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The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.

[edit] Overview

The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently: the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors. This is mostly because Quake II was originally intended to be a separate franchise ("Quake II" was a tentative title), a plan which was shot down when most of the names id Software had tried to use instead were already taken.

Quake involves a Marine traveling through alternate dimensions to prevent a demonic invasion, a storyline similar to that of id's previous hit game Doom.

Quake II involves an assault on an alien planet, Stroggos, in retaliation for Strogg attacks on Earth. Most of the subsequent entries in the Quake franchise follow this storyline.

Quake III has minimal plot, but centers around the "Arena Eternal", a gladiatorial setting created by an alien race known as the Vadrigar and populated by combatants plucked from various points in time and space. Among these combatants are some characters either drawn from or based on those in Doom ("Doomguy"), Quake (Ranger, Wrack) and Quake II (Bitterman, Tank Jr., Grunt, Stripe).

Quake IV picks up where Quake II left off — finishing the war between the humans and Strogg. The spin-off Enemy Territory: Quake Wars acts as a prequel to Quake II, when the Strogg first invade Earth.

[edit] Setting

The Strogg are an alien race who serve as the primary antagonists in Quake II and Quake 4. They are a playable faction in Quake III: Team Arena and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The Strogg are a warlike cybernetic race, infamous for the systematic replacement of their ranks with prisoners of war and the modification of their bodies with mechanical weaponry and prosthetics. They maintain a massive global military-industrial complex with mines, ore refineries, light production plants and heavy industrial manufacturing facilities throughout Stroggos. Their heavy reliance on industry has created a toxic environment that has killed much of the native plant and animal life on Stroggos, and the remaining animals are subject to horrible mutation.

[edit] Games

[edit] Main series

• Quake (1996)
  • Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon (1997)
  • Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity (1997)
• Quake II (1997)
  • Quake II Mission Pack: The Reckoning (1998)
  • Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero (1998)
• Quake III Arena (1999)
  • Quake III: Team Arena (2000)
• Quake 4 (2005)

[edit] Spinoffs

• Quake Mobile (2005)
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007)
• Quake Live (2009)
• Quake Arena DS (TBA)

[edit] Upcoming games

John Carmack stated, at QuakeCon 2007, that the Id Tech 5 engine would be used for a new Quake game. He also stated that Quake (III) Arena would get a sequel at some point.

[edit] Engines

A partial family Tree of Quake engine games

Quake family tree, showing games and engines based on id Tech 2

Most games rely on enhanced versions of the original Quake engine with better lighting, more complex model support, better netcode and other modifications.

[edit] External links

• IGN preview of Quake Mobile