Strogg Invasion

Lore & Background

The Strogg are an alien race that captures and converts organic creatures into horrific cyborgs for their war machine. In Quake II, the player assumes the role of an unnamed Marine taking part in a desperate counter-offensive on the alien home planet of Stroggos. Most of the other soldiers are captured or killed as soon as they approach the planned landing zone. The marine survives because his personal capsule is hit by enemy fire during the descent, causing him to crash far short of the landing zone. He fights his way through the highly industrial Strogg city, destroying strategic objectives along the way, and finally kills the Strogg leader, the Makron, in his orbital base (a space station called 'The Makron's Base' or 'The Orbital Base'). The game's storyline is continued in Quake 4, while the expansions The Reckoning and Ground Zero require the base game to play and do not connect the Quake II storyline to the original Quake.

In Their Own Story

The air on Stroggos hung heavy with industrial smoke and the stench of oil. Through the cracked visor of his helmet, Bitterman watched the horizon ripple as Strogg patrols moved through the city like metallic locusts. There was no sound of engines, only the hum of their cybernetic limbs. He tightened his grip on the railgun; today was not about defense anymore. It was about striking back at the source before the Strogg completed their plans to conquer Earth. He had to steal a Tank Commander's head to open a door, call down an air-strike on a bunker, and ultimately kill the Makron in his orbital asteroid base.

Reader's Guide

The conflict begins with 'Operation Alien Overlord', a desperate attempt to end the war by launching a counter-offensive on the alien home planet of Stroggos. In Quake II, the player assumes the role of a Marine named Bitterman who crash-lands on the planet after another Marine's personal capsule collided with his upon launch. The player is given mission-based objectives that correspond to the storyline, including stealing a Tank Commander's head to open a door and calling down an air-strike on a bunker. CGI cutscenes are used to illustrate the player's progress through the main objectives, although they are all essentially the same short piece of video, showing a computerized image of the player character as he moves through game's levels. Another addition is the inclusion of a non-hostile character type: the player character's captured comrades. It is not possible to interact with these characters, however, as they have all been driven insane by their Strogg captors. The game features much larger levels than Quake, with many more wide open areas. A hub system allows the player to travel back and forth between levels, which is necessary to complete certain objectives. Bitterman fights his way through the highly industrial Strogg city, destroying strategic objectives along the way, and finally kills the Strogg leader, the Makron, in his orbital asteroid base.

Did You Know?

• The Strogg's homeplanet is named Stroggos, and it is the target of humanity's invasion force in Quake II.
• The player character in Quake II is an unnamed space marine who survives because his capsule is hit by enemy fire during the descent.
• The Strogg leader is called the Makron, and the marine kills him in his orbital base, a space station rather than an asteroid.
• Quake II's storyline is continued in Quake 4; the expansions The Reckoning and Ground Zero require the base game to play and do not tie the game to the original Quake.
• The game's heavy metal soundtrack was provided by Sascha Dikiciyan.