Recap / Quake Episode 1 Dimension Of The Doomed

Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned

The first episode of Quake has Ranger traversing the Realm of Earth Magic in order to retrieve the Rune of Earth Magic.

The episode is composed by seven levels, plus a Secret Level: "The Slipgate Complex", "Castle of the Damned", "The Necropolis", "The Grisly Grotto", "Gloom Keep", "The Door to Chthon" and "The House of Chthon". Tropes about the Final Boss of the episode are found in the characters sheet of the game.

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This episode and its levels show examples of:

• Boss Rush: The end of "E1M3: The Necropolis" forces you to face initially two Fiends. After you kill one, another spawns. After two Fiends are killed, a Shambler spawns.
• Call-Forward: The achievement for finding the Secret Level "Ziggurat Vertigo" in the remastered version of the game is called "Vertical Vengeance".
• Cosmetic Award: The 2021 remaster offers the following achievements for this episode:
  • Completing "E1M1: The Slipgate Complex" on Nightmare without firing a shot^{Clarification}  the only weapon you're allowed to use is the Axe nets you "Slipgate Pacifist".
  • Finding the Secret Level earns you "Vertical Vengeance".
  • Completing the episode earns you "Sink the Horror Electric".
• Death Trap:
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: "E1M6:: The Door to Chthon" has a spiked wall triggered after the player enters into a bloody corridor. Killing two Ogres that appear from a Monster Closet is a requirement.
  • Descending Ceiling: Two instances, one of which is a subversion, are located in "E1M3: The Necropolis": the first one near the beginning, triggered after picking up the Nailgun, and the second one at the very end, where before crashing the player, the ceiling is divided in two and the platform rises to the end of the level.
• Gravity Screw: "E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo" has low gravity across the entirety of the level.
• High-Voltage Death: Chthon is killed by a lightning trap in its own arena.
• Kaizo Trap: "E1M7: The House of Chthon" requires you to drop into a pit after defeating Chthon. If you finished the boss fight with less than 5 health and already took the health pack, you're reloading a save or restarting the level. Note that it's not unwinnable, because the player will always start with 5 health on entering a new map.
• Kill the Lights: Picking up the Nailgun in a room in the first level darkens the light & then some possessed soldiers appear to gun the player character out.
• Lethal Lava Land: The other main element of "E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo", aside of its low gravity, is the lava present across the level.
• Monster Closet:
  • In "E1M1: The Slipgate Complex", picking up the Nailgun shuts the lights in the room and opens a chamber in a wall with two Grunts.
  • "E1M2: Castle of the Damned":
    • On your way to the Silver Key, at one point there's a huge wall that opens when you enter the area, revealing four Knights.
    • The end portion is comprised of an U-shaped room with two teleporters to the upper level. The idea of the area is to trigger a mechanism that moves two blocks into two buttons that open the path to the end of the level. Right after the way is opened, a Fiend appears from behind a wall.
  • "E1M3: The Necropolis":
    • There's an U-shaped corridor on the way to the Gold Key where you face an Ogre who's on an upper level. Killing it opens a section of the wall below with another Ogre.
    • After picking up the Gold Key, on your way to the Gold Key Door area, getting into the first intersection has a wall vanishing and revealing an Ogre on it.
    • When you're going to the Gold Key door, after passing the Descending Ceiling Nailgun area, the next turn has a chamber with three Zombies.
  • In the slime pits of "E1M4: Grisly Grotto", just stepping into the bridge opens two alcoves with two Ogres each.
• New Weapon Target Range:
  • There's a room in "E1M1: The Slipgate Complex" where you pick the Nailgun. Right after picking it up, the lights turn off and a wall opens revealing a pair of Grunts upon which you can test the weapon.
  • The beginning of "E1M3: The Necropolis" greets you with a Grenade Launcher. Right after the first corner, the player encounters a trio of zombies, which can only be put down for good by gibbing them with an explosive weapon.
• Sigil Spam: "E1M5: Gloom Keep" features a shadow with the shape of the Quake logo in front of a teleporter alluding to a secret Quad Damage if you enter the teleporter from the backside.
• Spike Shooter:
  • "E1M2: Castle of the Damned" features three of these in one of its corridors.
  • "E1M4: Grisly Grotto" features five of them on the second floor of the outer castle.
  • "E1M5: Gloom Keep" features a column shooting in four directions & a shooter in the lower level of one of its areas, right in the direction of a teleporter.
  • "E1M6: The Door to Chthon" features a pit with these shooters.
• Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: Upon entering "E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo", you're greeted with a Pentagram of Protection. It's the key for one of the level's secrets, but it also comes in handy when dealing with the Ogres and Shamblers scattered across the level.
• Teleporting Keycard Squad:
  • Shooting the button to get the Yellow Armor in "E1M2: Castle of the Damned" spawns two Scrags.
  • Picking up the Gold Key in in the mud area of "E1M3: The Necropolis" spawns several Zombies.
  • "E1M4: Grisly Grotto":
    • Pressing the switch to open the door in the upper level of one of the castles spawns three Scrags.
    • Picking up the Silver Key in the grotto itself spawns three more Scrags, in addition to an Ogre in the second castle.
    • Stepping into the bridge that leads to the exit gate spawns three more Scrags.
  • Picking up the Silver Key in "E1M8: Ziggurat Vertigo" spawns two Scrags in the room prior.
  • Just stepping into "E1M5: Gloom Keep" spawns two Scrags.

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