Quake, by
id, is the most convincing argument so far for
video games as an art form. Yes, it was
technically innovative,
but it lives on in my
dreams and
nightmares because
of its brilliant, cohesive, and totally unexpected vision, fully realized when the game is played
online.
Online, players enter a world of identical, brawny vikings
running through narrow corridors of stone and rusted metal
against a soundtrack of screams and grunts. Quake takes the
latent homoerotic fetishism that underpins most video games
to its logical and delirious extreme, nowhere more than in the
"frag" or kill messages, appearing every time a point is scored:
Ninja chewed on Vlad's boomstick
Vlad was nailed by Mick
Ninja ate 2 loads of Vlad's buckshot
Vlad was punctured by Ninja
Mick eats Ninja's pineapple
Vlad rides Ninja's rocket
Ninja accepts Vlad's shaft
Ninja accepts Vlad's discharge
Quake would have been Fassbinder's
favorite computer game.