Vehicular Manslaughter
Next up we skipped ahead to check out a mission where we were at the wheel of a hovertank. Marine hovertanks have both a main gun and a machinegun as an alternate-fire. Plus: unlimited ammo, which we took advantage of as we mowed through a series of channels filled with Strogg. Hovertanks are fairly fast and can strafe, so they're pretty versatile. The Strogg had some unique vehicle defenses up their sleeves, however: aircraft would swoop in and drop bombs that would embed themselves into the ground, spring open, pop out a turret and open fire.
As an aside, the fire and smoke effects erupting all over the map at this point were phenomenal. Bright orange blossoms of flame would erupt, then bloom into swirling grey clouds of smoke that we'd drive through in our tank. Quake 4 is very much an action movie with a mouse.
Next up, we took a walker for a spin. No, not the kind of walkers old people use: Marine Walkers are huge armored platforms capable of dealing out rocket barrages. Unlike tanks, walkers were slow and plodding. But the ability to fire six rockets almost simultaneously before reloading allows you to really pour on the hurt. Like the tank, the walker had a secondary machine gun. Walkers are tough but not indestructible, although if you can avoid combat for long enough your armor and shields will recharge.
During the final part of our demo, a whole slew of Marine vehicles rushed toward a Strogg stronghold. Then from a chasm in the ground emerged a massive spider-bot, with great pointed steel legs and swirling snake-like appendages whirling Matrix-like from its head. In one quick motion it stabbed a marine hovertank with a great arm and then hurled it against a nearby wall like it was a child's toy. The message was clear: the Strogg are not giving up their planet without a fight.
Although vehicles will be a big part of several single-player missions, they won't make an appearance in the multiplayer part of the game. Multiplayer, which features all-new maps (including remakes of a few classics) is all about fast footwork and skill with the weapons. (See our separate preview for more). Like Quake 3, the deathmatch in Quake 4 moves fast, with jump-pads and overlapping spaces perfect for killfests. Deathmatch, team deathmatch, and human vs. Strogg capture-the-flag are in the works. There's also a special 1-vs-1 tournament mode that'll allow the server to run a single-elimination tournament on the fly.
Quake 4 is in beta but already quite playable, as evidenced by the reactions from the crowd on the floor. Raven is working hard to polish up the final details (most of Raven's staff decided not to attend QuakeCon in order to concentrate on the game), so while "When it's done" is still the official release date, it's definitely drawing near. Stay tuned for more details!
