Gameplay
Quake 4 is very much the standard FPS. Start a map. Get an objective to push a button somewhere else in the map. Kill everything in between. There are some attempts at mixing things up (vehicles, a special monster or two, traps), but most feel tacked on, without any interesting gameplay mechanics.
Also, your view gets knocked around when you take fire. That is wrong. If a game is tactical, where suppressing fire is supposed to actually suppress, then that is appropriate. In a raw action game like Quake 4 which has no cover mechanics, it is not.
Theatrics
The game makes some attempt at making you feel a part of a war effort, with occasional AI teammates (who don't just get themselves killed) and frequent communication to let you know what's going on in other parts of the fight. The acting and directing are fine. The fact that the marines are often named after developers is simultaneously cute and distracting. And no one has any personality, except this guy.
He's a coward and a pompous jerk. Aren't you glad they decided that this was the one character worth developing?
Aesthetics
Built on the DooM 3 engine, the game does shadows, metal corridors, and glowy stuff quite well. Make sure to check out the larger pictures as the thumbnails don't do the graphics justice.
One pet peeve I'd like to share about the aesthetics is the messed up flashlight. I find it much more immersive to have my player shadow on, but the flashlight effect emanates from behind the players arms and weapon (I guess it's chin mounted. :P ), which means you can't look down with it when the player shadow is enabled. This is a downgrade from DooM 3.
Final Score
3 of 5
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