1. Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (PC)(Action Adventure)2. The Citadel (PC)(FPS)3. Gothic 3 (PC)(RPG)4. Witchaven (PC)(FPS)5. Unpacking (PC)(Puzzle)6. Firewatch (PC)(Adventure)
7. Perilous Warp (PC)(FPS)8. The Ascent (PC)(RPG)9. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (PC)(FPS/RPG)
11. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - Claptrap's New Robot Revolution (PC)(FPS/RPG)12. Kingdom of the Dead (PC)(FPS)13. Monument (PC)(FPS)14. Bloodwash (PC)(Horror Adventure)
15. Dead Estate (PC)(Isometric Shooter)16. Lost in Vivo (PC)(Survival Horror)17. Star Explorers (PC)(FPS)18. Dark Souls Remastered (Switch)(RPG)19. NAM (PC)(FPS)20. WWII GI (PC)(FPS)21. Necromunda: Hired Gun (PC)(FPS)22. Quake: Dimension of the Past (PC)(FPS)23. Quake: Dimension of the Machine (PC)(FPS)
24. Quake: Scourge of Armagon (PC)(FPS)
25. Quake: Dissolution of Eternity (PC)(FPS)Since I had just played through the Quake expansion Dimension of the Past, I decided I should check out the most recent expansion from MachineGames, Dimension of the Machine, which was specially developed for the Nightdive Studios remastered release of Quake last year. I also wanted to compare it to the original expansions, so firing up Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity to refresh my memory of them and also compare felt like a no brainer. It's an interesting experience, revisiting these classics, because my memory sometimes contradicts the reality I'm experiencing. But to see what devs who now have a few years of Quake experience under their belts can come up with 25 years later? Oh man, that's a treat.
Dimension of the Machine is incredible. Instead of simply giving a bunch of levels in a traditional episode like Dimension of the Past, instead MachineGames opted to go with a large hub world and a handful of micro-episodes consisting of usually only a couple of very large levels. With each of these areas now a thematic piece to the story, the level creators then went wild; Dimension of the Machine has some of the most awe-inspiring official Quake levels there are. For example, the Realm of the Astrologers now features a start in a pseudo-space setting, only to have the player taken prisoner aboard a spaceship. Blasting your way through your foes, you end up following up this level with a second focused on the excavations on an alien world of these bad guys, which you must thwart as well as find a mystical rune to help power the titular Machine. Another realm features a massive cathedral that bores deep into the earth, while the second level is the same cathedral, now upside down as you progress to what was previously the belfry, only now under a blood red sky looking up at you. The effect is amazing, and more than once I found myself stopping to just breathe in the surroundings as I encountered some incredible new vista.
Is there a downside to Dimension of the Machine? Well, yes, sort of. It's all base Quake content again, and just like in previous expansions and the base game where the player loses all weapons between episodes, you do it here. As a result, you get an armory built up really fast of devastating weapons, but you'll see all the foes you'll encounter possibly in the first level you choose to play. Also, it ends with a revamp of the Cthon fight from the original Quake, and it's just not good because it relies on putting 2 and 2 together to get 4 without telling you about that second 2... So this means the wow factor must come entirely from level design, which...hell, I already said it did. But it would have been nice to see some of the other expansions' best ideas get incorporated somehow.
Speaking of which, how are those other expansions? Well...
Scourge of Armagon is three episodes of violence in a more traditional path of levels. You don't get much choice, but the game tries to ease you in with basic grunt fodder enemies at first and facilities. While it does eventually go castle-style and forget that the regular gun-wielding types exist, it does give us new enemies, new guns, and a new boss. The levels are ok, depending on whether you prefer your Quake to be more industrial or more medieval, starting strong with military compounds. There are a few highlights, like one level taking place in a mining complex, but ultimately it turns into just more Quake. I found my favorite level was the secret one in the third episode, because it felt more like a multiplayer map and broke up the monotony of traditional Quake design.
