Call of the Machine is a brand-new campaign introduced into the Quake II Remaster that was released on August 10, 2023. It was designed by MachineGames, who also created the Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine campaigns that are in the Remastered release of the original Quake from 2021 (though the former was actually created 5 years prior to the Remaster, for Quake's 20th Anniversary).
The campaign's formula is identical to that of Dimension of the Machine, in that these units can be tackled in any order the player desires, and once all Units are complete, a portal opens up within the hub level which takes the player to the final level of the campaign. More similarities to Dimension of the Machine include a high degree of difficulty (especially on Nightmare) and unusually high enemy counts in some maps. However, while Dimension of the Machine did not make use of the weapons and enemies introduced in Quake I's expansions Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity, many of the weapons, power-ups and enemies from Quake II's expansions The Reckoning and Ground Zero do return in Call of the Machine - see the Content chapter below.
Soundtrack from Quake II 64 is also present in some levels. Furthermore, after each unit ends, there is no interval or cut scenes like in Quake II and its expansions. It just takes the player back to the Gateway.
On some occasions, the music changes in some levels. Many levels feature the ambient track 'Swarmed' from Quake II 64 and then music kicks in once the Player progresses through the game.
Plot[]
A lone Marine named "The Machine" onboard a space vessel (which acts as a hub level) must deploy 6 different Marines to 6 different locations in order for them to collect a data disc contained within each unit and then transfer the information stored within them back up to the vessel. Using this collected data, The Machine must then open up a portal leading to the mysterious Strogg-Maker, travel through to its realm, and put an end to its reign once and for all.
Units[]
- Strogg Gateway
- OPERATION: Laser Eyes
- OPERATION: Wastelands
- OPERATION: Corpse Run
- OPERATION: Firewall
- OPERATION: Ruined Earth
- OPERATION: Darkest Depths
- Temple of the Creator
Content[]
Most of the enemies from Quake II, The Reckoning and Ground Zero make an appearance in Call of the Machine, with a few exceptions: the Iron Maiden, Beta Class Iron Maiden and Repair Bot are not present, nor are some of the bosses. However, many of the bosses in Call of the Machine are based upon bosses encountered in previous Quake II campaigns - see the "Boss enemies" chapter below.
The Phalanx, Plasma Beam, Disruptor, Tesla Mines and Chainfist appear, but the Ion Ripper, ETF Rifle, Proximity Launcher and Trap do not. The Dualfire Damage and Double Damage power-ups also return, but the Defender Sphere does not.
Furthermore, a new enemy known as the Gunner Commander is introduced, the Arachnid from the PSX version of Quake II makes an appearance, and a surprise enemy also appears from a different Quake game...
Certain enemies in Call of the Machine exhibit different behaviour or health values compared to previous Quake II campaigns on an individual basis. For example, some (but not all) Tank Commanders have been upgraded with homing rockets, and some individual Tanks, Tank Commanders and Medic Commanders are equipped with power screens. On the other hand, some Beta Class Gladiators and Brains are encountered without their usual power shields/screens, and some Icarus, Mutants, Berserkers and Stalkers are encountered with less health than usual.
Enemy appearance statistics[]
| Enemy | Easy | Medium | Hard/Nightmare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light Guard | 536 | 585 | 591 |
| Shotgun Guard | 164 | 165 | 155 |
| Machine Gun Guard | 74 | 74 | 78 |
| Ripper Guard | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hyperblaster Guard | 76 | 84 | 87 |
| Laser Guard | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| Enforcer | 147 | 168 | 166 |
| Gunner | 60 | 73 | 77 |
| Parasite | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Berserker | 50 | 52 | 54 |
| Stalker | 26 | 26 | 29 |
| Gekk | 22 | 24 | 25 |
| Barracuda Shark | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Flyer | 61 | 61 | 61 |
| Technician | 94 | 102 | 107 |
| Icarus | 32 | 39 | 43 |
| Daedalus | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Mutant | 95 | 107 | 113 |
| Brains | 11 | 14 | 16 |
| Medic | 15 | 16 | 16 |
| Gladiator | 30 | 35 | 35 |
| Beta Gladiator | 54 | 62 | 64 |
| Tank | 47 | 50 | 49 |
| Tank Commander | 13 | 13 | 15 |
| Gunner Commander | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Medic Commander | 6 | 10 | 11 |
| Super Tank | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arachnid | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Turret | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Surprise enemy | 3 | 3 | 3 |
The surprise enemy is (spoiler alert).
Boss enemies[]
Aside from the enemies listed above, Call of the Machine includes many boss encounters. Most of these are based upon bosses from Quake II and its expansions. However, many are named individually, some have differing health values, and some behave differently (for example, the Garbage Carrier can spawn Stalkers instead of Flyers). Furthermore, a new feature of Call of the Machine is that the health of the boss enemy is displayed for the player to see. If a particular enemy in Call of the Machine has a health bar, it appears in the table below instead of in the table above.
| Boss enemy | Based upon |
|---|---|
| Bloodstarved Mutant | Mutant |
| Commander | Tank Commander |
| Strogg Supertank, Janitor, Overburden, Underminer, Servitor of Creation | Super Tank |
| Gate Warden, Servitor of Creation | Hornet |
| Strogg Megatank | Beta Super Tank |
| Ancient Carrier, Strogg Carrier, Garbage Carrier | Carrier |
| Makron, Children of Makron, The System Administrator | Makron |
| Modir | (spoiler alert) |
| Masters of the Machine | (spoiler alert) |
Credits[]
- Operation: Laser Eyes were made by Christian "CZG" Grawert.
- Operation: Ruined Earth were made by Jerk Gustafsson.
- Operation: Darkest Depths were made by Thomas Carter.
- Operation: Corpse Run, secret maps (except Ruined Earth's), Temple of the Creator, and Tutorial were made by Andrew Yoder.
- Operation: Wastelands were made by Aivis Ozols.
- Operation: Firewall were made by Anton Eriksson and Chris Hodgson.
- MGDM1: Misty Heights was made by Michael Hyll.
- Strogg Gateway (hub) was by Kevin Dunlop.
Trivia[]
- The Machine's callsign can be spotted on the front of the crashed pod behind them at the beginning of the hub map, Strogg Gateway.
- Iron Maidens make no appearance in this campaign.