Quake 4 (Xbox 360) Demo Impressions

The last demo I decided to check out was Quake 4. Again, I already own this one on the PC and have reviewed it here, so I'll keep things brief:

Fast, intense combat. That's what Quake 4 is with a kick ass sound track propelling you through the game. The Xbox 360 demo is exactly the same as the PC demo, which is the first two missions plus intro, with a few extra weapons added in early (Shotgun and Nailgun). You also fight more Berserkers earlier on than in retail.

Unlike what I've seen of Prey, Quake 4 looks exactly like my PC version on high detail to a T. In fact, the only major differences I noticed are that the Xbox 360 version is in wide screen, and a few odd ends, such as the menus and Machine Gun's Scope view, are stretched. Everything else looks bloody superb.

Quake 4 is a classic run-and-gun action game, and this comes through in the demo loud and clear. It's fast paced and fun, and one thing about the console version that I absolutely take my hat off to Raven for is the near fully customizable controller.

That's right. Where most console FPSes let you choose from a few pre-set configurations, Quake 4 lets you assign the face buttons, triggers, and bumpers to near anything you want save movement and looking. This is something I really love and hope console shooter developers adopt in the future, though sadly I doubt it.

Most of you will also think I'm crazy, but when it's all said and done, I find I prefer the look of the Doom 3 Engine over the Unreal Engine 3.0. I find character models to be crisper and a bit less grainy, and while the Unreal Engine 3.0 can render large outdoor environments beautifully, I find that the more limited Doom 3 Engine environments simply sport more detail and actual, hard lined definition to them.

In short, Quake 4 is a simple blast fest that's great fun. Many official reviews complained about frame rate issues, but I didn't experience anything like that in the Demo, the game was very smooth. At it's present cost, I really don't see how you can go wrong picking up Quake 4. If I didn't have the PC version already, this Xbox 360 demo would have convinced me to go snag its version.