Quake 4 (PC) Completed on Lieutenant (Hard)

I went through the war against the Strogg a second time, this time on Lieutenant (Hard) and emerged victorious. Quake 4 (PC) is one fun, intense FPS.

I must say that Quake 4 was quite challenging on Lieutenant, and when I do a third play-through, I don't know if I'm going to want to up the difficulty to General (Very Hard) or not. Enemies are a good bit more durable and certain ones do a lot more damage. Strogg Marines are still a minor threat, but enemies like Berserkers, and Heavy Hovertanks can pose a real threat. The Tactical Transfers were also really challenging in certain situations. Not Halo 2 Elite challenging, but vastly superior to Half-Life 2 Combine Solider challenging. Their AI patterns remain very much the same as on Corporal (Normal), however not only do they dish it out harder, but it'll take at least two headshots from the Railgun to drop one, or three body shots. The only instant kill I was ever able to pull off on Tactical Transfers was point blank with the Shotgun, or with the Dark Matter Gun (Splats them good, but is a waste of a Dark Matter Core unless you're really in a jam).

I also found better uses for weapons I didn't touch too much on my first play through. I really gave the Nailgun a go, and while not Doom 3's Chaingun, it is quite handy once upgraded with its Needler like homing nails. I actually found it to be the best anti-Berserker weapon. I had to use the Dark Matter Gun on a more regular basis, and I found the Lightning Gun useful too against powerful targets since it can stun them a bit. The Grenade Launcher was great from the get go and is the best Gladiator killer, and I even had some fun with the Blaster while abusing some AI pathfinding exploits I figured out. The Shotgun was my main weapon though, and I found the Machine Gun much less useful, save for its Flashlight, simply due to its lesser damage output.

I still do wish there was a good, heavy enemy quick kill weapon though, as the second last level of the game was stupid hard.

In a few months, I will play through Quake 4 a third time though, as its just such an intense, fun, and beautiful shooter.