2007 review by me of QUAKEmod mod on GameSpy's PlanetDoom

The writing contained here is years old and GameSpy no longer exists but they are a reflection of the work I used to do then. Some of the links found in these posts will no longer work however they will remain as part of the original work. These posts are under the label: Outdated articles and works.

This weeks mod ranks high on the Richter scale.....QUAKEmod. Shaking its way into my hard drive, the best way to introduce it, is to use a quote from the mod makers site:  "A Quake inspired mod featuring the map: Shambler's Castle.". It is in single player mode for Doom 3 capturing the game play and feel of Quake. I must confess, while the original Wolfenstein and Doom were my original love, even in multiplayer, Quake provided a full 3-D fun experience that had me by the....fingers. Endless dial-up hours were spent on quake servers. When the tectonic plates were silent with no players on the game servers, endless hours were invested in single player maps, "nailing" down "things".

The mod contains one map (Shamblers castle), new monsters(5), Quake Weapons, sounds(especially the upbeat music). The mod website also indicates lightning gun is included but not in the map for sound reasons, and of course the quad damage. The textures are quake including the NIN boxes. The level design will instantly make you forget you are inside the doom 3 engine. A mod that makes you forget the host engine it is being run on shows a clear determination in the work and passion put in by the mod developers.

The gameplay is fast and furious capturing the run and gun feel of Quake. The Shambler is nicely rendered, and so are the other creatures of quake. I was highly impressed by the design of the Scrag. The Scrag, in original quake, was one of my favourite but also annoying monsters. Floats in from everywhere but very easy to disperse while providing the fun of the hunt. The nail guns work perfectly except for the super nail gun which seems a tad slower than its original counterpart.

If you are in the market for some nostalgia, or revisiting Quake, put down that original quake disk and charge up your internet download. This mod deserves a look see by anyone who has played quake, or even, at least, read about it. This one also goes into my archive of "must keep".

The mod can be found at: http://ug.dyndns.org/~hexum/maps/castle/castle.htm

-Reviewed by Shadow Master