Quake - On this Day

The Wolfenstein and Doom series was key to the emergence and popularization of first-person shooters. However, there is a third series of the id Software team, equally important for the evolution of FPS. This is Quake - a shooter who first appeared on this day 26 years ago.

The quake was a kind of successor to the Doom, made in full 3D. Objects, weapons, opponents - all this was presented through polygonal models. But the most important shift in gameplay was the introduction of vertical targeting. While in Doom and similar shooters one could only target left and right, Quake introduced up and down targeting.

The play was thematically based on Gothic fiction and dark fantasy, which distinguished it from later sequels. The single-player campaign was divided into four chapters out of a total of 30 levels and each chapter was separate, ie. the player was moving from scratch in it, with no previously collected weapons. Gameplay involved shooting opponents and looking for exits in a series of hallways and rooms. Quake's protagonist was voiced by Trent Reznor, the leader of the band Nine Inch Nails, who also composed the music for the game.

In addition to the story campaign, Quake also offered a fast multiplayer deathmatch format. This part of the game was also the most popular, and through it, players developed several techniques and tactics that are still used today, such as bunny hopping and rocket jumping. Quake can also be considered the founder of modern eSports since the main prize in the first tournament of the game was a Ferrari 328 GTS. It was won by Dennis Fong, who was the first to use the WASD key combination to move in the tournament, which later became a "trademark" of PC gaming and the standard control scheme for many games to this day.

Quake first came out for the PC, then in 1997 and 1998, it ended up on Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 consoles. The game was popular, but after that studio id Software was never the same again. The project itself ended up being significantly different than the developers initially envisioned. It was supposed to be a slower game with RPG elements, and the project itself went through several changes because it didn’t have a clearly defined leader. The problematic development process resulted in several id Software employees leaving the studio after Quake’s launch and going their own way.

Quake went on to live - the original game got a few expansions, and not even a year later the even more popular Quake 2 appeared, and finally the Quake Champions. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the series, the original Quake received its remaster for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms, with improved graphics and additional content.