Mixing things up is the character system. There are
9 Champions, each of which has different starting
and maximum armour and health values, movement
speed, and two abilities - one passive, one active.
Some characters are recognisable from earlier Quake
titles - the Quake Ranger returns from the first game,
and he’s joined by Quake III: Arena’s Sorlag, Anarki,
and Slash, along with a few newcomers. Walking
eyeball Orbb is, sadly, nowhere to be seen.
The health and armour differences are small enough
to feel relatively meaningless in moment-to-moment
action, especially when characters are buffed with
extra health and armour pickups, but the abilities
make for some pretty divergent tactics and play
styles. Ranger, for example, can hurl an energy orb at
an opponent. If it hits them, it inflicts heavy damage;
if it doesn’t, he can teleport to it instead, enabling him
to teleport behind enemies. Lizardgirl Sorlag belches
out a stream of acid, inflicting damage over time
on any opponents hit by the acid and also leaving
a damaging area of effect on the ground; perfect
for booby-trapping items. Lumbering mountain
Scalebearer picks up speed as he runs, inflicting
damage on people he dashes past at top speed.
Yes, that is the Quake Ranger, back again.
As for how Quake Champions will be monetised -
the base game will be free to play, but you’ll only have
full access to Ranger as a character unless you pony
up some real money (or rent characters with in-game
currency). You’ll also be able to buy loot packs with
both real money and in-game cash, and Bethesda is
keen to stress that you don’t have to spend any money
in order to enjoy the game.
Characters don’t level up or gain abilities with
experience. instead there’s a For Honor style cosmetic
system in place; leveling your account up gains you a
loot box which contains random cosmetic upgrades,
from colour schemes to armour segments. These
can only be applied if you own a character, but do
allow for some pretty extensive customisation. That
said, the characters aren’t exactly the most engaging
bunch; the designs are fine visuall y but they don’t
come across as especially strong. Its hard to imagine
them finding any traction outside the game itself,
unlike Overwatch’s gaggle of characterful heroes.
It’s possible Clutch is stepping onto a green tightrope...
or it could be a laser.
The sparsity of game modes is Quake Champion’s
weakest link at present, but there’s plenty of time
before it comes out of beta for this to be expanded
upon. Currently games are limited to Deathmatch,
Team Deathmatch, and Duel, an intriguing 1-on-1
mode where each player takes three characters into
the fray and has to defeat the other player’s team.
This mode brings the character differences to the
forefront, but it’s not for everyone. There’s also the
newly added Sacrifice, a 4-on-4 game mode with
objective points to dominate.
Elsewhere, everything about Quake Champions is
solid, if sometimes unspectacular. The matchmaking
is fairly swift and effective (with a few caveats), the
net code is stable and robust, and there’s a sense
that everything ‘just works’ as it is, impressive for a
game still in beta. The character models look good
and animate well, though the stage designs are a
little bland and lack the artistic touches that would
really make them stand out - they function just fine
as levels, they just aren’t very memorable, and there
are currently only three of them in the game, shared
across game modes.
But it’s how it feels that will determine Champions’
success and its status amongst the wider Quake
community - free-to-play Quake Live still has
thousands of active players - and in this regard,
Champions excels. Even with the new character
traits, this still feels like Quake.
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