Despite being barely five years old, Quake Champions feels like a game from the late 90s; however, this is most likely intentional, as Quake fans value speed and skill over all else, even at the cost of engaging mechanics and quality-of-life enhancements.
While I am sure even the most diehard Quake fan appreciates the nicer visuals that Quake Champions brings to the table, making Quake Champions into a fully modern shooter is impossible without removing much of what makes it a Quake title, and the developers have opted to cater almost exclusively to their target demographic at the expense of everybody else.
Because of this, it makes it very difficult to recommend Quake Champions to new players, as without nostalgia being a primary motivator, there is no reason to play Quake Champions with so many better games currently available.
Image credit Quake Champions - Published by id Software and developed by Bethesda Softworks.
BJ Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein) and Doomguy (Doom) appear in Quake Champions, popular characters owned by Bethesda Softworks, part of the Xbox Game Studio Family.
While most Quake Champions’ keybinds are exactly what you would expect from a “modern FPS”, replacing the traditional reload function (R) with a weapon switch function is jarring. I would often instinctively go to reload only to find myself holding a weapon that I disliked or was unsuitable for the current engagement, such as a long-ranged weapon in a close-ranged encounter or vice versa.
While this is not a deal breaker, it’s certainly non-standard game design and something which feels alien in a time when most first-person use similar keybinds to improve a new user’s experience and level the playing field, if only by a small margin.
Image credit Quake Champions - Published by id Software and developed by Bethesda Softworks.
Quake is an iconic franchise, and as such, some players of Quake Champions have been playing some iteration of the game since the 1990s, meaning their reflexes (though dulled with age) are far superior to that of the average gamer.
Because of this, new players are likely to die hundreds of times before they can top the leaderboard in most lobbies due to a lack of skill-based matchmaking that puts top-tier competitive players into lobbies with total novices.
While it is 100% possible for a new player to “git gud”, it’s not possible to do so without a massive time commitment, something which honestly seems like a waste of time when you consider that Quake Champions is barely clinging to life, despite its inclusion in PC Game Pass.
Image credit Quake Champions - Published by id Software and developed by Bethesda Softworks.
While Quake Champions is free-2-play, access to its full roster of Champions is not, and free players are forced to play with a limited roster, purchase the champions pack or grind to unlock additional heroes, something which PC Game Pass (and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate) subscribers do not have to endure, with all Champions being unlocked automatically for no additional fee.
While the roster is still small and has not grown in the last several years, having access to all available Champions does make Quake Champions more enjoyable and opens the game up to a wider demographic, with each champion being better suited for a different playstyle.
Image credit Quake Champions - Published by id Software and developed by Bethesda Softworks.
Quake Champions is a shooter video game developed by Bethesda Softworks and published by id Software, it was released on 22 August 2017 (Early Access) and it is Free-2-Play.
Quake Champions is available exclusively on PC.
Quake Champions receives minor updates several times a year, but it is not being actively developed at this time.
As of January 2024, around 5,000 people play Quake Champions on a fairly regular basis.
Quake Champions suffers from low activity, meaning that while off-peak matchmaking is possible in populated regions, finding full lobbies in less populated regions is unlikely outside of peak playtimes.
On average Quake Champions takes between and hours to complete.
Estimated completion times are derived from various sources and may vary based on the skill level of each player.
Quake Champions does not support cross-platform multiplayer.
Quake Champions offers the following matchmaking options:
The Quake Champions in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Quake Champions is rated PEGI 18+ and contains the following:
While it’s worth a play for long-time fans of the Quake Franchise, I cannot recommend Quake Champions to the average gamer, who will be little more than target practice for veteran players who have likely played little else but some iteration of Quake since the 1990s.