Unfortunately, the new enemies and guns aren't great. The first new enemy is a scorpion that shoots nails and likes to dodge your fire, while the second is a gremlin that eats corpses to heal and can steal your guns and use them. The gremlin makes for an interesting opponent, of limited ability unless you let it get to close, but you can manipulate it by killing other enemies. In a fight with a lot of these guys, shoot one and walk away, and they'll start feasting on the corpse. That's a prime opportunity for a rocket, folks. It's a change to the general AI that I appreciate, because it makes the enemy feel unique. The scorpion, on the other hand, just likes to dodge. Constantly. The easiest way to kill it is to trap it against a wall by making it dodge into it repeatedly, but fighting one in the open can be frustrating beyond belief. To combat this in particular, the new weapons added in are all based around area denial: a proximity mine launcher, a hammer that does an area effect attack, and a gatling that fires bouncing lasers. None of these are that impressive, and I rarely used them. If anything, I got more annoyed they were cluttering up my weapon swap more than anything.
That said, this ends with a boss fight against Armagon, and he's actually an interesting fight. Most FPS bosses consist of being a puzzle or circle-strafing, but Armagon has a few nasty tricks where he leads the player properly. Keep circle-strafing, and you'll take a laser to the face, or worse, artillery. And his artillery packs a punch. He's an opponent you can fake out to miss wildly, but you have to stay on your toes. While most FPS bosses suck, I appreciate Armagon makes me work for the win, sticking to cover and maneuvering while adjusting based on his tactics. Honestly, he was probably the highlight of his whole episode.
And then we have Dissolution of Eternity...
...which is fantastic, and it gives both a precursory feel to what Dimension of the Machine would give me as well as adding more content that mostly feels great. There are two separate campaigns, one of which is more tech-focused until it turns into a run through Hexen-esque cathedrals, culminating in a big bad wraith boss, while the other pulls an Egyptian theme that is unique and a lot of fun. Both campaigns are good in my opinion, both feel unique from each other, and both do a great job of highlighting the level design. Yes, bigger open areas like what we get later in Machine would have been welcome, but what we do get are some brilliant uses of level layout to convey stories and grant an experience. The second campaign in particular feels like you're plundering ancient tombs, with lots of traps and lots of well hidden secrets. Dissolution hides its secrets the best of all Quake in my opinion.
But what of the guns? Gone are the Armagon additions; you don't have Armagon gear, and you don't have Armagon foes for that matter. Instead, you get alternate ammunition for several of the weapons. Lava nails now burn their way into your foes, cluster bombs and multi-warheads blast out from your explosives, and the lightning gun now gets a blast mode which makes it a cannon. And they're all good. While I almost never used the Armagon guns, I was practically begging to lay waste with Dissolution's. They took the rocket launcher and made it BETTER. And the items? There are new things to grab, like the anti-grav belt which gives you slow fall and can be abused to find secrets as well as great firing positions.
Unfortunately, it lags somewhat in the enemy department. The new additions are hit-or-miss. For example, the new aquatic enemy is an electric eel that hits in an area around it. That's cool, I guess. There are also now variants on the knight enemies that appear to be statues until you activate them, as well as tougher versions of the zombies that look like mummies. There is a level-specific mini-Cthon variant that works really well thematically, as well as a pharaoh-like guardian to battle at the end of certain levels. And then you have the new ghost enemies, which fire seeking explosive projectiles that move faster than you do and are similar in color to their bodies, so you lose track of them really fast, meaning you're gonna take that to the face. I like the enemy overall, but I don't like that projectile, so it turns them into a major and immediate threat regardless of what else is in the room with me. Dissolution's greatest "oh shit" moments involved me turning a corner and coming face to face with one of these ethereal bastards...and it's greatest "shit yeah" moments involved me then pulling out the multi-rocket launcher and unleashing a wave of death to slap that flying SOB like a Buick windshield taking out a housefly. It gets juicy.
End this with a fight against a dragon. Yeah, Quake made me fight a dragon. Dissolution of Eternity is awesome.
So, in order of release:
Scourge of Armagon: Ugh.
Dissolution of Eternity: Hell yes.
Dimension of the Past: Meh.
Dimension of the Machine: Wow.
Play Quake.