Shack Chat: What's your favorite Quake game?

QuakeCon 2022 is taking place this week from Thursday to Saturday, and with these festivities in mind, the Shack Staff have come together to discuss their all-time favorite Quake games. Whether you’re a fan of older Quake games, newer Quake games, or all Quake games in general, we’ve got plenty of Quake goodness for you in this week’s Shack Chat.

Question: What's your favorite Quake game?

Original Recipe - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Quake Editor

I haven't played a lot of Quake, which is a heresy around these parts. However, I've had a lot of fun playing the original game over the past few years, especially with the Shacknews staff. More importantly, I've come to appreciate the history and what it's contributed to gaming, which is something I was able to witness firsthand through endeavors like The Great Quakeholio tournament. So if I have to pick a Quake, I'm going to stand by the original recipe, for whenever I want to make an opponent extra crispy.

Diabotical - TJ Denzer, Senior News Editor

This is a cheat, yes. But it’s also the truth for me. I really like the Quake games. They are very good (not Quake Champions), but I don’t like how annoying it is to make some of them work on modern hardware or how dated some of them are. Unfortunately, the only options from Bethesda right now are the re-release of the original Quake, which is fun but still dated, and Quake Champions, which sucks. Heck, Quake Champions has sucked so much that it pushed developers to design something better. That something is Diabotical. Diabotical features the gameplay and versatility I would want a new Quake game to have.

Its fast, crisp, clean-looking, and doesn’t take weird workarounds to get together with your friends and play. If you’re going to twist my arm, I think Quake 3: Arena is still one of my favorites in all of these regards. Even then, Diabotical was built from the ground up to resemble Quake 3’s gameplay. If Microsoft or Bethesda acquired GD Studio at some point and gave them the greenlight to make a proper Quake game, I would very much be on board from Day One. Until then, I still think Diabotical is the best and most fun variant of a proper modern Quake game in this day and age.

Quake - Blake Morse, First name rhymes with “Quake”

In this case, first is not the worst. I grew up around a lot of nerdy folks and LAN parties were a pretty common occurrence. But I was the “poor kid” of the group and my Compaq 486 was severely outdated by the time PC gaming was really chugging along, so those parties were my only chance to play some of the most iconic titles of the time, including Quake. Turns out, I was pretty dang good at FFA deathmatches and found myself rocket jumping my way to several victories quite fast.

This is also where I learned about spawn camping for the first time and how much I hated it. I remember being quite blown away, if you’ll pardon the pun, by the visuals and how fast-paced the gameplay was at the time. It made a lasting impression on me and engraved the original Quake into my brain as an instant classic. Also, since being here at Shacknews I’ve had a chance to watch some top-tier Quakeholio tournaments go down with some extremely good players going head-to-head which has helped endear the game to me even more.

Quake 4 - Sam Chandler, Get Stroggified

The day I took home my Xbox 360, one of the first games I played on it was Quake 4. As my first proper foray into the franchise, Quake 4 struck a chord with me. It was action packed, but it was also spooky and unnerving. I hadn’t known a lot about Quake before that point, but what I experienced in this title made me quite interested in the story and the lore behind humanity and the Strogg. And, of course, the Stroggification scene still haunts me. Not only was it brutal, it made me question what (or who) I had been killing all along.

Quake - Bill Lavoy, Rocket Launcher Main

For me it’s the original Quake, which is the first FPS game I ever played. This was back before I had a PC. I was the kid who went to his friend’s house to play games, and seeing Quake for the first time was like being introduced to a new technology. I only wish I had understood just how big that moment was for me as a gamer and a professional. Now, I’m not very good at Quake, but I’m always happy when the Shacknews staff decides to hop in and shoot each other for a bit.

Quake - Morgan Shaver, Shub-Niggurath

Admittedly, I haven’t played many of the newer Quake games, but you can never go wrong with showing love to the original that started it all. When it was released, it really shook things up as far as brutal shooters go. In particular, I’ve always loved the visual design and aesthetic of the original Quake. Outside of other id Software games, there really isn’t anything quite like Quake in style, attitude, and feel. Not to mention the wealth of content on offer for a game of that time period whether that be guns, levels, and various enemies, or just the sheer amount of chaos that you can get into with the game’s multiplayer. Quake is, and always will be, a damn good game.

Quake 3 Arena - Asif Khan, Creator of The Great Quakeholio tournament

I have a lot of love for the first and second Quake games, but Quake 3 Arena multiplayer shooting perfection. The weapons balance, level design, and mods made this game very enjoyable for years and years. Quake 3 brought together Rockets, Rails, and Lightning with some of the most iconic levels and modes. I even enjoyed playing Capture The Flag in this game, which is a tall order for me as I prefer Team Deathmatch in my FPS games.

Quake - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host, Classically trained

What is my favorite Quake game? That is a good question, as I don’t really play that many games like Quake but if I had to pick one, I would probably go with the original Quake. I didn’t have the best computer to game on when I was younger but I can remember Quake being a big deal when it came out. The look and feel of Quake when it came out wasn’t seen too often in the mid 1990’s. Killing monsters and exploring exotic locations adds to the look and feel of Quake. I’m also a fan of the sounds and music in the game. I’m a late 80’s/early 90’s guy so I knew Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. So if I had to pick my favorite Quake game, I guess I would go with the original Quake.

And there you have it, the Shack Staff’s favorite Quake games. With that in mind, we’d love to hear from you in regards to whether you’ve been enjoying what QuakeCon 2022 has had to offer so far, and what your favorite Quake games are. Let us know in Chatty!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.