Quake II for the Playstation

[wip3outguy7]

I apologize for the wall o' text, but I'm a bit blown away.

I have been curious about the Playstation version of Quake II for awhile. It came out at a time when I was playing far superior FPSs on the PC, so I completely overlooked it. About a year ago I saw it on the shelf at a local mom n' pop games shop here in town. I recalled a few intriguing claims I had read about the Playstation version in... I think it was an issue of EGM shortly before the game was released. They said it would have split screen multiplayer, something about Playstation mouse support and that it was running at a pretty stable 30 fps. Anyway, today I decided to roll the dice and I bought that Quake II. Yes, the very same one I had seen a year ago, from the same shop. It had been sitting there all this time.

I plugged in my Dual Shock when I got home and tossed it in my model 1 Playstation to see what I had wasted $14 on. I found a configuration that is very close to the accepted console FPS standard of today. D-Pad to move, right analog stick to look. The trigger is still on the wrong side. This was common back then. Duke Nukem 3D and Quake had the same problem on the Saturn when using the Jevon's control code. Golden Eye suffered from it too depending on how you held the N64 controller.

Anyway, the game is capable. It runs at a pretty solid 30 fps as claimed in that old issue of EGM. The levels are chopped up into bite sizes to compensate for the Playstation's anemic (even for the time) memory. Even then, the loading between sections is super quick.

But I didn't buy the game to play it with the silly Dual Shock.

I dug my Playstation mouse out from under the pile of unique and unused video game accessories and plugged it in. What's this? The options menu now has a set of mouse specific settings. Alright, so I wasn't that shocked. The mouse is listed as a compatible accessory on the back of the game case. The options menu clearly indicates that you are to hold the dual shock in your left hand and the mouse in your right. The configuration even makes sense. L1 & L2 are to cycle weapons, the D-Pad is used to move and strafe, mouse 1 is to shoot and mouse 2 is to jump. I cranked the sensitivity all the way up and started a new game.

GLORIOUS.

The mouse support is sharp. No faint auto aiming, no giant hit boxes. It feels like a PC game. I was spinning and killing like a PC FPS madman from 1998. It may not be uber sensitive like Hobie and I like it, but it has to be some of the best mouse support on the PS1. It feels like Quake II on a capable PC of the time without 3D acceleration.

After I had gotten over the initial shock, I decided to thumb through the manual. Sure enough, the game supports 4 player split screen. But what's this? Two multitaps? What?

That's right.

Two multitaps, 4 dual shocks, and 4 mice. 4 player split screen where everyone can play with a mouse... on the fucking Playstation.

This game shouldn't exist.

Sure the levels are chopped up and there are numerous secrets missing. The geometry and models are pretty basic when compared to the PC original. Oh and bunny hopping doesn't work. But it doesn't matter... this still has to be one of the most impressive ports I have ever seen.

[BoringSupreez]

Two multitaps, 4 dual shocks, and 4 mice. 4 player split screen where everyone can play with a mouse... on the fucking Playstation.

That's what Gamespot said back in the day. The single player wasn't as good as it was on PC, but there was no close rival for best 4-player shooting on the PS1.

[Xeogred]

All that said, this is how I originally played the game back in the day and my friend and I had a blast with it. So much fun.

The N64 version though... yikes.

[Reprise]

I remember having the demo back at the time and being surprised at how well done the port seemed to have been made. It was very fluid and had quick loading times as said. I never tried it with the mouse though.