Updated:

22 Aug 2024

Chances are, if you’ve played a first person shooter on the PC, you’ve heard at least one person mention Quake. Ever the domain of the FPS purist, Quake is the high-speed standard that old-school gamers have held every subsequent FPS release to. I never played the Quake series when it was new; my PC was never beefy enough to handle any of its iterations until after 2010, and by then, the FPS genre had accumulated so many changes that I assumed Quake would feel too antiquated, its players too experienced; I figured that were I to step into the still-functional Quake Live or Quake 3 Arena servers, my giblets would be so evenly strewn across the maps’ walls that I wouldn’t even have a chance to learn the game. I was very excited to hear, then, that Quake would be getting a modern facelift with Quake Champions, as it could serve as a fresh new entry point for players like myself. This review comes from someone who is familiar with the Quake gameplay style, but had never completely jumped into it until now, which hopefully gives me a fair perspective on such a venerable series.

This is Sorlag. Like most reptiles, she is a scaled ectotherm, but unlike most reptiles, she vomits acid.

About Quake Champions

Quake Champions is a character-based multiplayer shooter from id Software, the company often credited with inventing (or at least establishing) the genre with games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and the original Quake. Players will be bunny-hopping at high speed across knotted maps full of jump pads and teleporters, simultaneously trying to grab the best weapons while being aggressive enough to grab a few kills along the way. The new addition to this formula in Quake Champions is the abilities unique to the game’s 15 characters, which are cooldown-based single use abilities, most of which offer a mix of utility and damage, such as a shield that can be changed into a powerful laser weapon, or a temporary increase in speed that restricts you to melee. These abilities have been met with some controversy within the community, with some feeling that Quake’s formula had been perfected over many years of refinement, and others feeling that the abilities add a fresh new layer of gameplay to the Quake setup. Player numbers suffered during the game’s beta, and unfortunately, even after a spike in the summer of 2018, they are not as high as they should be; a game with such a high skill ceiling needs a healthy community to keep new players engaged, or they will find themselves being vaporized before they have a chance to interact.

Quake Champions Story

Quake has never been a series particularly concerned with story, but as a multiplyer-only release, Quake Champions is especially light. The game’s only real connection to previous titles can be found as lore and backstory to each character, though most of the playable characters are simply enemies from previous games made into distinct personalities. The gist of it all is that these are all individuals from various points in space and time who have found themselves stuck in a kind of Lovecraftian dimension, with nothing better to do than murder each other. While you’re not going to find the kind of dedication to character identities as you would find in something like Overwatch or Team Fortress 2 here, there’s an admirable kind of silliness to it all; the lizard’s lines are all about eating her opponents, the ever-displaced Ranger bemoans his inability to find his way home, and the cyberpunk skateboarder sighs with ecstasy as he gets his fiftieth jolt of space-meth in the middle of combat.

Quake Champions Gameplay

Quake Champions is what is often called an “arena FPS,” an older style of shooter that tosses around eight characters into a looping map full of weapons and various powerups, with the only real objective being to kill the enemy players more effectively and efficiently than they can kill you. The strategy that comes out of this approach is all about controlling the map by being the first to get the weapons and items that appear in predetermined spots, and while this may seem daunting, in a game as fast-paced as quake, learning is smooth and simple; you can respawn almost immediately after being blown apart by the lizard hopping past you at 80 miles per hour. There’s a frantic, weighty satisfaction that accompanies a kill, largely due to the game’s fun and intuitive weaponry, with each gun serving a distinct gameplay purpose; the rocket launcher is powerful but requires careful prediction with each shot, the lightning gun is a beam that needs to be unerringly held on a single flailing target, and the rest of the weapons are similarly distinct. The gameplay on display here is rock-solid, with every successful shot feeling important, and the pace of the match never slowing.

The big guy on the right died first; he should never have been standing still like that.

Quake Champions Multiplayer

The multiplayer is functional, but it has a few problems. As mentioned previously, the smaller player count makes it so that matches can have wildly uneven skill averages, though this diminished for me after a few hours of play, as I came to grips with how the game worked. The game modes are straightforward, with expected modes like team deathmatch and free-for-all, less serious modes like instagib that rotate weekly, and ranked one-on-one and two-on-two matches. Unfortunately, while the queue times for the unranked modes are inoffensive, the time it takes to set up any of the ranked modes was a huge turn-off. It’s likely that a larger player base would help this issue, but that isn’t something that can be patched.

Quake Champions Mission System

Being an online shooter, Quake Champions has no real quest system to pursue during a match. However, the main method of earning the game’s currency for unlocking characters is by completing small daily challenges, most of which are simple goals such as winning a match or getting two railgun shots in a row. Over time, you can unlock “rune challenges,” which are tracked, long-term challenges that ultimately result in special cosmetic unlocks. These are never emphasized, however, existing simply as a small way to show progress as you practice the game.

Quake Champions Graphics

The graphics in Quake Champions, while not the finest among the FPS genre, are still as solid as the gameplay itself. Most visual elements on display serve some function within the game, while also keeping an aesthetic that manages to push forth a gritty, blood-soaked style while also feeling bright and colorful. Since the player is usually moving too fast to pay attention to many details, the game consistently looks and sounds appealing, with railgun shots that hit surfaces with a satisfying thunk and an aggressive metal soundtrack. It’s very impressive how good the game looks in motion, which is helped by its (usually) smooth framerate, though I have experienced minor hiccups and sudden framerate drops at times.

Instagib is a mode where a single railgun shot is enough to kill someone: hyperviolent online flashlight tag.

Quake Champions Developer

Being a product of the often-praised id Software, the game is largely bug-free, though the razor-edge margins that a fight can be decided by make what bugs do exist noticeable, such as hit registry problems. Since the beta, there have been a number of updates and balance changes, with new characters continuing to be released, such as the recent introduction of a very entertaining character armed with a grappling hook. These updates are semi-frequent, with patches being released at least once a month.

Quake Champions Price

Quake Champions uses a free-to-play model, with free players initially having access to only the Ranger character, as well as a temporary rotating free character. Unfortunately, the cost to unlock more characters is a little steep with the game’s built-in currency, with those characters being otherwise purchasable either individually or as part of the $40 Champions Pack. Thankfully, character unlocks and cosmetics are the only things that can be bought, and there are no pay-to-win elements. Even with only a single character, the gameplay is varied and deep enough that a new player should not feel pressured to buy more.

FINAL VERDICT

Quake Champions is a very competent attempt to revive a type of shooter that deserves its place in modernity. Its gameplay is fast and impactful, giving you a feeling of ownership over every kill, and once you come to grips with it, the gameplay leaves you always eager to try just one more match. If you’ve been looking for a shooter never slows down, this might be just the game you’re looking for.

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