It’s been a few months now since the enhanced version of Quake II arrived on the Nintendo Switch and Bethesda is now rolling out its very first “major update” for this re-release.
New vibration effects have been added for controller users across all platforms, some quality-of-life improvements have been made to both Quake II and the 64 versions, and there have been a stack of changes to multiplayer. And to top it off there are a bunch of balance changes and bug fixes.
Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Bethesda:
Enhanced Quake II re-release – first major update (3rd October 2023)
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Added controller vibration effects when taking damage
- Restored Always Run in the Input Options menu, with separate options for controller and keyboard
- Save and load menus will now indicate which campaign a save is from
- The Compass, Drop CTF Tech and Use Grapple actions can now be mapped as custom binds from the Input Options menu
- Added toggle for Underwater Warp in the Gameplay Options menu
- Increased the window in which input is disallowed after disengaging the weapon or inventory wheel to prevent erroneous look input or accidental item/weapon deselection
- Disabling View Bob in the Gameplay Options menu bobbing results in fewer residual head bobs
- Added missing Tank animation
- Improved Compass objective navigation throughout various places in Quake II, The Reckoning, Ground Zero, and Quake II 64
- Skipping cinematics now requires the Action key/button to be pressed instead of any key/button
- Added an extra chain segment to the Plasma Beam and Grappling Hook when using higher FOVs
- Improved cases where momentum would be lost when traveling up stairs
- Proper drowning sounds are now used based on selected player model
Multiplayer
- Added ability to load quick saves and manual saves in online co-op without having to back out to the lobby
- Bot chat can now be disabled from Multiplayer Options menu
- Added match browser filters and the ability to sort by ping in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
- Raised the maximum number of visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu from 20 to 50
- Excluded full servers from visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
- Disabled Quake II 64 physics changes when playing Quake II 64 multiplayer maps
- Enabled Spawn Furthest by default in competitive game modes
- Enabled Auto Join Teams by default for team-based game modes
- Raised default Frag Limit to 30
- Set multiple cvars as cheat-enabled, disallowing hosts to use them when cheats are disabled
- Updated Q2CTF2 (Stronghold Opposition) and Q2CTF3 (The Smelter) to better reflect the original versions of these Capture the Flag maps
PC and Xbox
- Added support for PC and Xbox consoles to play on LAN together
PC
- Capped maximum FPS to 1,000 prevent possible engine anomalies at higher frame rates
- Prioritized Saved Games directory over game install directory when basepath is changed
BALANCE CHANGES
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Increased Railgun damage from 100 to 125
- Monsters will no longer dodge shots coming from the side or behind
- The slime and lava traps in The Slimy Place and The Frag Pipe can no longer be avoided
- Turrets no longer do extra damage when blind firing
- Killing a Brain while its chest is open will now always count as a kill
- Monsters will no longer open nearby doors immediately after spawning
- Fixbots will abort healing when staggering from pain
- Berserker:
- The Berserker’s attack can be dodged by jumping when the slam occurs
- Added a visual tell to indicate when the Berserker’s jump is being charged up
- Added an additional 100ms delay before the Berserker jumps after it is fully charged
- Reduced slam attack damage
Multiplayer
- Removed ladder sounds from multiplayer for balance reasons
BUG FIXES
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Reduced vision cone size on monsters waiting in ambush to fix some cases of accidental trap activation
- Power shield will no longer reactivate after picking up ammo if it was manually turned off
- Power-ups will no longer leave a phantom pickup after a player dies
- Fixed crash when a soldier tries to use a run attack against no player
If you haven’t already tried out Quake II on the Switch, check out our Nintendo Life review. We called it an outstanding remaster and is one of the best remasters on the Switch.
It’s been a few months now since the enhanced version of Quake II arrived on the Nintendo Switch and Bethesda is now rolling out its very first “major update” for this re-release.
New vibration effects have been added for controller users across all platforms, some quality-of-life improvements have been made to both Quake II and the 64 versions, and there have been a stack of changes to multiplayer. And to top it off there are a bunch of balance changes and bug fixes.
Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Bethesda:
Enhanced Quake II re-release – first major update (3rd October 2023)
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Added controller vibration effects when taking damage
- Restored Always Run in the Input Options menu, with separate options for controller and keyboard
- Save and load menus will now indicate which campaign a save is from
- The Compass, Drop CTF Tech and Use Grapple actions can now be mapped as custom binds from the Input Options menu
- Added toggle for Underwater Warp in the Gameplay Options menu
- Increased the window in which input is disallowed after disengaging the weapon or inventory wheel to prevent erroneous look input or accidental item/weapon deselection
- Disabling View Bob in the Gameplay Options menu bobbing results in fewer residual head bobs
- Added missing Tank animation
- Improved Compass objective navigation throughout various places in Quake II, The Reckoning, Ground Zero, and Quake II 64
- Skipping cinematics now requires the Action key/button to be pressed instead of any key/button
- Added an extra chain segment to the Plasma Beam and Grappling Hook when using higher FOVs
- Improved cases where momentum would be lost when traveling up stairs
- Proper drowning sounds are now used based on selected player model
Multiplayer
- Added ability to load quick saves and manual saves in online co-op without having to back out to the lobby
- Bot chat can now be disabled from Multiplayer Options menu
- Added match browser filters and the ability to sort by ping in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
- Raised the maximum number of visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu from 20 to 50
- Excluded full servers from visible matches in the Multiplayer/Online/Join Match menu
- Disabled Quake II 64 physics changes when playing Quake II 64 multiplayer maps
- Enabled Spawn Furthest by default in competitive game modes
- Enabled Auto Join Teams by default for team-based game modes
- Raised default Frag Limit to 30
- Set multiple cvars as cheat-enabled, disallowing hosts to use them when cheats are disabled
- Updated Q2CTF2 (Stronghold Opposition) and Q2CTF3 (The Smelter) to better reflect the original versions of these Capture the Flag maps
PC and Xbox
- Added support for PC and Xbox consoles to play on LAN together
PC
- Capped maximum FPS to 1,000 prevent possible engine anomalies at higher frame rates
- Prioritized Saved Games directory over game install directory when basepath is changed
BALANCE CHANGES
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Increased Railgun damage from 100 to 125
- Monsters will no longer dodge shots coming from the side or behind
- The slime and lava traps in The Slimy Place and The Frag Pipe can no longer be avoided
- Turrets no longer do extra damage when blind firing
- Killing a Brain while its chest is open will now always count as a kill
- Monsters will no longer open nearby doors immediately after spawning
- Fixbots will abort healing when staggering from pain
- Berserker:
- The Berserker’s attack can be dodged by jumping when the slam occurs
- Added a visual tell to indicate when the Berserker’s jump is being charged up
- Added an additional 100ms delay before the Berserker jumps after it is fully charged
- Reduced slam attack damage
Multiplayer
- Removed ladder sounds from multiplayer for balance reasons
BUG FIXES
-All Platforms-
General Gameplay
- Reduced vision cone size on monsters waiting in ambush to fix some cases of accidental trap activation
- Power shield will no longer reactivate after picking up ammo if it was manually turned off
- Power-ups will no longer leave a phantom pickup after a player dies
- Fixed crash when a soldier tries to use a run attack against no player
If you haven’t already tried out Quake II on the Switch, check out our Nintendo Life review. We called it an outstanding remaster and is one of the best remasters on the Switch.
