QuakeCon kicks off today, and the folks at Bethesda and id Software are celebrating by dropping a Quake 2 Remaster on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Here’s the trailer.
Nightdive Studios is handling the remaster. They’ve worked on previous remasters with Bethesda, including Doom 64 and Quake.
This comes two years after a similar remaster was released for Quake 1. And just like the first remaster, Machine Games returns to drop a new expansion for Quake 2 called Call of the Machine. This expansion includes 28 new campaign levels and a new Deathmatch map.
The Quake 2 remaster also includes the N64 version of the game. Why is this a big deal? The N64 port had several new levels from the original.
And good news for multiplayer fans. Quake 2 remaster supports online and local multiplayer for up to 16 players and includes bot support. Modern multiplayer features like crossplay are also here.
With Bethesda (which includes id Software) now under the Xbox umbrella of first-party studios, today’s Quake 2 re-release will launch on Game Pass. For other platforms, it’ll be $9.99.
“Enjoy Quake II’s legendary gameplay, preserved and complete with the original soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, now enhanced with widescreen support, restored content previously left on the cutting room floor, visual and performance upgrades to make every muzzle flash and gib-plosion pop on-screen and even new levels,” Bethesda writes in today’s announcement.
Here’s everything included in today’s release:
- The base game including both original mission packs.
- Full online/local multiplayer support.
- New expansion from Machine Games.
- N64 port.
It’s a solid looking remaster and a nice surprise for fans of the franchise.