When it comes to the world of First-Person Shooters, Doom is often cited as being the King, Queen, and in the case of Doom 3, the Jester. Veterans of the genre know that whilst Doom and its gorgeous pixels paved the way, it was Quake that really got the ball rolling. Bigger, meaner, chunkier, and filled to the brim with all manner of awesomeness, nothing quite hits like Quake. Heck, not even sequels to Quake hit like Quake.
The year 2021 brought all manner of things - most of them pretty dire. Thankfully it also gifted us a full remaster of Quake for modern PCs and consoles, allowing even the greenest of players to experience one of the all-time greats. Jam-packed with single-player and multiplayer content, Quake has a little something for everyone. It also has a bunch of swanky armaments to wrap your head around.
8 Axe
The Axe is, unfortunately, the worst-performing weapon in Quake. It clocks in with underwhelming damage numbers and a fairly lackluster attack speed. The real killer though? It's an Axe. You've got to get your power-armored frame up-close and personal to deal any damage. In singleplayer you will be outranged by practically every enemy, and the amount of swings required to down any you do get close to is embarrassing.
Take this weapon into multiplayer and you'll be looking at a five-hit kill time against guys packing zero armor. Considering everyone starts with a Shotgun in Quake, you are at a significant disadvantage at all times. If you find yourself brandishing nothing but the Axe, consider finding literally anything else - or death. Death works too. On the plus side, the Axe looks pretty darn metal.
7 Shotgun
Despite being the de facto workhorse of every "boomer shooter", the Shotgun in Quake is a tad on the shrug-worthy side. Similar to the Axe, Quake Guy starts with this pump-action noisemaker. It deals slightly more damage than the Axe, but not by a huge margin. The benefit of the shotgun is an overabundance of ammunition, range, and accuracy. In singleplayer this will be your go-to weapon, until you find something a bit more impressive.
Multiplayer is where this weapon falls off a cliff. Like with singleplayer, the Shotgun is more or less a pistol with a fancy coat of paint and a kick-ass sound effect. It'll take five shots to down an unarmoured enemy, and honestly, that is way too slow. If you find yourself in any kind of duel with this thing you're going to be on the losing side without some serious skill.
6 Nailgun
One thing we miss about the nineties is the creativity involved in taking a basic concept and making it suitably rock and roll. Assault rifles are so last week, a gun that fires lethal nails is where it's at. Sporting a brutal rate of fire, the Nailgun can down most enemies in Quake without much hassle. In single-player, ammo can be a bit of a pain to find, especially in the quantities required to make use of the Nailgun, but when you are fully stocked, standard enemies are going to feel the hurt.
Multiplayer is a different beast, unfortunately. One aspect of the Nailgun that dulls its luster is bullet speed. Sure, you are firing 600 nails per minute, but those nails move slowly. When players start circle-strafing, its accuracy tanks, fast. When you are missing so many shots, its low damage numbers start to become apparent. Killing someone in 12 hits is simply too slow.
5 Double-Barrelled Shotgun
Now we are getting somewhere. The Double-Barrelled Shotgun will drain a tonne of ammo, but in return, you are dealing more than twice the damage of the standard Shotgun. The trade-off is a noticeable reduction in firing speed, so if you miss, you're going to be stuck. In singleplayer, this is your go-to weapon for practically every standard encounter. It deals hefty damage, ammo is plentiful and if you are quick on your feet you can down most enemies pretty easily.
In multiplayer the gun holds up pretty well too. Being able to pop an unarmoured enemy in two shots, you become quite the threat when you have two smoking barrels filled with hot lead. Again, missing can be heavily punished and there are significantly better weapons circulating the arena, but you can't go wrong with a fistful of buckshot.
4 Super Nailgun
As cool as the Nailgun is, its downsides really hold it back. The Super Nailgun more or less fixes all of those issues - or at the very least tries to. Dealing twice the damage as its un-super variant and with an even higher rate of fire in addition to its increased bullet speed, the Super Nailgun more than lives up to its name. In singleplayer it's a grinder. Things stand in front of you, they die in seconds. It's as simple as that. When you want something dead, but don't want to resort to the heavy ordinance, the Super Nailgun is there for you.
In multiplayer, the gun does work too. Killing in just six hits, it's possible to melt an enemy before they even know you are there. The increased, well, everything, makes it far more reliable in a scrap too. You still need to lead your opponent when firing during a strafing war, but it's noticeably more forgiving. A top-notch weapon.
3 Grenade Launcher
The Grenade Launcher fires at a decent rate, can be bounced around corners and deals massive damage to practically everything. You aim, you shoot, they die. Simple as that. It also comes with the added benefit of exploding enemies, making it invaluable against the immortal zombies that won't stay down to regular fire. Ammo is shockingly plentiful throughout most of Quake, allowing you to carry this beast around more often than you'd expect to.
Every other weapon up until this point has been pretty bad, or good with drawbacks when it comes to multiplayer. The usual suspect is the average time to kill. The Grenade Launcher bypasses all of that nonsense. If you hit an enemy with a grenade, and they have no armor, they die - simple as that. Grenades take a while to get used to, unfortunately, and this instant death shot requires you to hit an enemy dead on. Easier said than done in a straight-up scrap, but the damage more than makes up for it.
2 Thunderbolt
Who needs explosives, nails, and shells when you can harness the unbridled power of Zeus? You point your Thunderbolt at something and watch as they die pretty much immediately. Firing as fast as the Super Nailgun but dealing significantly more damage, the Thunderbolt is a frighteningly powerful gun that more-or-less falls into the "Super Weapon" category. Ammo is understandably limited, but there's still plenty to mess around with.
In multiplayer, the Thunderbolt almost reigns supreme when it comes to rapid-firing weapons. Not only does it outshine the Super Nailgun in damage, but it matches its fire speed, has higher bullet velocity, and is noticeably more accurate. It's a terror up close, but it also shines at a distance if you feather the trigger a bit. It's like if a chaingun and a sniper rifle got together during a thunderstorm.
1 Rocket Launcher
As good as the Thunderbolt is, nothing compares to the devastating power of the Rocket Launcher. Packing a decent fire rate, excellent accuracy, fast-moving projectiles, and enough to punch to kill even the toughest enemy in a few blasts, the Rocket Launcher is the go-to death dealer at most ranges. Sharing ammo with the Grenade Launcher means there's ammo practically everywhere, so if you wanted to run this beast as your workhorse, well, you probably could. You can even rocket jump to get around levels quicker and, in some cases, skip them.
When it comes to multiplayer the Rocket Launcher tells a similar tale. One-shot kills and plentiful ammo make this the go-to weapon for practically every engagement. Knowing where this thing spawns on every map in Quake is a must if you want to rank highly as he who controls the boom, dominates the room.