Ray tracing helps iron out some of Quake 2's more tedious moments and just generally make its spaces more interesting to explore. I got lost in the hallways more than once, and would've spent way more time wandering in vain without the lights to guide me. Unlike Quake 1's standalone levels, Quake 2 uses a hub design, where you're frequently backtracking through previous areas after completing a secondary objective. The colorful lighting isn't just for show-it quickly became the way I navigated the corridors of the Strogg base, remembering I needed to pass through a striking red room to get back to a previously locked door. Playing Quake 2 RTX absolutely gives Quake 2 a different feel, but I think it uses the technology in ways id's developers would've tried themselves if they could have back in 1997. This changes what it's like to explore the nooks and crannies of the Strogg base, giving it a bit more of the horror vibe id would later go for in Doom 3. Where there isn't an in-world light source, you have to supply your own. For example, Nvidia added a flare gun into the game to make it easier to see in the dark-a vital tool in Quake 2 RTX, because the dark is now really dark. Just look at this difference between a couple rooms:īut after a few hours, it started to seep in that this stuff wasn't just eye candy. It wields ray traced lighting like an artist who's just been miraculously cured of color blindness, drenching one corridor in purple, another in sickly green.
QUAKE II RTX KEEPS LAGGING SOFTWARE
If there's one thing id Software games absolutely never needed, it's subtly.Īnd Quake 2 RTX is not subtle. And it gets in the way of the satisfying flow from one headshot to the next. "Subtle" for the time was probably referencing the fact that some enemies will double over in pain when you shoot them, which in 1998 passed for realism but in 2021 is a little comical when it happens every single time.
QUAKE II RTX KEEPS LAGGING PC
PC Gamer called it "the most sensational and subtle shooter ever" in a 1998 list of the 50 best games of all time, where it took third place. It was still amazing tech for 1997, of course. There are wall sconces and bits of colored lighting here and there, but they never stand out, or cast a glow throughout the room they're in. Quake 2's color palette is dominated by browns and grays, with the occasional exciting bit of glowing red lava. Quake 2 RTX's simple geometry and textures put all the focus on the lighting, and in doing so completely transform the game. The lighting and reflections may look amazing, but everything else is already so detailed it's hard for them to really stand out. In modern cutting-edge games like Control or Cyberpunk 2077, ray tracing is like the shiny cherry on top of a realism sundae.
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