Antimatter Bomb

 

Containment Pod

“	This is the most powerful of all the new toys. It has the power to destroy rooms full of enemies. Basically you place it, activate it, and then... run for your freakin' life!	”
—Ground Zero Manual

The Antimatter Bomb is a powerful device which is used in Ground Zero to destroy the Gravity Well. It is a key item, and Stepchild's primary objective in Unit 4 is to use the Strogg's own production facilities to create one. In the 2023 remaster, a different version of the Antimatter Bomb - a weapon of sorts, rather than a key item - can appear in multiplayer.

Creation and deployment

The Bomb is made of Antimatter which has been made out of the Thaelite ore seen earlier in the game. The ore is processed, cleaned and compressed to create the Antimatter core, which is then stored in a special vault at the end of the production line and can only be removed when a containment pod is provided. The device that creates containment pods is found within the Ammo Depot.

Once Stepchild has created an Antimatter Bomb, access to the Gravity Well is granted and the player can ride the Gondola there to confront the Black Widow Guardian who protects it. Once the final boss is defeated, all that remains to do is to place the Antimatter Bomb in a terminal in the Gravity Well to ensure its destruction, and then escape.

The resulting explosion not only annihilates the Gravity Well, but also causes a massive chain reaction. A crewman aboard the Deimos tells Stepchild that "nothing is surviving on that rock", although given the events of Quake 4, it can be assumed that the Deimos crewman was overstating or misunderstanding the situation somewhat, and while the chain reaction did cause major damage on the planet, the bulk of the Strogg forces (and their most important facilities, including the Nexus) survived.

Playstation version

In the Playstation version of Quake II, a similar item called the Antimatter Core appears as a key item in the Gravity Booster level. The player is ordered to defeat the Guardian, retrieve the Antimatter Core and use it to destroy the Gravity Booster.

A-M Bomb

There is a second version of the Antimatter Bomb called the A-M Bomb. Whereas the Antimatter Bomb is a key item that is placed into the terminal, the A-M Bomb is a weapon of sorts that can be used in combat. In the original Ground Zero, the A-M Bomb can only be obtained by cheating, but in the 2023 remaster it can be spawned in multiplayer; there is an option in the multiplayer setup to allow or disallow it.

When used, the bomb is thrown in front of the player as if he/she had dropped an item. The containment pod opens up to reveal the Antimatter within, and it will explode ten seconds after being deployed - although it can be detonated sooner than that if it is hit by gunfire. The explosion is extraordinarily powerful - no player standing nearby is likely to survive. At long range - the other end of a room, for example - it is still likely to cause severe damage.

While this weapon doesn't directly appear in single-player, testing shows that it is capable of destroying the Jorg (8000 health) or the Black Widow Guardian (5800 health plus power shield with 750 cells) with a single blast if placed close enough, thereby we can assume it causes thousands and thousands of damage at close range. The Call of the Machine expansion includes a boss enemy named Modir with 24000 health, and the A-M Bomb seems to cause 10000 damage if placed close to him.

Gallery

A-M Bomb

Antimatter