Upon the first day of Quake-Con Bethesda gifted us with a very surprising, yet amazing shadow drop of a new/old game. For its twenty-fifth anniversary, the original Quake remastered. I was expecting more of a remake than a remaster of a title released in 1996. I mean, how much can you upgrade a game so old? A decent amount in fact. This little release has big things to offer.
Playing QUAKE Remaster on PS4, I was surprising that there are still Bethesda titles being released outside the Microsoft ecosystem. I’m happy they’ve chosen to stay open as far as not making everything exclusive, but will that change over time? Probably. Anyways, Bethesda and Id Software did a superb job modernizing this classic title. We got 4K resolution, widescreen support, enhanced character and level models, dynamic and colored lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field. Not only that but it also includes the original soundtrack and theme by the legendary (and now Academy Award winning) Trent Reznor.
While having not played Quake in a very long time, it was pretty surreal and nostalgic to see how fun this game holds up. I was easily reminded that this game here pretty much was the starting point for many action shoot-’em multiplayers. There are still so many aspects we use today in modern games that can be found here. This whole endeavor these developers took on felt like they were trying really hard to preserve not just the start of their legacy, but an important piece of video game history.
While everything feels up to date, it’s still made clear that it’s an old game. The graphics weren’t completely overhauled or anything, but with video games such as Minecraft, which has very similar graphics to this game, sometimes old feels new. There is even mod support that I’m sure will be ever growing over the years to come. I played around with “N64 mode,” which made the graphics look a bit worse, not something I care too much about, but it’s very cool that it’s even there. I’m sure there are many gamers who had their first experience playing Quake on the Nintendo 64, so this could be a nice touch down memory lane.
Yet another awesome addition to this package is that all expansion passes are included. All levels are available to select from the very start. So, if you’re struggling somewhere, you can always skip it and go back to it later. But that’s not all! There is even a brand-new expansion just for this release! I’m sure the team had a blast making new levels for this classic. Speaking of levels, for how old this game is, the level design is still quite ingenious, I couldn’t help but notice how clever and smart they were.
Quake wouldn’t be Quake without multiplayer. This is probably the aspect that holds up the most since we still play very similar games to it nowadays. The matchmaking is incredibly fast and everything just ran super smooth. I can’t recall going into a matchmaking screen and have it put me in new matches so quickly before playing this remaster. There was also little to no frame-drops either. I imagine I was still playing at 60 frames per second.
I may be a little bummed we aren’t getting a full on Quake remake, but perhaps, in time, that will change. For now, with a $10 price tag, QUAKE Remaster is hard to pass up. Now with trophy support and even a free upgrade to an upcoming PS5 version (which could play up to 100 frames per second) this is a must! 9/10
You can check out the Quake Remaster trailer here – https://youtu.be/vi-bdUd9J3E
For more information, visit bethesda.net.
PlayStation Review
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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