If you say the word Quake, gamers immediately get thoughts of Nail Guns, Rocket Jumps, and brown textures – lots of brown textures. Id, Raven, and Activision would like you to return to the world of Quake, but unlike Quake III, this game is a true sequel to 1997's Quake II.

As someone who's been playing id software games since the Wolfenstein 3D days, it's been intriguing to watch shooters go from genre diversion to one of the most compelling reasons to play games on a computer.

The single-player is great fun, but the uninspired multiplayer leaves a lot to be desired.

Sharp single-player campaign; Some of the best graphics around; Weapon upgrades make you rethink how you use your arsenal along the way

Multiplayer sticks too close to Quake III's blueprint; Kind of a resource hog; Vehicle sequences are a little too basic

Quake IV presents a satisfying mix of its predecessors to fans of the series...

id Software is well known around the PC community and now wants to make a presence on the Xbox 360. id Software is among the elite FPS developers in the industry and have a long list of creditability to their fame.

Quake 4 takes place in a future in which a race known as the Strogg is cutting its way through the galaxy attacking one world after another. Well, we humans will have none of that and attack the Strogg with the full brunt of our military, and the hammer to the Strogg's anvil is the Space Marines.

Quake 4 arrives on the Xbox 360 and all of its next-gen processing glory and gore. Built on the Doom 3 engine for super-hot graphical prowess, this time out ye olde Quake features both a single-player Strogg hunting single-player story and the intense arena action we've come to expect from the...

ups: Intense gameplay; good addition to the sci-fi/horror genre; great presentation

downs: Been there; done that

Earth is under siege by an alien race. The Strogg are cybernetic warriors--a mechanical frame and decaying body parts stabilized by flesh consumed in a systematic annihilation of other species and civilizations.

Age Rating Mature 17 In Quake 4 you play as a space marine named Matthew Kane who has recently been assigned to Rhino Squad. In keeping with firstperson shooter storyline tradition Kane doesnt speak but the marines around you will more than make up for the lack of chatter coming out of Kanes lips.

...and your feet are all twisted in the sheets... You ever had one of those dreams? The kind where weird, seemingly random things keep happening to you? The whole thing has some sort of constant stream of [sub]consciousness to it, but not one that really matters.