The Reckoning is a great expansion to those who’s aching for some more quaking.
Graphics: 9
Sounds: 10
Value: 8
Tilt: 8
When mega hit PC game Quake 2 was released in the market back in 1997, it was only a matter of time when the mission packs will hit the shelves yet the first mission pack arrived later than expected. Maybe because of the huge online success of Quake 2, id Software probably was willing to wait until the ‘dust settled’ and release these packs to spark up the community. Whatever the reason, The Reckoning was the first of the rank yet keeping it to the traditional formula of Quake 2, meaning little of innovation but plenty of Quake 2 goodness.
Keeping to its roots, The Reckoning starts of remarkably like Quake 2; that is you form part of a task force to infiltrate an unreceptive alien city yet on your way down you were clipped by this time an asteroid only to crash land into the murky swamps. After an amazing recovery, floating in front of you is a shotgun and two clips of ammo. Immediately one might assume that this game is going to be tougher than its predecessor as otherwise why on earth you do need a shotgun straight off the mark?
Yet when viewing your surroundings for the very first time, there is some obvious changes made to the graphics as this time there’s an extensive outdoor environments which rarely was shown in Quake 2. Huge cliff faces with jagged edges and lighting these environs, the ominous red glow from the only sun makes one feel that this is certainly a hostile alien environment. Yet within a moment or two you’ll hear the familiar sounds from the grunts however another sound will soon arise that’s totally unfamiliar – sounds of thumping and clicking that only can be described like a dog panting and considering you have your trusty shotgun, whatever that being/s producing these sound is not going to be neither friendly nor easy to eradicate.
Hence straight off the bat, The Reckoning certainly has an exclusive feel from Quake 2 yet as the marine progresses on, ye ole familiar corridor romping will soon bring relief as the sense of familiarity rushes in yet also disappointment. But all is not lost as like most expansion packs, expect to be confronted with new critters and weaponry.
Without going into too much detail about the new enemies (otherwise it will spoil the fun) some are just enhancements from Quake 2; for example the Gladiator which is now called the Gladiator ‘beta class’ wherein has a force shield and fires phalanx particle cannon rounds (a new weapon and my second favourite behind the double barrel shotgun – this baby discharge two ‘quantum accelerated magnesium slugs’ to your foes; another words a beefed up double barrel shotgun), the sexy Iron Maidens ‘beta class’ which fires heat seeking missiles and those weakling grunts are now equip with Ion Rippers (another new weapon with has projectiles bouncing off walls), hyper blasters and lasers.
Yet the beauty of The Reckoning is that the sounds from Quake 2 are carried over (e.g. those heavy blasts from the double barrel shotgun and that high pitch whirling from the hyper blaster) and some new ones are added like the intense discharge from the phalanx cannon. In addition, the background noises, for example machines chirping or those factory-like thuds echoes throughout the complex makes you feel that this is truly an industrial, death producing compound. And what’s Quake 2 without their ‘in house’ musicians Sonic Mayhem as thankfully there’s a new soundtrack which is a killer to boot.
The Reckoning is quite generous when it comes to the length. Considering there are four main sectors, in total there are seventeen chapters to blast your way through therefore that in itself is great value. And keeping up the Quake tradition, each chapter has an allocated number of secrets which can be viewed as ‘side missions’. If you, like me went on those ‘secret mission hunt’ in Quake 2, The Reckoning seems to follow the same path where there are ample of subtle clues that only the trained eye can spot but still gives you that sense of satisfaction when hearing that ‘beep’ sound stating a secret has been discovered. And naturally there’s online activity with death match (which sadly the maps are just rehashed single player maps) and co-op mode up to four players.
On one side, The Reckoning does feel its own identity as the topography at times will feel unfamiliar to what you have seen in Quake 2 – that is those outdoor settings with high cliffs and swampy environs populated with…mum’s the word. Yet on the other hand, there’s still that familiar corridor romping, shoot-anything-that-moves approach coupled with collecting data cards, pushing buttons and so-forth really hasn’t changed much from its predecessor. But that’s not to say all is hopeless as if you really enjoyed Quake 2 and wanting more of the same with extra spices, then The Reckoning certainly won’t disappoint you.