Quake (series)

This article is about the video game series. For series of earthquakes, see earthquake swarm.

Quake is a series of first-person shooter video games, developed by id Software and, as of 2010, published by Bethesda Softworks. The series is composed of the eponymous game from 1996 and its nonlinear, standalone sequels which vary in setting and plot.

Quake
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Developer(s)	id Software Raven Software Hyperion Entertainment Bullfrog Productions Lobotomy Software Raster Productions Hammerhead
Publisher(s)	GT Interactive (1996–1997) Activision (1997–2009) Electronic Arts (2001) (Quake III Revolution) Electronic Arts Square (2001) (Quake III Revolution Japanese version) Bethesda Softworks (2010–present) Nvidia (2019) (Quake II RTX) Other Softbank Macmillan Digital Publishing USA ClickBOOM Sega Midway Games Roadshow New Media MacSoft Loki Software Tsukuda Original MediaQuest
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Dreamcast, Nintendo Switch
First release	Quake June 22, 1996
Latest release	Quake Champions August 22, 2017

Quake was created as a successor franchise to id's highly successful Doom series, which had begun in 1993. As a new series, it built upon the fast-paced gameplay, game engine, and 3D graphics capabilities of Doom.^[1] It also expanded upon the multiplayer capabilities of Doom by introducing online multiplayer over the internet. This contributed to the popularity of the Quake series and characterized it as a figurehead in online gaming.^[2]

Games

Release timeline

1996	Quake
1997	Quake Mission Pack No. 1: Scourge of Armagon
	Quake Mission Pack No. 2: Dissolution of Eternity
	Quake II
1998	Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
	Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
1999	Quake III Arena
2000	Quake III: Team Arena
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005	Quake 4
2006
2007	Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
2008
2009
2010	Quake Live
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016	Quake: Dimension of the Past
2017	Quake Champions
2018
2019
2020
2021	Quake: Dimension of the Machine

Every game in the Quake franchise shares a basis in first-person shooter gameplay. However, the series lacks a singular narrative across all of its entries. Two major storylines exist within the franchise, as well as the Arena series, which focuses primarily on multiplayer gameplay.

Original storyline

The game's original plot focused on the player character, later known as "Ranger" in Quake III Arena, who travels across alternate dimensions to stop an enemy code-named "Quake". The game takes place in a Lovecraftian setting with a mixture of dark fantasy, pseudo-medieval, and science fiction.^[3][4]

• Quake (1996)
  • Quake Mission Pack No. 1: Scourge of Armagon (1997)
  • Quake Mission Pack No. 2: Dissolution of Eternity (1997)
  • Quake: Dimension of the Past (2016; chronologically set between Quake and its two expansions)
  • Quake: Dimension of the Machine (2021)

Quake II storyline

Shifting the series to the science fiction genre, Quake II and its sequels chronicle the war between humanity and the cybernetic alien race known as the Strogg.^[5]

• Quake II (1997)
  • Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning (1998)
  • Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero (1998)
• Quake 4 (2005)
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007; a spin-off of the series and a successor to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, with a storyline set before the events of Quake II)

Arena series

Quake III Arena and its successors focus on competitive multiplayer rather than a single-player experience. These games de-emphasized the setting of the first two installments while still retaining continuity with them and crossing over with id's Doom franchise. Quake Champions, in particular, is heavily influenced by the mythology of the original game.^[6]

• Quake III Arena (1999)
  • Quake III: Team Arena (2000)
  • Quake Live (2010; an updated version of Quake III Arena originally designed as a free-to-play game launched via a web plug-in)
• Quake Champions (2017)

Reception

Aggregate review scores

Game	GameRankings	Metacritic
Quake	(SAT) 64%^[9]	(PC) 94^[7] (N64) 74^[8]
Quake Mission Pack No. 1: Scourge of Armagon	(PC) 82%^[10]
Quake Mission Pack No. 2: Dissolution of Eternity	(PC) 83%^[11]
Quake II	(PC) 87%^[12] (N64) 81%^[13] (PS) 79%^[14]
Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning	(PC) 69%^[15]
Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero	(PC) 65%^[16]
Quake III Arena	(PC) 83%^[20]	(PC) 93^[17] (PS2) 84^[18] (X360) 69^[19]
Quake III: Team Arena		(PC) 69^[21]
Quake 4		(PC) 81^[22] (X360) 75^[23]
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars		(PC) 84^[24] (X360) 69^[25] (PS3) 60^[26]

Since its first release, the series has received mostly positive reviews.

Quake,^[27][28][29] Quake II,^[30][31][32] and Quake III Arena^[33][34] have all been considered by various video game journalists and magazines to be among the greatest video games of all time.

Controversy

Like Doom, the Quake series initially received controversy due to containing high amounts of graphic violence. Public and media outcry over Quake and other violent video games peaked after the Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, and it became known that perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were avid players of both Doom and Quake. This finding prompted claims from media outlets that violent video games caused negative psychological effects on children that made them more aggressive and accepting of violence.^[35][36]

id Software co-founder John Romero later stated in a 2013 interview that the company and its developers had never intended to "offend people or shock people" with their games.^[37]

See also

• Quake engine - the game engine developed for the original Quake that would become the basis for engines in later entries in the series
• QuakeWorld - an update to id Software's seminal multiplayer deathmatch game, Quake, that enhances the game's multiplayer features
• Doom - id's predecessor franchise to Quake, which began in 1993
• Unreal - a rival franchise developed by Epic Games that began in 1998

References

1. Reece, Doug (May 25, 1996). "'Quake' creating tremors among game players". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 21. p. 76.
2. Ratliff, John (1999). "Earth Quake". Texas Monthly. 27 (8): 82.
3. Quake (game manual). ID Software. 1996.
4. Connors, William W.; Rivera, Mike; Orzel, Sylvia. Quake 3 Arena Manual.
5. Lien, Tracey (December 7, 2012). "Quake 2 turns 15-years-old today". Polygon. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
6. "Bethesda Games Catalog | Quake Champions Platinum". bethesda.net.
7. "Quake Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
8. "Quake Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
9. "Quake Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
10. "Quake Mission Pack No. 1: Scourge of Armagon Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
11. "Quake Mission Pack No. 2: Dissolution of Eternity Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
12. "Quake II Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
13. "Quake II Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
14. "Quake II Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
15. "Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
16. "Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
17. "Quake III Arena Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
18. "Quake III Revolution Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
19. "Quake Arena Arcade Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
20. "Quake III Arena Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
21. "Quake III: Team Arena Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
22. "Quake 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
23. "Quake 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
24. "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
25. "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
26. "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
27. . GameSpot. 2007. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
28. . Empire. 2009. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
29. Griffin, Joe (November 29, 2013). "The 50 best videogames of all time". The Irish Times. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
30. . IGN. December 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
31. . IGN. 2007. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
32. . uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com. Yahoo!. 2005. Archived from the original on August 1, 2005. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
33. . GamesRadar. April 1, 2011. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
34. . G4. October 6, 2012. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
35. Brunner, Rob; Essex, Andrew; Gordinier, Jeff; Jacobs, A.j.; Karger, Dave; Robischon, Noah; Snierson, Dan; Svetkey, Benjamin (June 11, 1999). "The Hollywood Ten". Entertainment Weekly. No. 489. p. 36.
36. Brown, Janelle (April 23, 1999). "Doom, Quake and mass murder". Salon. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
37. "After 20 years, Doom co-creator John Romero looks back on the impact of a seminal (and Satanic) game (interview)". VentureBeat. December 11, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2022.