Name: Quake
Publisher: MacSoft
Developer: id
Mac Conversion: Lion Entertainment
Media: 1 CD
HD Installation: 50.9 megs
Got it for: $9.99, new
Official Ad: Yes

Quake was played on my Power Mac G4, 450Mhz machine under OS 9.2.2 with a 64 meg ATI Radeon 8500 card and 1 gig of ram. It was running with all options turned to their highest settings and at a screen resolution of 1280X1024. The game was played through on the "Hard" difficulty level.
Patches? Just for kicks, let me present the system requirements:

Readme for 1.09 Patch - Size: 4k
Quake 1.09 Patch - Size: 316k
Quake 3DFX 1.09 Patch - Size: 312k
Quake RAVE 1.09 Patch - Size: 340k
Click above to get the patch

 Any Power Macintosh with at least 16MB of Ram, color monitor and CD-Rom drive.
After the completion of their "Slipgate" project, various military bases were attacked by strange creatures from another dimension. An evil being known as Shub-Niggurath has been using the human-made Slipgates to send her forces into the military bases that house them, and kill every living being. One soldier, a ranger, has survived the onslaught and is now using the Slipgates to enter the world of Quake in an attempt to destroy the evil force behind this imminent invasion of Earth.


The bitch herself...
 What's it all about?
It's the mother of the 3D FPS genre. A very straightforward shooter, no complicated paths to endless door switches, no reloading, hell, no cocking...no bullshit. Using an absolutely brutal assortment of weapons you'll make your way through the four areas of Quake, gathering the four runes of magic that will open the portal to the lair of Shub-Niggurath, the final evil. Each area starts out with your character in one of the various military bases that houses a Slipgate. Starting with just your shotgun and an axe, you'll fight your way through the base's former-humans to get to the gate, and pass through it into the world of Quake. There you will face an assortment of ogres, beasts, knights and grotesque creatures...and kill every single one of them. Each area concludes with an epic battle against an impressive, evil force(usually a large horde of the more powerful enemies, or even a boss-like monster).

Graphics - The levels themselves are absolutely stunning. Not only are they complex, but the textures used are just incredible. The definition in just any given floor or wall pattern will just knock you back, it's so very smooth. To add to it, each level, though primarily held to the overly-dark(literally) theme, will have a good amount of ambient lighting that really gives off a nice effect. You even get Doom-like rooms where the light fades in and out, all while hordes of enemies come running at you. Though the enemy models are definitely a first generation attempt, they really do a good job of presenting themselves as filthy, violent creatures. They all have an extremely dark and gory look about them with various effects like blood around their mouths and claws, tattered clothing, deformed faces and just freakish designs. Though the motion capture could have used a little work, it really does add to their overall shock value, especially the former-humans, as it really looks like their bodies are actually being animated from beyond death. Minor graphical improvements are available via the Options menu, from there you can turn on the flames, shadows and other things...be sure to do so, trust me, your Mac can handle it.

Zombie Central
Sound - Excellent. The soundtrack is fucking phenomenal. Done by Trent Reznor(of Nine Inch Nails), it is the driving force behind the game's amazingly dark and foreboding theme. It's an amazing collection of works that include pieces that manage to go from a disturbingly ambient section straight into something that just slams you to the ground, and hard. It fits the game perfectly, and rightfully so, it was made just for Quake. The sound effects are also extremely well done, with chilling moans, roaring screams and extremely loud explosions. Each enemy, weapon and level all have a distinct set of sound effects attached to them, so even if you can't see a Scrag...just by hearing one of its signature sounds, you'll know it's around there somewhere...
Control - Excellent. Like most FPS's, using the keyboard and mouse setup results in an extremely smooth control scheme. On top of that there are no "use" or "reload" keys to worry about, just shooting, jumping and movement...nice and easy. Control configuration is a snap: With keyboard setup...you have your functions, you set them to the key you'd like to use them on, that's it. Basic Mouse setup is the same, though advanced functions(like weapon scrolling via the wheel, or the assignment of the mouse's extra buttons) have to go through Game Sprockets. For those of you who would prefer to use the iShock, configuration is also very easy thanks to Apple's Game Sprockets that Quake, thankfully, makes use of. Just hit "Configure Controller, assign your buttons and you're done. There is one odd thing, and it's about my only complaint on the control: There's no way to assign "previous weapon" to your mouse wheel. It shows up when configuring the iShock, but not in Mouse setup. Weird...
AI - Impressively intelligent. For the game's age, the AI does a surprisingly good job of busting your ass. They leap at you, they come across obstacles, they chase you through levels, they'll even tear through other enemies to get to you...it's quite vicious. Though you never really see Doom-style horde numbers, there are sections where you will face seven to ten enemies at a time...and in the world of Quake, where *nothing* dies in one shotgun blast, where everything has the potential to kill incredibly quickly, that's a real bitch.
Replay value - Extremely high. The single player game rocks to no end, and with four distinct difficulty levels there's always something to come back for. There is also online play, with its new set of maps and a virtually unlimited amount of user-made mods and such. There are even two official Mission packs out there to keep it going...
Getting it to run - Easy. Simply click on the Quake Installer, then go to "Custom" in the install menu. From there you have two choices - Quake and Quake with 3D Hardware Acceleration(this has two sub-categories: Quake Rave and Quake 3DFX). You only need to install the version of Quake you'll be using(most users will only need to install the Quake Rave version of the game). From there, just apply the appropriate patch to update it to 1.09 and you're done! Two quick notes: 1) Quake installs Input Sprockets onto your machine, as well as Mac IPX. If you've got the most recent version of Game Sprockets, you don't need either of those, just delete them out. 2) If you have an ATI Rage card, updating to the Oct 2002 set of drivers(the most recent set available for that card) will result in terrible, terrible graphical glitches(learned this the hard way with the iMac and iBook). This may or may not be solved by ditching the files in the "glquake" folder via the game's official Tech Support page. Finally, though the game doesn't require the disc to be in the drive to play, you won't get any music if you don't pop it in, which would be a crime...so put it in!
Tips for better gaming experiences:
Though it's odd to have to actually do this via the console, Quake was a very early FPS...so it's not too unexpected....at any rate, hit the tilde key to bring up the console at any point during(or before) the game:

