Strogg Invasion

Humanity's last stand against the Strogg on the alien world of Stroggos.

Quake II is a 1997 first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the Quake series, following Quake. Developed over the course of a year, Quake II was released on December 9, 1997. In contrast to the first game, which featured a combination of science fiction and fantasy elements, Quake II entirely drops the latter elements and is set during humankind's war against a rogue alien race known as the Strogg, half-mutant half-machine creatures whose homeplanet, Stroggos, is the target of the humans' invasion force.

The player takes the role of a space marine (referred to as Bitterman) as he crash-lands on the planet and, being the last survivor of his squad, is tasked with completing a series of missions to cripple the Strogg and end their plans to conquer Earth. The game's storyline is continued in its expansions, including one tying in Quake II and the first game, and Quake 4. The game's heavy metal soundtrack was provided by Sascha Dikiciyan.

Quick Facts

Faction: Strogg
First appearance: Quake II
Setting: Stroggos
Protagonist title: unnamed space marine
Nature: half-mutant half-machine creatures

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.

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, larger levels, a hub system, and non-hostile captured comrades. The multiplayer portion can be played as free-for-all deathmatch, cooperative, 1 vs 1, or Capture the Flag. Eight specifically designed deathmatch levels were added via a free patch.

Did You Know?

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.
The game's development team consisted of 13 people.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Strogg Invasion?

This term describes the conflict where the cybernetic Strogg race attacks Earth, prompting humanity to launch a counter-offensive against their homeworld, Stroggos. This campaign forms the core narrative of Quake II.

What kind of enemies are the Strogg?

The Strogg are a hive-minded faction of half-machine, half-mutant creatures that capture organic life to convert them into cyborgs for their army. They serve as the primary antagonists throughout Quake II and later appear in Quake 4.