''Malice'' is a

total conversion Video game modding (short for "modifying") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general ''modding''. A set of modifications, commonly c ...

for '' Quake'', developed jointly by Team Epochalypse (which would go on to form

Ratloop Ratloop, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1997 in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to traditional retail game products, Ratloop has also done contract work for various 3D multimedia projects such as ...

) and Quantum Axcess, and published by Quantum Axcess in November 1997 as a commercial game. It would later be bundled with both the original ''Quake'' and the ''Q!Zone'' add-on in the form of the ''Resurrection Pack for Quake'' compilation, distributed by

GT Interactive Atari, Inc. is an American video gaming company based in New York City, and a subsidiary of the Atari SA holding company. It is the main entity serving the commercial Atari brand globally since 2003. The company currently publishes games based o ...

in 1998. ''Malice'', not being a stand-alone total conversion, requires the full version of ''Quake'' in order to be played.

Plot

Set in the 23rd century in the year 2230, the player assumes the role of a

bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvre-chef'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana or bandanna, is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the Human head, head, face, or neck for protective or decorative purposes. The popularity of ...

wearing

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

named Damage. Working for Colonel Bossman and his underground crime syndicate, B.O.S.S., the player is pitted against Bossman's main rival, Takahiro Industries. Takahiro Industries has its own security, too, with an army of guards as well as various sophisticated robots. It is these that Damage has to fight against, going through various futuristic environments in order to assassinate Takahiro himself.

Gameplay

Being a total conversion of ''Quake'', ''Malice'' features a similar gameplay style to that title. The game includes eighteen new levels, fourteen new enemies, various additional items (known as "Toyz" in the game), a new soundtrack, and new weapons. Unlike in ''Quake'', weapons in ''Malice'' can be manually reloaded.

Reception

Press reactions to ''Malice'' were generally high in praise, with the game earning positive reviews from all publications featured. Online publication Adrenaline Vault gave the game 4.5/5 and it won their "Best Addon Award" in 1997. ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'' UK gave the game their "Game of Distinction Award" in 1997. ''

PC Zone ''PC Zone'', founded in 1993, was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as '' PC Leisure'', '' PC Format'' and '' PC Plus'' had covered games b ...

'' also praised the game, noting favourably how well ''Malice'' managed to get away from the original ''Quake'' and awarded the game 80%. ''GamesZone'' praised the environments, and how they reflected real-world settings and not just "an abstract fantasy-techno-horror mixture". They would compare the game favourably to the then recently released ''

Quake II ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the Quake (series), ''Quake'' series, following ''Quake (video game), Quake''. Develope ...

'' demo, and awarded the game 90%.

References

External links

Ratloop: Malice
*
Malice: 23rd Century Ultraconversion for Quake
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malice (Video Game Mod) 1997 video games First-person shooters Quake (video game) mods DOS games Windows games Linux games Classic Mac OS games Acorn Archimedes games Quake engine games Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the 23rd century Multiplayer and single-player video games