I’m way behind on getting caught up with my games. To complicate things, I picked up Quake 4, since the price had dropped to below $30. Sadly my days of preordering are pretty much over, because I didn’t feel justified coughing up full price for a game that has turned out to be pretty much average.

I’m a ways into the game already (since spring semester is pretty much over for me, I have the time to play), and it is pretty good. Visually, it is more impressive than 2004’s Doom 3, and the emphasis is properly placed on the action, just like any worthy Quake successor should do.

The multiplayer is indeed just like Quake 3, but I am happy to report that I narrowly won my first round played online by about two frags. The multiplayer delivers and performs quite well in comparison to Doom‘s 4 player limit.

I’m pretty psyched for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and will be checking out the E3 previews as they happen in May. It looks like it will be an outstanding game.

Updated Analysis: I was pleasantly surprised by Quake 4. A little sloppy at times, but for the most part it is a safe, solid title. It is unfortunate that despite their best efforts, Raven still can’t be considered an AAA developer. I can’t help the feeling that their total lack of innovative multiplayer contributes to this.