Strogg Invasion

Lore & Background

Quake II takes place in a science fiction environment set against the backdrop of a war between humanity and an alien race known as the Strogg, who capture and convert organic creatures into horrific cyborgs for their war machine. In the single-player game, the player assumes the role of a Marine named Bitterman taking part in 'Operation Alien Overlord', a desperate attempt to end the war by launching a counter-offensive on the alien home planet of Stroggos. Most of the other soldiers are captured or killed as soon as they approach the planned landing zone. Bitterman survives because another Marine's personal capsule collided with his upon launch, causing him to crash far short of the landing zone. Bitterman fights his way through the highly industrial Strogg city, destroying strategic objectives along the way, and finally kills the Strogg leader, the Makron, in his orbital asteroid base.

In Their Own Story

The air on Stroggos hung heavy with industrial smoke and the stench of oil. Through the cracked visor of his helmet, Bitterman watched the horizon ripple as Strogg patrols moved through the city like metallic locusts. There was no sound of engines, only the hum of their cybernetic limbs. He tightened his grip on the railgun; today was not about defense anymore. It was about striking back at the source before the Strogg completed their plans to conquer Earth. He had to steal a Tank Commander's head to open a door, call down an air-strike on a bunker, and ultimately kill the Makron in his orbital asteroid base.

Reader's Guide

Quake II is a first-person shooter, 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 six new weapons are the Blaster, Machine Gun, Chain Gun, Hyperblaster, Railgun, and BFG10K. The Quad Damage power up from Quake is present in Quake II, and new power-ups include the Ammo Pack, Invulnerability, Bandolier, Enviro-Suit, Rebreather, and Silencer. The single-player game features mission-based objectives, CGI cutscenes, non-hostile captured comrades, larger levels, a hub system, and enemies that show visible wounds after damage. The multiplayer portion can be played as free-for-all deathmatch, cooperative single-player, 1 vs 1, or Capture the Flag. Eight specifically designed deathmatch levels were added via a free patch. Players can choose from three player models (male marine, female marine, male cyborg) and customize skins.

Did You Know?

• Quake II was originally intended to be a new game and intellectual property, with titles like 'Strogg', 'Lock and Load', and 'Load' considered before the team decided to stick with the Quake name.
• The game was developed with a 13-person team.
• Quake II was the first id Software game not released for MS-DOS, running natively on Windows 95.
• The source code for Quake II was released under the GPL license on December 21, 2001.
• An enhanced version by Nightdive Studios was released on August 10, 2023, for multiple platforms.