The idea was that this game was going to be a roleplaying style fantasy game with melee focused combat. There was such a different blueprint in the beginning, but John Romero was dismayed to find out that the complexities of creating his dream game just couldn't happen in the timeframe they were on. The game was already behind schedule and the chaotic creation of the game's engine and levels made the atmosphere already toxic. Instead, it was decided that they would bring about a full 3D shooter with a Doom style weapon arsenal. As fun as the original Quake sounds, let's be completely honest, would it have been better?
To be straight forward, Quake created a huge culture of Deathmatching because of its very tight controls and fast paced explosions going off as you drive nails into your opponent. The melee combat would have a lot to live up to. Speaking of nails, that's a perfect place to start, not only did this game bring back the Super Shotgun, but it introduced the Nailgun. If that wasn't enough, they also brought about the Super Nailgun in the same breath. Putting NIN on every nail ammo box was also a stroke of genius.
Among its well known weapons is the Thunderbolt, more commonly known as the Lightning Gun. Hazardous to use in water, but also slightly overpowered, the Lightning Gun brought about a decent replacement for the Plasma Rifle from Doom. If you need to take down a Shambler, use their own weapon against them. It's cool that you start with a Shotgun, but if that's all you have, I hope you know how to strafe.
The Grenade Launcher is a case of acquired tastes. They're obviously not especially accurate, but the grenades do explode as they touch the enemy. This is also true for stupid, stinky ogre grenades! For some people, this is their pride and glory among the weapons. It has its advantages, as it does a ton of damage and has a chance of killing multiple targets in one explosion.
It goes to show that, while they bemoaned creating essentially the same game while mastering Doom beforehand, Quake turned out to be a very different game. It has a similar arsenal, but the many minor differences stack up to a unique experience. While John Romero has stated that the Super Shotgun is his favorite Doomverse weapon, many have cited Quake's introductory weapons as their primary choices. These weapons have been updated and changed to fit future games to great effect.
Quake 3 Arena was the game that really brought some of these weapons back in style. The Lightning Gun and the Grenade Launcher are prime examples of this, but sadly, we wouldn't be getting a new Nail Gun until Doom The Dark Ages. Once they brought it back, though, they brought it back with some serious lavish. The only weapon that never really saw a return was the Axe, which isn't much of a surprise, but it would have been nice to see in The Dark Ages at least.
It is plain to see that Quake had just as much to do with the culture of the FPS genre in Arena Fighting as Doom did. It added weapons for future use and it brought a literal new dimension to the gaming scene back in the 90's while still having a strong following to this very day. The best weapon arsenal among these ID legends would be a laborious task, as all of them have their own balance and pros. The best way to appreciate these weapons is to figure out which ones you'd like to use when you're in a scuffle or an all out battle. Whether it be Doom, Quake or Wolfenstein, choose which weapon you prefer when faced with the challenge of destroying evil. Just remember to destroy it with big explosions and shells, lot's of shells. Virtua Buckshot.
