John Romero Discusses Why id Software Made Quake so Fast

While modern first-person shooters tend to air on the grittier, somewhat more down-to-earth side, with player movement speeds more akin to reality, there was a time when games of this nature were notable for allowing gamers to zip around the map at break-neck speeds. Take the original Quake game, for example. Quake is perhaps one of the best FPS games ever made, and rightly so, too. Not only was it a great successor to developer id Software's highly influential Doom series, but it also helped usher in true 3D modeling in shooter games. Now, ex-id rock star developer John Romero has recently spoken about the gothic game's sheer speed.

According to an interview with PC Gamer, Romero has gotten round to answering the question of why Quake is so fast, something that he and the rest of id Software have perhaps been asked by fans for years. The answer given is seemingly quite typical of what fans would come to expect from the young, rebellious studio. Romero says that the team wanted to do something that games weren't doing at the time. In this instance, most other games were quite slow, so Romero said he wanted to do the opposite and make games as fast as possible, to show what gaming could be.

In the interview, Romero does say that Quake isn't the fastest game they've made. That title is reserved for id's earlier work, namely Wolfesnstein 3D, followed by the first Doom game. That said, the moody mid-90s FPS is still pretty slick, and that slickness has carried forward into future projects, with 2017's Quake Champions being one of the most fast-paced games in recent history, alongside other heart-pumping titles, such as Killing Floor 2 and Overwatch.

Romero also said that, despite it being considered quick, he finds the original Quake to be a little "sluggish" when compared to other games he helped make, adding that he still plays Doom deathmatch from time to time. He also name-dropped a couple of newer titles that have not lost that speedy FPS philosophy. Games such as Ultrakill, Dusk, and even Doom Eternal are evidence that studios are still wanting to put out first-person shooters that subvert the more sluggish pace of the modern era.

It seems as though he enjoys rekindling the past projects he and early id Software helped bring to the fore, and eventually influence a whole generation of games. With Romero still works on maps for the original Doom games, there is evidently still a lot of love he wants to give to his past endeavors. And while he might not find Quake quite as fast Doom or Wolfenstein 3D, many fans still consider the 1996 game to be a rapid, fast-paced title.

Quake Remastered is now available through Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One.