose they all do comparable damage though that kind of weapon balance seems more fitting for a multiplayer deathmatch game, right?
The game is still a lot of running across a level, hitting a button, then running back after it gets repopulated with enemies.
I'm not sure it can be considered "good" level design if it's a straight line you travel back and forth across.
Maybe good arena design. One example is when you press a button and the game throws what it calls the "Light Tank" at you.
They, of course, live up to their name. The flamethrower isn't as devastating as the melee attack, and the melee attack is more likely to happen when it takes half of your ammo pool to bring one down.
Oh, how could I forget that I was pressing buttons so that a marine could move some barrels. *marine screaming to death*
So that I could move some barrels around. These new metal legs don't seem to help with fall damage.
Come to me, human health pickup! I think fall damage code in the 2000's was written by people who never jumped off someone's roof before.
Bunch of sheltered boomers who couldn't handle a couple of shin splints or a compound fracture. Unless it's a load zone, then nothing happens.
We got a big almost-boss called the Stroyent Processing Creature. I'm not surprised that the Strogg aren't very creative with their naming.
In what I think best encapsulates how Quake 4 is fine but kind of underwhelming : you spend a minute dodging its attacks before pressing a button to kill it.
I know, that's basically what Cthon was but that had a little bit of style and skillful movement. This is over before I feel like it's even started.
Oh hey, it's a Waste Processing Facility. [LASZLO] We're in a sewer. Quite why we're in a sewer, I have no idea.
[CIVVIE] This level feels like a break and a diversion into something a little more horror-themed. We've got zombies. They're easy to take care of when they're not spitting corrosive shit at you.
I was using the blaster half the time because I wanted to stock up on ammo. Even when they gave the zombies shotguns.
[MARINE over the radio] These aren't zombies. They're partially Stroggified marines. Fun's over when the real soldiers show up and…
Oh, that's embarrassing.
Are we sure they didn't cut this from Doom 3? The AI's relative stupidity can be offset by giving them stronger weapons, like the hyperblaster.
[RUCK] Hey, it's that Kane guy! [WONG] Damn, are we lucky to see you. We're the last of Cobra Squad.
That door is the exit out but we can't get through the security scanner. [CIVVIE] Oh yeah, right, I'm Strogg now, so this does nothing to me.
[RUCK] How about it, Kane? You wanna trying walking through? [CIVVIE] Yeah, why not? It should read you as Strogg. [RUCK with a clearly different voice] Let me see that rocket launcher.
[CIVVIE] Okay, damn, they really should have coded the weapon upgrade system into this game because it's pretty obvious that this "random NPC upgrades your weapons" thing was a hail mary to get them into the game
without just dropping them into your inventory without warning. This one gives you guided missiles. I never used it.
Once you walk through the lasers, it's time for another boss! This one is familiar though…
[VOSS] Kane! You have to get out of here! I don't know how much longer I can last! [CIVVIE] Oh hey… uh…. boss!
Oh, it's Voss! I was close! [CIVVIE] We've entered the phase of the game where bosses have a shield you have to wear down before being able to damage them.
It's… a Quake boss, shoot at it until it dies. Shoot at the things it spawns until it dies.
You know, the tankiness of the enemies in this game can make the reloading a pain too, since it takes half a mag to bring anything down, and now I'm dealing with a boss and I have one health.
C'mon! C'mon! DIE, YOU FORMER HUMAN SCUM!
I need a vacation. No, we're still in it. [WELLS] They call this Stroggification? Looks more like mutilation to me.
Operation: Last Hope
[CIVVIE] Don't be jealous that I'm mechanical perfection, meat bag. [ALLYN] I'll bring a scanner over. Let's see what they've done to his brain.
[GIOVANNI] We negotiating some kind of peace treaty with the Strogg? [CIVVIE] Ouch. I think these filthy organics have a problem with my appearance.
[YOSHIDA] What's a piece of shit Strogg doing on board the Hannibal? [CIVVIE] I'm just here vibing, my dude, no hostility! [YOSHIDA] How many marines did they tear apart to build you?
[CIVVIE] Uhhh… one I guess? [YOSHIDA] Lose your body guard and you're dead meat! [CIVVIE] Uh huh. Good luck with that, I'm pretty awesome at killing things.
[LUCH] Think he's got a multiphase transmitter? [HOLDORF] Yeah! Get a load of the temporal implants. These must be wired directly into his cerebral cortex.
[LUCH] Wonder what his RAM is. [HOLDORF] Eh, probably using on-board memory. [LUCH] Use his cerebral cortex? [HOLDORF] Well, sure! It's there.
[CIVVIE] I'm gonna miss you most of all, Technobabble twins. I'm supposed to talk to Strauss to find out how he survived,
which I'm told is an interesting story, but the game's not letting me right now, and after the mission briefing he's not talking.
[HARPER] The Strogg communication network needs to be cut off at the source. And that source is housed in this building : the Core.
[CIVVIE] Look, man, as long as we're not doing that convoy shit again, I'll be fine. [HARPER] We'll need to access the security stations at the top of these nearby towers.
[CIVVIE] Easier said than done. Three towers, three identical rooftops. Although the last one has a boss fight with an enormous monster called the Network Guardian.
