I hated Quake. I still feel to this day that it sucks. Yes I own
Quake, yes I drag it out to play a new level every so often but Quake
was a huge disappointment. As a result, I was a huge Duke Nukem 3Dfan.
As I downloaded Quake 2 "test" I really figured it was going to be yet
another lame QuakeTC. I was totally wrong. Quake2 exceeded my
expectations by a moon shot. 
Gameplay: While Quake2 isn't revolutionary like Goldeneye, its a jump
for PC first person shooters. The weapons are the same but improved.
They feel and act more like real weapons. The gernade is the best
example of this. The levels look like people did use these areas for
something other than shooting. Yes the occasional chair or table would
be nice but the rooms no longer look like Escher paintings. The levels
in this 'test" are better than those Jedi Knight. (I will say the
large scale of some of the Jedi Knight do rank higher on the coolness
scale) While the interactivity isn't on par with Duke Nukem 3D, the
true 3D of the Quake engine and the improved interactivity results in
a more enjoyable gaming experence than DN3D. The AI, while not on par
with humans, is a bit more able to dole out the damage and avoid
getting hit before dying than the characters in Duke and Quake. As for
adding any other elements, id really can't do it or they risk removing
their games from the action arcade realm. 
Theme: I'm not sure why I like it. Scratch that, love it. Its
basically Doom meets Wolfenstien in Quake. Nothing original, but
accomplished very well. I loved the creatures. Almost a retro look.Most cool.
Sound: The background sound effects are far better than any game other
game I've played. (And in my tweny some years of computer gaming,
I've played a lot) The main sound effect are weak but that was told inadvance.
Graphics: Wow! And I do mean wow!!! This game was the straw that broke
the camel's back. I gave up on my old Verite card and bought a 3DFX
card. The color lights in the 3DFX opengl version are amazing. As my
photography teacher said...we never see things, we only see the light
the things reflect. Lighting is all important. The way weapons light
up things around them is a sight that must be seen to believe.
Control: Ok, a small personal nit. It might be available in the full
version so who knows. There is no joystick control. While this isn't a
big deal for most people, its a HUGE deal for me. See, I'm mostly
paralized on the right side. I can't move my right hand at all, but
placing it on the top of a joystick, I can control it by moving my
right sholder and and elbow to move the stick. I've gotten quite good
at it. So I can move the mouse with my left hand. (my left side is
fine) Without a joystick, I'm force to crawl along using the mouse
only OR use the keyboard only with a huge hit to percision. I've
emailed Id three times but it keeps bouncing. Their mail box must be
full. ;( In any case, if I must use the keyboard, so be it.
I can't believe my mind was so changed. I had basically written off
Quake2. This is on my must buy list.

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