So, Quake Champions has finally left the closed beta stage and has entered into Early Access.  So what has changed, and is it worth playing right now?

An Overview Of Quake Champions

First, a quick recap in case you missed the first article.  Quake Champions is being developed by Id Software and is a multiplayer only arena shooter.  Regardless of the fresh coat of paint on it, Quake Champions is, without debate, Quake.

This means really fast movement, rocket jumping, and map control.  Player skill also impact things far, far more than which Champion you’re playing.

The Changes

There’s not that many major changes between the Beta and Early Access.  The biggest change, and a critical one at that, is the introduction of a tutorial level.

It’s a fairly simple level, but it does a lot of things right for bringing in new players.

Lending you weapons, exploring levels for shortcuts/secrets, putting pressure on you to switch weapons fast, I can find no fault with the initial tutorial level.

If the other two planned tutorials are of similar quality, they will go a long way towards retaining new players.  It also doesn’t hurt that the tutorial gives a very nice chunk of Favor for renting characters, so a new player is very likely to do it right away.

Other minor (but nice) changes include several new maps and some UI changes.  Specifically, I really like the change to queuing for games.  You can queue for all four game types at once now, though they have Duel ticked off by default.

You can also customize which modes to queue for, so if you’re hankering for some teamwork, you can queue up for just Team Deathmatch or Sacrifice. Finally, there is an option for ranked games now, but it’s grayed out for now.

The official word is ‘end of year’ so we’ll have to wait and see.  Oh, and you can play as the Doom Guy or B.J. Blazkowicz now.  That’s kinda neat!

Loot in the Boxes

The biggest change is that we have a better understanding of what the costs are in the game.  Currently the Champions cost $8 to permanently unlock or 5000 Favor to rent for 24 hours.

Even with as casual as I am, I have no trouble earning 5k in a few matches, so playing the game for free is a very viable option.

That said if you’re interested in having a range of Champions available, you’re really better off buying the currently $30 Champion Pack which is 25% off from the final retail price of $40.

This gets you all Champions now and later, three Reliquaries, and a skin.

Regarding the loot box prices, whether or not they’re a good buy is going to be a personal judgement.  Personally, I’m OK with just buying Backpacks, getting a single cosmetic item for 2K Favor.

For me, the only time it matters is during the match start and end, and that’s not a major issue for me.

The Summary

So is this game worth your time?  Maybe.  If you’re looking for a very fast paced shooter with a very high skill ceiling and can deal with some server issues, then go for it.

However, there are still netcode issues that Id must solve. Balance issues between Champions is still a bit of an issue as well.

Things are improving compared to how things were in the Closed Beta, but there is work to be done.  Personally I feel the issues are tolerable, but your mileage will vary.

This will also be the last time I write about Quake Champions until they launch.  Hopefully everything will be fixed by then.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to eating rockets.

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