Quake

Platform: PC
Developer: id Software
Release: 1996

Let's get one thing straight: Quake's rocket launcher is the single best weapon in any game, ever.

Quake's single-player game was forgettable fodder next to the brilliant online deathmatch option.

As tempting as it is to let that statement stand on its own, Quake's inclusion on this list bears just a little more justification. Putting aside the rocket launcher for a moment, Quake is most memorable as the game that brought real, honest-to-goodness multiplayer to the masses. Sure, id Software's previous megahit, Doom, introduced the concept of a bunch of players running around the same map trying to frag each other, but Doom's deathmatch implementation allowed just four players at a time and was limited to local-area networks; in other words, the only people playing four-player Doom were obsessed college students and corporate drones on their lunch hour.

Quake made deathmatch accessible to a far wider audience. The very first shareware release let anyone with even a paltry 28.8kbps Internet connection jump into 16-player games that ran pretty smoothly, considering that the slow network speed most players used in 1996 caused some latency problems in the first few months of the game's release. Networking issues notwithstanding, Quake's deathmatch was (and remains) the most frenetic, visceral competitive gaming experience we've ever had. Often imitated but never bested, Quake is the game that hooked us incurably on multiplayer gaming.

For one thing, the game was fast. Most online first-person shooters these days are of a slow, tactical nature, but Quake's frantic gameplay was created by the id Software brain trust when Counter-Strike was still a gleam in Gooseman's eye. This is where the rocket launcher comes in. Quake did have other weapons, like the nailgun, lightning gun, and axe, but id threw silly notions like weapon balance right out the window when it spec'd out the properties of that almighty death-bringer. The rockets flew at a speed too fast to dodge, so if you were up against an expert player who was able to lead you properly, you didn't have a chance. The splash damage was intense, too--you could aim roughly near your opponents' feet and do considerable harm, not to mention bounce them around like rag dolls. And the strength of the rocket was almost absurd; a player with full health and no armor would be killed in a single hit. Quake's basic deathmatch boiled down to a balls-out contest between players to control the rocket launcher and therefore dominate the match.

Back in the day (that is, 1996), Quake had the best lighting effects anywhere.

Of course, there was far, far more to Quake than the basic deathmatch game. Id Software is legendary for providing tools and after-release support for its games, and it took this idea to a new level with Quake. An entire modding community (and in fact, a cottage industry) sprang up around the game, with mods like Capture the Flag and Team Fortress giving players literally years' worth of extra play value. Quake was also the first PC game with hardware 3D support to really reach the mainstream--the free GLQuake add-on looked absolutely amazing when it was released and sold many, many 3dfx cards single-handedly.

Isn't it telling that we made it through this entire column without mentioning interesting things like Quake's then-revolutionary 3D engine or Trent Reznor's weird, ambient soundtrack? Yeah, the multiplayer is that good. We even named Quake one of the best games of all time because of it. The halcyon days of the online Quake community may have faded now that there are dozens of multiplayer FPS games on the market, but Quake's hectic, satisfying deathmatch action will always hold a special place in our hearts.