Quake II

Quake II
Developer(s)	id Software Additional work by: Hyperion Entertainment AmigaOS Raster Productions (N64) Hammerhead (PS) Various (Linux)
Publisher(s)	Activision
Distributor(s)	Macmillan Digital Publishing USA (Linux)
Director(s)	Kevin Cloud
Designer(s)	Kevin Cloud American McGee Tim Willits
Programmer(s)	Brian Hook George John Cash IV John Carmack
Artist(s)	Adrian Carmack Kevin Cloud
Composer(s)	Sonic Mayhem
Series	Quake
Engine	id Tech 2
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, AmigaOS, Classic Mac OS, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Linux, Xbox 360, Zeebo, Dreamcast
Release date(s)	December 9, 1997 Microsoft Windows NA: December 9, 1997 EU: 1997 WW: August 3, 2007 (Steam) Mac OS NA: 1997 Nintendo 64 EU: February 7, 1999 NA: May 31, 1999 PlayStation NA: September 30, 1999 EU: 1999 Linux NA: 1999 Xbox 360 NA: 18 November 2005 EU: 2 December 2005
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Quake II is a first-person shooter video game released in December 1997. It was developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is not a direct sequel to Quake; id decided to revert to an existing trademark when they were unable to agree on a new name that did not violate another company's trademark.

The soundtrack for Quake II was mainly provided by Sonic Mayhem, with some additional tracks by Bill Brown; the main theme was also composed by Bill Brown and Rob Zombie, and one track was by Jer Sypult.

The game is played in general first-person shooter paradigms, in which the player shoots enemies from the perspective of the main character. The gameplay is very similar to that featured in Quake, in terms of movement and controls, although the player's movement speed has been slowed down, and the player now has the ability to crouch. The game retains four of the eight weapons from Quake (the Shotgun, Super Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, and Rocket Launcher), although they have been redesigned visually and made to function in slightly different ways. The remainder of Quake's eight weapons (the Axe, Nailgun, Super Nailgun, and Thunderbolt) are not present in Quake II. The six newly introduced weapons are the Blaster, Machine Gun, Chain Gun, Hyperblaster, Railgun, and BFG10K. The Quad Damage power up from Quake is still present in Quake II, and new power-ups include the Ammo Pack, Invulnerability, Bandolier, Enviro-Suit, Rebreather, and Silencer.

The single player game features a number of changes from Quake. First, the player is given mission-based objectives that correspond to the storyline, including stealing a Tank Commander's head to open a door and calling down an air-strike on a bunker. CGI cutscenes are used to illustrate the player's progress through the main objectives, although they are all essentially the same short piece of video, showing a computerized image of the player character as he or she moves through game's levels. Another addition is the inclusion of a non-hostile character type: the player character's captured comrades. It is not possible to interact with these characters, however, as they have all been driven insane by their Strogg captors.