The first-person shooter genre has come a long way since the early days of the original Doom and Quake games. Being among the best and most influential FPS releases of the 1990s, the aforementioned franchises continue to make an impact on gaming on the whole. Having said that, the latter has sort of fallen out of the limelight over the years, but the original 1996 entry is still considered a classic, especially among PC fans As such, it's still being used in the modding community, sometimes to recreate entire games.
Created by TheMrBenpulido, "Infernal Stroggos" is a new mod for Quake which essentially "demakes" the entirety of 2005's Quake 4. The modder has "handcrafted" all the levels from the latest entry in the series in the 26-year-old engine, using assets from the original game. While it might not look entirely like the fourth installment, it does show a recreation of the game, with the first game's monsters used instead, and is generally an impressive facsimile, effectively turning Q1 into Q4.
With id Software quietly remastering Quake 1 last year, which came with 4K visuals and a new expansion, the gothic shooter has enjoyed a brief revisit in the spotlight, and there are rumors going around that a reboot or remake could be in development. While Quake 4 did receive good scores upon release, it's largely been forgotten about, with many fans preferring the original entry. The series took a jarring turn for the follow-up, swapping out the grim gothic aesthetic for a more-sci look. Quake 3 Arena also enjoyed some success, focussing entirely on multiplayer deathmatch, something which was becoming ever more popular at the time.
An official Quake reboot could be just what the series needs. In this current era of remakes, remasters, and reboots, fans will no doubt be interested in seeing how the original game would look with a modern coat of paint. Given the huge success of Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, taking another of id's early work and bringing it into the 21st century could help reinvigorate the franchise.
As an early pioneer of multiplayer games, Quake holds a special place in many older gamers' hearts. TheMrBenpulido's mod is proof that the games are still beloved and going strong in the community. The fact that fans are willing to offer up recreations, or in this case demakes, rebuilding the later games, shows that FPS players are keen to keep the series going, especially given that the original is such a classic.
Quake was originally released in 1996. It is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: ModDB