Quake is a very strange tale within the Doomverse and much of that comes from Quake II and its shaky implimentation. Quake was meant to be a medieval melee fighter where you're going through worlds and fighting monsters. They couldn't come up with the mechanics for that fast enough, so it had to be made into a 3D First Person Shooter because that was what they had the means to do. Quake, despite their intentions, still became an icon of gaming history because of their back-breaking efforts.
The first installment was more along the lines of a Lovecraftian castlescape with an edge of diesel technology. The monsters, the strange soldiers with the rifles and ogres with grenades all bring about monstrous imagery of a certain type. There is a strong sense of atmosphere, especially with NIN playing in the background.
Quake II wasn't meant to be Quake in the first place, they just couldn't come up with another title for it. The story is completely different, and the worlds are a completely different theme. You're Bitterman now, not Ranger. The Strogg are now the enemies, rather than the rusty brown exterior of the first game's opponents. It took on much more of a cyberpunk military feel.
This all comes into sharp focus with the third installment. While Quake 3 Arena isn't the leap in technology Quake or Quake II were, it brought it all together under what Planet Virtua call, the Doomverse. Doomguy, Ranger, Bitterman and even Phobos are all brought into a game with many other horrors and fighters from all over. Arena shooters had already been wildly popular up until then, and Q3 gave it a hardcore game to put gamers into the action and train them up in the true FPS culture!
Then Quake 4 decided it wanted to continue Quake II's storyline against the Strogg, for some reason. There was a lot of charm put into this story, once you step back and look at it for what it is. Though, the real issues with it were more along the lines of their use of time and resources. Quake 4 suffered from a bad case of really wanting to show off their technology in the form of several turret sections, along with hover tanks. The time they invest in these sections really gets ridiculous, especially when they break out the giant spider machines and heat seeking missiles.
While we're happy with our numbered entries, it can't help but seem like Quake Champions was something of a step back. While it was a noble effort to remake Quake 3, it just didn't quite capture that 1999 feel. Quake is a wide selection in the FPS genre, much like Doom in its entirety. With some of the most influential technology in graphics and gameplay, Quake brought the weapons from Doom, upgraded them where needed and brought gaming to a whole other level.
It can be set a case that Doom 4 not only brought the Doom franchise to a new generation, but also enhanced Quake's gameplay for the Doomverse itself. Notice how Doom 2016's internet Arena fighter was very much in the vain of Quake 3. The inclusion of Quad Damage powerups along with many of the Quake arsenal just screams a fusion of the two. The BFG 9000 and 10,000, while a bit differing in overall effect, have still kept their power and potency in tact.
From the Nail Gun to the Super Shotgun to the Lightning Gun, Quake's influence in the ID properties cannot be overstated. Quake retroactively enhanced Doom's lore and gameplay. While Quake's current iterations are lacking, the latest Doom titles tend to lean toward the essence of Doom, while also carrying what made Quake great.
"Boomer Shooters" have made their mark on gaming for a reason. The military shooters of the late 2000's may have had their own place, but to say they "0wn3d" the FPS titles of old would be a bit of a falsehood. Whether their sales were more or not is not the issue. The fact that they release them annually and get sales by default does not make them any greater. It simply means they have more titles to sell. It is far preferable to waiting a good five to six years for one great title, rather than six crappy titles that cut corners and are usually destined to fail. Virtua Snub!
