My Quake Champions hands-on was short and not-so-sweet. That isn’t a criticism of the game, really, more a criticism of my sluggish reflexes and un-Quakeable hand-eye coordination. I placed ninth out of 10 players in a 5v5, and I hope that the anonymous player who was worse than me recovers from that debilitating headwound real soon. In short, I was bad at Quake Champions . But Quake Champions is not bad.
The Pax East 2017 demo for Quake Champions puts players in a traditional deathmatch set in the new Blood Covenant map based on the classic “ T he Camping Grounds” map from Quake III Arena. It plays fast, the way Quake games should play. The dizzying verticality is definitely there, with death and mayhem coming from above almost as often as from right around the corner. And death comes from one of nine different champions. Here’s the name, stats and ultimates for each.
Ranger
100 HP
50 Armor
320 Speed
Ultimate: Dire Orb
Scalebearer
150 HP
100 Armor
270 Speed
Ultimate: Bull Rush
Visor
125 HP
75 Armor
300 Speed
Ultimate: Piercing Sight
Anarki
75 HP
50 Armor
320 Speed
Ultimate: Injection
Nyx
100 HP
25 Armor
330 Speed
Ultimate: Ghostwalk
Sorlag
150 HP
150 Armor
270 Speed
Ultimate: Acid Spit
Clutch
150 HP
150 Armor
280 Speed
Ultimate: Barrier
Galena
125 HP
50 Armor
280 Speed
Ultimate: Unholy Totem
Slash
100 HP
50 Armor
310 Speed
Ultimate: Plasma Trail
Fans are likely familiar with Ranger, the champion who will be available by default in the free-to-play format. But the others will be part of Quake Champions suite of characters available to purchase (with actual money or currency earned in-game) in a bundle or a la carte, depending on your commitment and playstyle. In my demo, it seemed as though each character was fairly well-balanced. Everyone was killing me equally. I stuck with Visor mostly, attracted to his robust health bar and ultimate ability that lets him scan through walls in a futile attempt to not get constantly ambushed.
On a surface level, the game looks great. Sharp textures and solid framerates made for a smooth multiplayer experience. Things felt fast and responsive and even if it’s been probably more than a decade since you played Quake (guilty), it definitely feels like a familiar experience. Despite my lack of skill I never felt overpowered or overwhelmed, just a touch slower or sloppier than the foes I ran into. But it’s a testament to a good shooter in that it made me feel like I could and would be better with practice, and not perpetually hopeless. By the end of the match I managed to string together a few kills, and there is definitely strength in numbers. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
The weapons and equipment are what you’d expect. Mid-range assault rifles, up close and personal shotguns, OP rocket launchers and a few others reinforce the importance of map layout and positioning. You don’t start with a great weapon, but you can find one fast if you know where to go. And once everyone knows where to go you get some frantic chokepoint, room rushing combat as people scramble to get the good stuff.
Obviously it’s hard to paint a complete picture of a game with just one 15-minute death match. But having done what feels like 348,734,289,370,897 hands-ons at various cons at this point, I can say it's easy to spot a bad game in 15 minutes. Quake Champions is definitely not that. It’s polished and well-balanced and will probably find a devoted audience. The memory of Quake still beats on in the hearts of many and, if the Steam Charts are any indication, there’s plenty of interest in FPS multiplayer experiences too. The free-to-play model is designed to reach a lot of players and there seems to be enough variety among the champions that you’ll likely find at least one or two that compliment your playstyle if you’re feeling stymied by the Ranger.
It’s a good game with a long legacy being made with love and available for free. The closed beta sign ups are going on now if you’re really curious. No release window has been confirmed yet, but we can expect Quake Champions to release sometime in the next 500 years.
