Many years later, I'm still playing some first person shooters. While I'm still not that great at them, I'm able to have fun with them. Games like Halo 2 and Call of Duty 2 are well-crafted shooters that provide enjoyment in different ways - either by blasting aliens or going through the often used WWII setting. Both games offer fun multiplayer options to gamers, though I only tend to play them with friends and not online (I get annihilated entirely too easy online).

So getting a chance to play Quake 4 was a welcome opportunity for me. I'm one of the few people who actually seemed to really enjoy Doom 3 - I loved the environment and the graphics, all the guns were fun to play with and I thought the flashlight element actually added to the game as opposed to subtract from it. Hearing that Quake 4 would use this same engine from Doom 3 was excellent. Things were even better when I found the game would be out on the 360 - I didn't have to upgrade my PC to play it very smoothly at all.

The graphics are definitely the first thing you will notice when you turn on the 360. You'll see a marine spin into view and then, a few seconds later, see that it is actually half of a corpse. I was upset when I saw the marine at first - I thought it was just an attempt to show off the engine before the game started. Shortly after an opening cinematic, I got to actually jump into the game.

The first thing I found out? Holy crap, I CAN use a flashlight along with a gun. While, as I mentioned earlier, I liked that aspect, it WAS nice to be able to have a flashlight along with my gun. You'll start out with the simple blaster, though it doesn't ricochet as it did in Quake 2. However, it does have a Halo-esque charge shot. This'll be your backup weapon throughout the game (and one that you use shortly after you get a new weapon so that you can build up some ammo first). You'll be fighting your enemy from the past few games, the Strogg.

Each different Strogg that you end up meeting will attack you in a different way but not necessarily look different at range - I found it hard to distinguish between targets at a distant range which, while realistic, definitely adds to the difficulty of the game. Sure, some of the enemies are quite different but there are others that look somewhat similar but have very different attacks. After a bit of time playing, you'll eventually learn how to tell what some of the small differences are, but it will be a bit of an issue until then.

Of course, taking damage isn't all that horrible in Quake 4 - at least when you have your tech and your medic with you. See, they can refill your health and armor for you, so you will find yourself trying to guard them by taking the lead when charging in a room. Sometimes, though, they'll get themselves killed stupidly and you'll lose the ability to be healed by them. And then, at times, you won't have them around. You'll have to shift strategies when they aren't there - you can't charge into rooms anymore. You'll have to be sneaky, find enemies and lure them to you, filling them with bullets once they do appear.

As for multiplayer, you'll have tried and true modes - Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and the like. You'll only have 8 players to play with, but hey - I'd rather 8 players in a game that runs smoothly as opposed to 16 players in a game that is choppy. It ran well for me over a regular cable connection. I didn't play too terribly often, though, to be honest - while it was fun, I, again, wasn't too terribly good at it.

Overall, Quake 4 is a fun game for the 360. While not an innovative first-person shooter, it was a quality experience - good graphics, fun guns, interesting enemies and good multiplayer make for a game that'll last you for awhile - even longer if you're an avid Quake Multiplayer fan. If you're not, at least rent the game - the graphics are good for showing off your 360.