New story, new critters, new weapons...nah.
Graphics: 8 (certainly the strongest point)
Sounds: 5 (gorillas on heat is not my ideal cup-of-tea)
Value: 4 (at least there's thirteen levels…)
Tilt: 5 (I can't get enough of Quake 2…period)
Actual score: 5.1
You cannot deny that Quake 2 is a runaway success. It brought many players intense sci-fi action that really gets your heart pumping. So it's no surprise that expansion packs like Juggernaut will hit the streets. Being the forth and unofficial expansion, publishers a Head Games main goal is to bring new textures, sounds and a new story (?) to the aging Quake 2 engine.
So the premise of Juggernaut revolves around the satellites Europa and Callisto, both are one of the 63 satellites orbiting Jupiter. The settlers on Callisto, called the Callistans, ran bio-genetic research programs in order to better adapt the planet. However the experiments went wrong and the Callistans were turned into horrible monsters who are now trying to invade Europa and eradicate their population. You happen to be a civilian on Europa thus your main goal is to stop this invasion.
Throughout your adventures you'll witness these bio-genetic freaks and oddly enough the Stroggs. I have no idea how the Stroggs got there in the first place however part of the original Quake 2 storyline, they did invade Earth in 2060. Maybe this was their stop-off point but who knows. One thing's for sure though is that there's going to be plenty of action.
The promise of new textures and sounds certainly is the main drawing card. The entire set is vibrant and alive with great lighting effects, water reflections, icy caves, railways and so forth. And being in Callisto and Europa you'll eventually get to see the ever-imposing Jupiter in the distance. This definitely brought a sense of loneliness in the harsh lands.
However the rest fall short big time. The 'new' critters are nothing more than the original Quake 2 fiends save a different look. The Goreilla for example is nothing more than the Berserker with a different skin. It even attacks like a Berserker with the swinging 'mallet' (arm on the Goreilla). Other 'face lifts' are the Enforcer (a mutant that attacks exactly like the Enforcer including the reloads), the Light Guard (some skinny mutant) and others that the game care not to give a name to. Yet some of the original stroggs makes an appearance like the Medic, Icarus and the ever-dangerous Gunner. I got this feeling though that Head Games got no idea how to re-skin them yet needed more enemies.
The two new weapons are not new at all. The machine gun is now some weird looking 'mini-rifle' with pulse-sounding bullets (for which actually sounds futuristic and cool) and the 'cutter' is a bizarre looking circular dish that's a direct rip-off of the Hyperblaster (and funny enough does makes the exact sound).
The sounds also got a face-lift (or for a better word). Some of the more notable ones are from the monsters. The Goreilla does sound like an ape but with some real serious issues. And if you don't gib this fella, it produces a loud shriek before it dies. The mutant 'light-guard' produces a tremendous HOLLER when spotted (and I'm not kidding either) and the weapons like the freaky looking 'machine-gun' sounds like a pulse rifle; all-in-all mediocre at best.
The game play is what you expect from the Quake series; intense fire fight with plenty of gibbing. However it's a little too easy for my liking as even though I played it on the hard level, there are plenty of health packs and ammo about. And considering the hyperblaster 'look-alike' is your second weapon that packs a real punch, you really cannot die. Strangely though, the shotgun ammo is extremely rare along with the railgun. But granted in approximately two thirds into the game the difficulty ramps up as right at the get-go you'll get attacked immediately.
Boasting 13 levels and some multiplayer features like death match (boy-oh-boy) the game can last around six to eight hours. Not to shabby for an expansion pack however it does feel like the same ole when stray through the locales (save the Jupiter silhouette roughly two-thirds into the game). And of course to move from one level to another involves collecting security cards. And to place salt in the wounds, there's no secrets to speak off. A major disappointment as in the previous Quake 2 games, not only secrets enhance game play, at times brought creativity because of the clever level design.
While some features like the graphics and (to a limited extend) the sounds certainly brings a worth-while feature to the Quake series, everything else is just a pure rip-off. Right from the level design to the 'new' monsters and weapons and even the departure of secret levels / rooms this spells either the main motivation is for profit or some adolescence child's nightmare come to life.