Nightdive's remaster restores all the luster of id's classic. The gameplay stays fast and readable, the new campaign adds welcome content, and the technical performance on Switch impresses. An FPS that hasn't aged a day.
Your verdict
Category
First-Person Shooter4 players16+
Co-op
Description
A marine drops onto a world overrun by the cybernetic Strogg and shoots his way through their sprawling installations. Published by Bethesda, released worldwide in 2023. A varied arsenal, mechanised foes, a new campaign plus add-ons, fast movement, up to four-player multiplayer and relentless action.
Quake II review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
Gameplay
"Masterful"
More measured than the first Quake, this remaster leans on exploring strogg facilities and tight arsenal management, all at a smooth sixty frames on Switch. The gunplay stays dry and clean. The maze-like level design betrays its age and will baffle anyone raised on waypoint shooters, but Nightdive's reissue is exemplary.
A cult FPS from the PC golden age, this title delivers boss duels marrying twitchy gunplay with Lovecraft-tinged Gothic architecture. The Hunter, the gigantic Strogg and the final showdown demand arsenal management, trajectory reading and nimble movement. Absorbing, returning fire from the right angle and exploiting the scenery make these fights a display of raw tension carried by a legendary metal soundtrack.
Better with friends
The arena's frantic pace has lost none of its bite: in four-player deathmatch, frags, dodges and reversals come at a heady speed, where weapon mastery makes all the difference. The co-op campaign offers the other side, tight-knit against the hordes. Built for networked play originally, it shines most locally or when a connection can be arranged, reviving a classic, noisy rivalry one bout at a time.
Is Quake II still worth playing in 2026?
This careful remaster reminds us why Quake II shaped the corridor FPS. The pace is steadier than the first Quake, built on exploring Strogg facilities and managing the arsenal. Nightdive's work adds a brand-new campaign, the add-ons, generous content at sixty frames per second. The maze-like level design shows its age and will disorient anyone raised on the signposted modern FPS. But the gunplay stays crisp and satisfying. For lovers of classic shooters or the historically curious, an exemplary reissue.
