Look, we already went and slapped a big fat 10/10 on Quake Remastered when it dropped almost exactly two years ago, calling it “a stellar port of one gaming's true greats and an essential addition to your Switch library.” So what on Stroggos are we meant to say about this absolutely cracking remaster of its absolutely cracking sequel?

Well, let’s not beat about the Big Gun here, this really is another flawless victory for retro FPS fans, a truly exhaustive revamp of Quake II that respectfully tweaks and refines the core gameplay of a bonafide classic whilst making sure to pack in every bit of extra content we could have possibly asked for…and then some.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Let’s kick off with the main campaign itself and, depending on who you ask, this is perhaps the very best Quake game in terms of its single-player offering (Quake 3 is the still MP maestro, in case you were wondering). During its development, Quake II wasn’t actually intended as a sequel to Quake at all until it became clear that using the successful IP would help improve those all-important sales figures. And so, what we’ve got here is a game that’s an entirely separate narrative entity to the Lovecraftian monster-slaying of its genre-defining predecessor, with dank medieval mazes and cosmic horrors replaced by bleak sci-fi environs and biomechanical mutants.

The core gameplay remains much the same at heart, of course, but it’s also seen meaningful improvements in several key areas. Not only do you get a bunch of sexy new guns to play with in the form of the BFG, Railgun, and Chaingun, but enemy AI has also been enhanced, your Strogg enemies running away, hiding, regrouping and even ducking for cover. Add to this a bunch of clever death animations which see dying foes fire off a few rounds in a desperate last-stand attempt to take you out, and you’ve got an experience that just plays that little bit better overall.

In terms of the multiplayer aspect of Quake II, you also had new additions in the form of a fully co-op campaign, 1v1 battles, and a stupidly addictive Capture The Flag mode which this writer may or may not have wasted an almost illegal amount of his youth fully addicted to. In its original form, Quake II was a beast, then, but with this remaster that beast has gone fully Super Saiyan.

Just like 2021’s Quake revamp, Nightdive Studios – who recently served up one of 2023’s very best games on other platforms in the form of System Shock – takes the reins here, and once again shows why it is the current master of the retro remaster. The team has expertly enhanced the original game’s graphics with fancy new lighting and shadow techniques, added detail and depth to scrubbed-up enemy models, thrown in an incredibly useful compass mechanic, and lots of lovely new touches to enemy behaviour that long-time fans are sure to note and love. Have you seen how the Parasite can get his tongue stuck to surfaces when it misses you now? Lovely, lovely stuff.

Besides this souped-up version of the original campaign and multiplayer modes, for the princely sum of £7.99 / $9.99 this package also includes the game’s original expansions, The Reckoning and Ground Zero, Quake II 64, and a brand new episode from MachineGames in the form of Call of the Machine. We’ve spent a bunch of time with this new content already and it’s as good as you’d expect from the Wolfenstein devs, classic Quake gameplay and level design that feels perfectly in line with the OG, whilst also bringing a more modern eye for level flow and environmental design into play.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

There’s also been a huge effort put into accessibility options, with the game letting players know right from the get-go that it’s got a menu packed full of helpful aids to toggle on and off as needed. What else have we got here? Well, there’s a wealth of split-screen and online multiplayer and co-operative elements to dig into, crossplay with all other platforms to ensure you can always find a match, support for custom maps and mods, an enhanced soundtrack, and — yes — HD Rumble and gyro controls have both been added to the mix. Indeed, as with Quake Remastered, unless you just can't live without 4K/120hz, we reckon the Switch version is actually the best one to plump for by virtue of portability, plus those gyro controls (also available on the PlayStation versions) as they just give you that little bit of extra fine-tuning to your aiming that makes pulling off headshots feel better than ever with a controller.

Besides all of this, you also get the iD Vault which is packed full of concept art and models of weapons, enemies, and pickups which can be rotated and zoomed as you switch between the original and enhanced graphics. Oh, and dive into the development menu here and you get to check out some super rare unused assets, original console print ads, and even fully playable demos of the game from E3 and ECTS 97.

Of course, in terms of the Switch, the most important aspect here is always going to be performance and, in both docked and handheld modes this port looks and sounds fantastic. The frame rate sticks resolutely to 60fps across the campaign, all DLCs, and that all-new MachineGames episode. Even in the brief tryout of split-screen mayhem that we’ve managed so far, we didn't have any issues whatsoever.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Whatever way you slice this one, what we've got here is the definitive version of a classic FPS and one of the most impressive remastered packages we've ever had the pleasure of diving into. Quake fans will devour this, and short of packing in some real-world de-ageing tech to return us to our twitch-shooting '97 prime, we really are struggling to think of anything negative to say about this fantastic slice of retro shooter sweetness. It's time to jump into the boots of Bitterman and take the fight to the Strogg once more.

Conclusion

Quake II arrives on Switch in the form of one of the very best remasters we've ever had the pleasure of digging into. With enhanced graphics and audio, refined AI, all-new animations, the iD Vault, a brand new episode, and all previously released DLC in the mix — plus the N64 version — this is an exhaustive package that Quake fans are absolutely gonna eat up. Add in crossplay support, gyro controls, and lots of co-op and competitive ways to play locally and online, and you've got an absolutely outstanding release.