To enable the crosshair, type in "crosshair 1" and press Enter. To enable Mouse Look, type in "+mlook" and press Enter.

For those of you needing a bit more help, bring up the console and type in "Impulse 9" and hit Enter. This will give you all weapons and full ammo...

Past the console commands...
* Scrags hate the nail gun, be sure to use it on them.

* Do not EVER....ever, ever, ever shoot the Lightning Gun under water.

* Exploiting an odd flaw in the AI, you can take out more dangerous enemies like the Shambler, Ogres and Fiends by simply getting as close as possible to them, then immediately backing off. This will make the enemy take a swing at you, but as you've backed up, they'll miss. Immediately after missing, do this to them again...and keep shooting the entire time. It's a nice trick that works well when you're down to just your axe or very few shotgun shells. One note: This is extremely dangerous, and if you screw up the timing, they *will* hit you....hard.

* Enemies aren't immediately aware of your presence unless they see you, or you get too close to them. Use this to your advantage whenever you come across a wondering enemy, run up behind them and let'em have it at point blank range(this works really well with the double barrel shotgun).

The only good Ogre is a dead Ogre.
 * The Spawns are, quite possibly, the most dangerous enemy in the game...as hard as that is to believe. Not only do they do incredible damage just by hitting you, but upon dying they immediately explode resulting in massive damage to anything in the immediate area. You see one of these fuckers, you either take them out from an extreme distance...or you run for it.

* The enemies hate each other almost as much as they hate you, use this to your advantage. Try to get enemies to hit each other on accident, doing so will result in the two fighting it out to the death which will allow you to make a run for it, or take out the winner immediately after their victory.


Still Supported?
Yes, though not by MacSoft. Support for this game can be found at the Atari(formerly Infogrames) Mac support page.
My rating: 100(out of 100) - Does life get any better than Quake? I seriously doubt it. I don't know where to even begin...everything about the game is just phenomenally good in every way. From the amazing soundtrack by Trent Reznor to the well-defined textures, the intricate level design and the darkly ambient mood of the whole game just sets a standard that most others only pray they could ever meet. Only Duke Nukem 3D rivals this game in sheer FPS quality...

Baraka's review: Ugh...what a dull single player experience. Slow gameplay and dank'n'dingy graphics make the game just woefully unfulfilling. Give this kitty Quake II, and some online multiplayer time!

How do they manage to run so fast in that armor!?
Fucking-A...Shambers!
It's Laser Tag...with real lasers! Yeehaw!
After grabbing the Rune, Chthon rises from the lava to beat the piss out of you...
Fun Stuff on the CD:
Open Transport....a really old version(yeehaw)...that's it. To make up for the lack of any real extras, I've made a series of Quake wallpapers from various scenes in the game. Check it out...
Packing it in:
There are two official Mission Packs available for the original Quake. Though they are only stated to work on the PC version, they do, in fact, work on the Mac version as well(check the Read Me file in your Quake folder for more on that). The first Mission Pack is called "Scourge of Armagon", by Ritual Entertainment and the second, "Dissolution of Eternity" by Rogue Entertainment. Be sure to pick both up!
Fruits of the OSX Quake:
Fan-favorite developer Fruits of the Dojo has created a conversion of the Quake Installer and code that now allows Quake to run in Mac OSX! If you're on a Mac that won't boot into OS9, this is the way to go.