Quake II Remastered releases for PC

[neogunhero]

Quake 2 remaster released, includes Quake 2 64 and new expansion

Quake 2 remaster release announcement

www.rockpapershotgun.com

(Rock Paper Shotgun)

Quake II Remastered shadow-dropped today right after being officially announced at QuakeCon 2023. It features improved AI, upgraded graphics, smoother multiplayer experience, a brand new expansion developed by MachineGames (Wolfenstein reboot developers), along with a whole slew of bug fixes. Some other nice features they’ve added is cross-play multiplayer with Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC (controller only), new accessibility options, 8-player split screen, AI enemies to populate multiplayer modes. Owners of the original Quake II via Steam, GOG or Windows Store will get the Remastered version for free via an update.

Are you excited to play this? I don’t play too many older PC shooters but Quake II has always been one of my favorites from that era of PC games. I have finished the main campaign around a decade ago and I am excited to try it again with all the upgrades textures, lighting, shadows, and gameplay enhancements. I could not find out specifically on the official Steam post if there is a server browser for online multiplayer, but I hope there is. I’d enjoy getting into a few public servers and playing against randoms. Cross-play seems awesome if you have friends who are console players, as the Remastered version released on every current system (XB1, PS4 and Switch releases surprised me), and I like how you have to use a controller for cross-play if you’re on PC to keep it fair. That is surely to be sacrilegious to many old-school PC gamers haha. What are your thoughts?

 

[neogunhero]

Link to the PCG article about the remaster:

The 26-year-old Quake 2 just got the remaster of my dreams, plus a big expansion

This is a serious remaster, with crossplay, co-op, new graphics options, the source code for modders, and more.

www.pcgamer.com

And trailer:

View: https://youtu.be/cyxBE163n20

 

[D10S]

To anyone playing this, dont forget to post screenies.

 

[Sarafan]

Good remasters are... a good thing indeed! Quake 2 remaster is good, but there's one problem - a better one called Quake 2 RTX was released in 2019. The new remaster can't match its graphics quality. Of course Quake 2 RTX didn't have support for expansion packs and didn't include Quake 2 64, but it's also available for free. Good thing that the new remaster is also free for those who own Q2 on Steam or GOG.

 

[neogunhero]

Wow. I got a few hours in last night and it is an awesome experience. It’s a lot different than Quake II RTX - as great as that is, it’s not as fleshed out as this new Remaster version. Sure the graphics aren’t as good as the RTX version, and I think it’s a bit strange they didn’t add the RTX options to this version… why not just combine them? This remaster focuses on improving the gameplay in all aspects. I don’t have that great memory of my time with Quake II vanilla so I can’t compare it too well, I’m sure someone will make a comparison video eventually.

I played about 30 minutes of the original campaign. The graphics look improved and clearer, but it is not fully overhauled. Shadows are soft, lighting effects look great, all the small enhancements they added makes the game look more crispy. The enemies had new moves like diving on the ground, and the AI has been improved to flank you and maneuver the levels better. What I really wanted to try was the multiplayer.

I was surprised to see there is a server browser of sorts but I believe it is host dependent, meaning if the host of the server decides to stop playing the server everyone was on closes. Not sure exactly if it’s P2P or not. I decided to host a cooperative mode server, set max players to 16, enabled player collision and turned grapple hooks to always on, and enabled cross play. I chose the newest expansion, Call of the Machine, and was happy to see a few people join rather quickly. It must have only been PC players on Steam and Game Pass PC, I saw a few Xbox logos but it did not make me use a controller. I pressed play with 4 other people in the lobby with me and we all got into the game lightning fast.

The new expansion is so sick. You start in a spaceship that acts as a hubworld which branches left and right with 3 levels on each side (as far as I know). You can choose any level in any order, each level starts you with just a blaster and a grappling hook and you find more weapons along the way. The level design here is AMAZING! Constantly I was in awe at how great the levels looked. I’ve finished 2 and got halfway through a third and each level is nicely varied with unique settings and level designs. My favorite so far was this old brick sewer system level full of dark pipes and swimming sections. The grappling hook is great fun when you have it set to always on, everyone was so amazed when I told them in chat that there were grapple hooks.

Overall my experience with it was great and I can’t wait to play more. The new expansion gave me strong Sven Co-op vibes where we were just going through lots of unique levels. I hope that this new online system can support custom maps with co-op. I highly recommend any fans of Quake II or retro shooters in general to give it a shot.

 

[Alm]

Owners of the original Quake II via Steam, GOG or Windows Store will get the Remastered version for free via an update.

Just saw this and I have it on Steam. Downloaded it, and will have a play this weekend.

 

[neogunhero]

Just saw this and I have it on Steam. Downloaded it, and will have a play this weekend.

