Snarboo

@Snarboo

they/he

I play video games!

Snarboo @Snarboo3/12/2024, 4:04 AM

This is a post about Quake Champions

Well, kinda.

The current course of history has made me realize that there are a lot of experiences that exist right now that might not exist in the immediate future. This is less FOMO and more trying to appreciate things as they are until they aren't.

Quake Champions is one such game. It's sat neglected in my Steam library since near launch. I'm not sure why I never installed nor played it til now. Maybe I didn't think my laptop could run it, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for arena shooters. Whatever the case, I decided to take the plunge.

And it's good! It's exactly the sort of arena shooter I've been craving for a few years now. Not too fast, not too slow, fun champion abilities that mix things up but can also be turned off if it's not your cup of tea. It could have been the Street Fighter 4 of its genre: flashy, fun and paced just right for casuals, with enough hardcore trappings to please the OGs. Instead, it ended up being a game nobody wanted for a myriad of reasons, and is now burdened with the cruftiest, stankiest MTX bullshit imaginable.

But in this brief moment in time? I'm enjoying it enough to invest 20 to 30 hours into it and move on.

#id software #Quake Champions #fps #ps sorlag best girl and clutch best mining robot

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in reply to @Snarboo's post:

An Adorable Sergal @adorablesergal3/12/2024, 4:25 AM

QC's movement is like at this... sweet spot of bunnyhopping at freeway speeds but also keeping tight air control. I think out of all the shooters I've enjoyed in the past, QC's movement mechanics feel the best to me.

It can play as a vanilla experience just fine and not lose anything at all. It's a solid shooter, and it's a shame that it's overlooked. The voice actor Gianni held a few meetup fragfests in QC a while back before twitter really went to shit; it was fun as hell.

And yeah, it's always sat in the back of my mind what will happen to these live service games once they've thoroughly run their courses. It's inevitable I guess, and tonight's definitely a night to think about digital mortality, but it'll suck to see QC vanish into the digital aether regardless.

Snarboo @Snarboo3/12/2024, 4:40 AM

The movement is a big part of why I like this game! Off the bat, on the ground and in-air movement feels right. Strafe-jumping is easy enough to do, allowing you to pick up tremendous speed very quickly, but also requires the right rhythm to maintain.

Each Champion has their own unique movement options that drastically change the game, too! Clutch is my favorite example of this: as long as he moves without strafing or jumping, he builds up speed, and if you do decide to jump, he gets access to air dashes that allow him to cover a ridiculous amount of ground in no time flat.

And yes, seeing so many games, good and bad, unceremoniously die made me realize that I needed to get in on this one before they pull the plug. I'm very glad I did, as the arena shooter market is dire at the moment. I've been praying for a fighting game style revival, but it has yet to come.

Here's hoping some intrepid indie company gives us the arena shooter we so rightly deserve. :p

Sotenga @Sotenga3/12/2024, 2:07 PM

I'm on the fence whether or not I should just plunk down for all the champions since I'm not sure how realistically long I'm going to play it for, but I did like what I sampled that one night. At least when the AI wasn't totally Lightning Gunning me with unfailing accuracy. :V

Snarboo @Snarboo3/13/2024, 2:11 AM

I've wondered the same thing. $20 is reasonable for the amount of game on offer, to the point that I'm not sure why they bothered with MTX in the first place.

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