Quake II: Enhanced Edition

The best way to experience Quake II. All expansions + new improvements, fantastic gameplay, music and atmosphere. When John Carmack saw this, the clouds stopped raining acid on Belarus for a second.

Bit ashamed to say that I never played the OG Quake 2 back in the day (was too obsessed with Half-Life and Dark Forces 2, probably), but man does this game still feel good today. Waves and waves of enemies, ultra fast movement, no reloading. Its an old-school id Software game - you know the drill. Weapon variety is superb (perhaps the best minigun in an FPS ever?), the Strogg are a grisly blend of flesh and machine, and any frustration from getting lost due to the recursive level design is greatly reduced thanks to the compass, one of the remaster's additions. Its a great QoL touch that ensures you never lose momentum and keep moving. Quake 2 has a banging soundtrack too, though it gets repetitive by the end - I'm guessing this was a memory limitation at the time. Besides that, there's not many flaws. You will feel like a total badass one-man army as you crush the Strogg on their blood-orange skybox planet. Based on videos I've seen of id Software's original, Nightdive have done a very faithful remaster here, adding touches that refresh the game for a modern age while still being true to the source material. This version of Quake 2 also contains all previously released expansions, a new expansion by MachineGames, as well as the N64 version of the game. All for 10 bucks? Count me in!

Quake II --------------------- this game is just pure, unadulterated aggression. The Super Shotgun has this beefy, mechanical "thwack" that makes turning cyborgs into red mist feel incredibly visceral and punchy. I spent all night getting lost in the grime of Stroggos, and man, that soundtrack absolutely rips through your speakers. Its easily one of the most badass shooters to ever come out of the 90s, and it still kicks a ton of teeth in today. Enjoy the game.