I highly recommend giving co-op a go if that’s your thing. It’s frantic, crazy fun even with random people. I host my own lobby so I can fine tune the setting how I want to and just leave it public so people can join.

 

[basharatkakar]

How I do please tell me

 

[neogunhero]

How I do please tell me

Welcome to the forum!

If you own Quake 2 on Steam, GOG or Windows Store you will get the Remastered version for free. If not, you can play it via Game Pass, or buy Quake 2 on any platform and you will get the remastered version for free.

 

[ePlayer_90]

Here is a pretty good review of the remaster

View: https://youtu.be/-dFrBjgsrq0

 

[Johnway]

a pleasant surprise. i got a free copy of Quake 2 when it was free on bethesda and i migrated everything. Not sure if Quake 2 will be any better remastered, but i am interested in the other stuff like quake 64 and the additional content.

 

[neogunhero]

a pleasant surprise. i got a free copy of Quake 2 when it was free on bethesda and i migrated everything. Not sure if Quake 2 will be any better remastered, but i am interested in the other stuff like quake 64 and the additional content.

After playing it a ton over the weekend I can definitely say it is the most accessible version of Quake 2 and opens it up to lots more players who are interest in playing the game. The graphic and gameplay updates make it feel a lot better to play these days. I played a bit of the Quake N64 levels and they are awesome, the lighting and shadows look fantastic on those levels. I love how it’s more “alien” looking also with lots of blues and purple water everywhere. The levels however so feel a bit shorter and easier than original Quake 2 campaign but they are still fun.

 

[Johnway]

After playing it a ton over the weekend I can definitely say it is the most accessible version of Quake 2 and opens it up to lots more players who are interest in playing the game. The graphic and gameplay updates make it feel a lot better to play these days. I played a bit of the Quake N64 levels and they are awesome, the lighting and shadows look fantastic on those levels. I love how it’s more “alien” looking also with lots of blues and purple water everywhere. The levels however so feel a bit shorter and easier than original Quake 2 campaign but they are still fun.

I've heard good things all around so i might go back and play quake 2 again just to familiarize myself with the content and enjoy the content again. That said i did play quake 2 last year and it left a slightly sour taste in my mouth the last time i played it. Not sure why, but hey, new content so reasons to go back.

 

[neogunhero]

I've heard good things all around so i might go back and play quake 2 again just to familiarize myself with the content and enjoy the content again. That said i did play quake 2 last year and it left a slightly sour taste in my mouth the last time i played it. Not sure why, but hey, new content so reasons to go back.

It’s still the same game just with some new content, smoother gameplay and slight graphical upgrades. So far I’ve mainly played co-op with randoms online and its a ton of fun. Reminds me a lot of doing campaigns in Sven Co-op.

 

[DXCHASE]

So apparently i own all quake games except quake 2 which i had no idea why, then i realized i had quake 2 on gog, either way i have gamepass and its on there too so i have been playing it.

I think they did an excellent job. I mean i watched that review and i agree they couldve done more, but its a free upgrade so ill take whatever.

Now lets get an Unreal remake (ik there was some mention of it in a recent PCG article i think)

 

[neogunhero]

Played a lot of deathmatch over the weekend. Playing with instagib turned on is surprisingly refreshing when you’ve been playing modern multiplayer FPS games. Truly a test of skill and reflexes in the best way possible. One funny thing you can do as host of a match is force everyone to play what you want. I get the very occasional player join my co-op games but they usually don’t stay too long. When hosting DM you can usually fill up decently quickly. At one point while playing DM I had a total of 11 players in the server. I noticed this and took my opportunity. I closed the match, returned everyone to lobby, and quickly booted everyone into Quake64 co-op. Some people were rightfully ticked off, but it was too funny to me that I didn’t care. Ended up playing co-op for a good 30 minutes with 5 other players, the most I ever had in a single co-op server.

This is also a reason why the remaster needs community servers. That and updated modding tools to allow modded servers. Those are the only features that I wish were in the remaster update.

 

[r00ir]

The game is a bomb, I advise everyone to play

 

[odinvoshod]

Мне бы хотелось, чтобы он у меня был, хотя я помню, что Quake был одним из первых шутеров, в которые я играл. Посмотрел обзор и понял, что мне нужно в нее поиграть!

[Mod edit: translated]

I wish I had one, although I remember that Quake was one of the first shooters I played. I looked at the review and realized that I needed to play it!

 

[neogunhero]

Мне бы хотелось, чтобы он у меня был, хотя я помню, что Quake был одним из первых шутеров, в которые я играл. Посмотрел обзор и понял, что мне нужно в нее поиграть!

I ran your response through a translator. You definitely need to buy it and relive your childhood memories! The new update is amazing!