Quake 4 PC finished, dated

The PC version of Quake 4 is finished and will be released in the US on October 18th, id Software and publisher Activision announced today. The fourth instalment in the FPS series has been in development at Raven Software under series creator id's supervision and is also due out on Xbox 360 later this year.

Indeed, with X05 taking place today and tomorrow in Amsterdam (have we rammed that home enough yet?), we may even see its release date confirmed late on tonight.

Although Activision UK has yet to officially confirm a release date, many retailers on this side of the Atlantic are quoting a late October date and that would be in-keeping with id's usual determination to launch it games as near as possible to simultaneously worldwide.

Quake 4 picks up at the end of Quake II - the last true single-player Quake title - with players taking on the role of Rhino Squad marine Matthew Kane as he lands with his squad on the rather unpleasant world of Stroggos, where nasty cybernetic horrible-men stalk the land spewing laser-crap out of their arms and so forth.

Players will team up with squad-mates as well as fighting on their own and will also be able to command various vehicles. The game's multiplayer mode, not to be confused with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - the Doom III engine multiplayer title in development at Splash Damage - has been influenced by Quake 3 Arena and features bounce pads as well as rocket and grenade jumping.

Typically id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead had something to belt out about the game's completion, declaring, "Quake is dialing it up to 4.0 on the Richter Scale with this new chapter in Earth's war against the Strogg." We'll be raving about it for years apparently. "Raven about it," one might say. If one wanted to get a "fired" comment slapped on the end of the paragraph. [Fired - Ed] Theeere it is.

Check in with our Quake 4 pages for more detailum.