This thing is really menacing until you're facing it one-on-one. By that time you have a Dark Matter Gun, this game's BFG, with the BFG10k being noticeably absent.
Maybe only id-developed games get a BFG. Yeah, cut your jet-fire bullshit, you're done!
[HARPER] Data Storage, Networking, and Data Processing.
[CIVVIE] Data Storage is up first, and it's here that you get the Dark Matter Gun. It's… well when you combine it with id tech 4's weird, floaty rag-dolls, it's a lot of fun.
I feel like you get a ton of ammo for this. In general, during this section, the game gives you everything you could possibly need,
with the trade-off being that it throws whatever high-level enemies it can at you. Data Storage Security is probably my favorite area in this whole game.
*scare chord* Okay, maybe not that, but the rest of it has great atmosphere.
Also… Hey, baby! You're the first woman I've seen in this game and I hope this isn't too forward but…
I myself have become a Strogg recently and I was wondering if you could show me how all of this stuff works *banshee cry*
Dude, I was in! What the hell?! I like the redesigns, aside from the fact that they teleport now. I think, visually, giving them that long red… uh… skirt?
That really helps to differentiate them from the environment, and it looks really cool while they're floating around. One of those Teleport Droppers throws three Grunts at us,
one of which kills one of my squad-mates but they're not one of the important ones. You'll know when one of the important ones dies.
The other guy dies when the Iron Maiden screams at him… No, I'm not putting Bruce Dickinson's voice over it, I don't wanna get sued.
That's right, two maidens at the same time… *funky music*
You know, I do shit like this and wonder why the fanbase is so horny. We open the hangar doors which doesn't make much of a difference and I regroup with Rhodes.
Goddammit, Rhodes! I'm running this monkey farm now! Not a lot of resistance on this roof, so I activate the security station.
Next up, the Tram Hub, which is fine, I guess, but also filler. Same with the turret section on the tram
which is neither challenging nor engaging and probably should have been cut. Data Processing is where things really start heating up.
In this one room, we've got an Iron Maiden, a Teleport Dropper, and a Light Tank. But I have every single resource the game can give me, black hole guns, rocket launchers, it's a fun time!
I'm glad that the game didn't end badly, because no matter how boring it was when it started, this is a channel where I gotta go through the whole thing, and having the end be good really raises my spirits.
Dude, no! COME ON! [H4MM3R] I reserved dozens of these, Civvie. [CIVVIE] That's your money! You're wasting your own money!
[H4MM3R] This is taxpayer money. Hey, Civvie. [CIVVIE] What? [H4MM3R] I put a full GBA ROM set on this one.
[CIVVIE] Oh man, you got some Wario Land 4 on that? [H4MM3R] Yeah. [CIVVIE] You got Aria of Sorrow on there?
[H4MM3R] Uh huh. [CIVVIE] You got The Minish Cap on there? [H4MM3R] Yeah.
*Civvie sniffs then starts sobbing* [CIVVIE] …okay… …okay… Those medium-to-large mechanical spiders are back,
and they're not the issue as much as Sledge, and these teleporters are bringing the Tactical Strogg in. Don't lead Sledge over there, he will die while you're trying to take care of the big spiders.
Sledge is too important to die. High tier enemies on the roof of this tower, like the ones that they only made me fight before when I had a vehicle.
On the way back down, the elevator is attacked by the Network Guardian. All he does is make the elevator ride slightly faster so I can get to the tram,
this time without a boring turret section and reach the final tower where the game teleports the meanest sonsofbitches it can find to stop you.
I love the feeling that the Strogg really are getting desperate. I don't love the feeling of making it through most of this room with 2 health
only to die right before I can get the last guy.
Kill the Network Guardian, activate the security laser, and this section is done. Best section in the game. Classic Raven goodness.
The Makron watches you tear through some of his last remaining guards before you get to the Core. He doesn't see the very last ones go down, a couple light tanks, some heavy hover tanks,
a couple decently sized but I'm not prepared to call them giant mechanical spiders, and then some suckers who I'm not gonna waste my last remaining 17 health fighting
so they're gonna get sucked into a black hole.
The Makron, like in Quake 2, ain't shit. Shoot his repair bots, shoot him, and the real final boss will show up, a giant brain,
because the Strogg might as well be Red Falcon at this point. The heavy support enemies are the worst of it.\ But I can handle it.
GODDAMMIT! *monster scream*
[STRAUSS] An admirable job, corporal. [RHODES] Good job, buddy!
[MORRIS] Come on back in, Kane! Your work is done. [STRAUSS] Kane did an adequate job executing my plan.
[SLEDGE] Humble to the end, Strauss. Kane's actions have sent the Strogg forces into disarray. [RHODES] Lieutenant Voss would have been proud of you, buddy.
You survived the impossible. [CORTEZ] And speaking of that, there is the small matter of the wager I have won.
[HARPER] Yes? Yes, sir. What is it? But sir, Kane just got back!
[CIVVIE] Guys, come on, if you're gonna sequel bait, in this case maybe for Enemy Territory, like how much of Quake is gonna be bogged down with the fucking Strogg?
WHO CARES ABOUT THE STROGG, TIM?! *end credits* *Police Squad theme remix*
== Trivia ==
== Behind the Scenes ==
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 5
Category:Raven Software
Category:Quake