id Software's series of gritty, First-Person Shooter 3D games, combining Gothic Punk and Sci-Fi, also noted for their industry leading graphics, their fast paced multiplayer matches, and their placement firmly on the "unrealistic" end of the Fackler Scale of FPS Realism. Quake is the Spiritual Successor to the Doom series, with all that entails.
The games that comprise the franchise are the following:
- Quake (1996)
- Quake II (1997)
- Quake III: Arena (1999)
- Quake III: Revolution (PS2, 2001)
- Quake Live (PC, browser version 2009, Steam free release 2014, Steam paid release 2015)
- Quake Arena Arcade (Xbox 360, 2010)
- Quake IV (2005)
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007)
- Quake Champions (2017 early access; 2022 full version)
Quake was one of the first major franchises to go big with licensing its engine to third parties, creating games like SiN (1998), Soldier of Fortune and Half-Life, as well as later Medal of Honor and Dark Forces titles, and the first two Call of Duty games (and, on a darker note, Daikatana).
Series-wide tropes include:
- Artifact Title: "Quake" referred to the protagonist in the game's early stages, then was the codename given for the main villain in the finished game's instruction manual. In the end, none of the games after the first one make any reference to the name "Quake" in any way.
- The Colored Cross: The first two games have a red cross on the medikit. The third game has green and yellow crosses floating in orbs, and the fourth game changed to a white symbol on a red background
. - Crate Expectations: Crates are very common in the series. They're mostly made out of metal.
- Fall Damage: All the games have varying degrees of how much height a player can fall from before taking damage. The longer heights tend to deal quite a lot of damage, compared to shorter heights before hitting the "no damage" height.
- Have a Nice Death: Courtesy of the in-game console system.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: As per the norm of the games of the era, the Player Characters can carry a lot of weapons at once, as the concept of only carrying two guns wouldn't be popularized until Halo: Combat Evolved.
- In Name Only: II, IV and Enemy Territory are nominally sequels to each other, and that "plot" line has nothing to do with the first game which in turn has almost nothing to do with Arena. Indeed, id originally wanted the "Strogg" arc to be an entirely new franchise, but ultimately decided the game needed the brand recognition which the "Quake" name would bring. (Also, their original idea for a franchise name was already trademarked by someone else.) Quake III: Arena's (and later Quake Champions) story makes an attempt to unite the different id universes until that time into a single story arc, not that anyone noticed.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Unsurprising, seeing how it's a
Spiritual Successor to Doom. Everything from monsters to players will explode in a shower of blood and gibs provide they receive enough damage. - Minimalistic Cover Art: The front covers of every primary entry in the series mostly feature the Quad Damage logo.
- Not the Intended Use: The rocket launcher. Its intended use is of course to make Ludicrous Gibs of groups of enemies. Many players instead choose to use it to make massive Sequence Breaking leaps.
- Rocket Jump: The Trope Codifier. Speedruns of the first two games will show you how high a player can rocket or grenade jump, given the right equipment. Even some secrets in Quake required doing a grenade jump.
- Shout-Out: The series as a whole has a page.
- Slash Command: One of the earliest series examples, if not the earliest.
- Splash Damage: The rocket launcher. Against fast targets, it's actually more effective to aim at the ground near rather than trying to hit directly.
