The game has an increased emphasis on single-player gameplay compared to previous installments;[9] its multiplayer mode does not support playable bots.

Players at QuakeCon reported the multiplayer gameplay to include elements similar to those in previous Quake games such as strafe-jumping or rocket jumping.

The game follows the story of a Marine Corporal named Matthew Kane who is joining the elite Rhino Squad.

[13] Following the success of the protagonist of Quake II in destroying the Strogg's leader, the Makron, Rhino Squad is tasked with spearheading the mission to secure the aliens' home planet Stroggos.

After performing a number of tasks, such as destroying and capturing Strogg aircraft hangars and defense systems,[15][16] Kane and his remaining squad members make it to the USS Hannibal.

After many setbacks, including the destruction of the EMP device by a Strogg ambush, Kane is left to complete the mission, assisted only by Private Johann Strauss (Peter Stormare) and Lance Corporal Nikolai "Sledge" Slidjonovitch (Dimitri Diatchenko).

In a long and gruesome first-person cutscene, Kane is taken through this "stroggification" process which violently replaces much of his anatomy with bio-mechanical parts.

Before the final controlling neurochip implanted in his brain can be activated, though, Rhino Squad bursts into the facility and rescues Kane.

[19] After escaping through the Strogg medical facility and Waste Disposal plant, fighting off zombie-like half-stroggified humans along the way, Kane is forced to combat his former commander, Lieutenant Voss (Michael Gannon), who has been fully stroggified into a powerful mechanized monster but retains his own consciousness long enough to warn Kane.

The new plan is to directly target the Strogg Nexus Core, a huge centralized brain-like structure which controls the alien forces.

After infiltrating the facility and realigning the data nodes powering the teleporter, and destroying its fearsome "Guardian" creature,[21] Kane reaches the Nexus core.

The binary could be downloaded for free from id's servers and it requires a licensed copy of Quake 4 for Windows or OS X in order to run.

A "Special DVD Edition" was released, including promotional material and the game Quake II with its expansions The Reckoning and Ground Zero.

In Europe, the game was launched in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Benelux territories.

[38] Despite this split in the online community, the offline professional LAN tournaments run by CPL,[39] ESWC,[40] WCG,[41] QuakeCon,[42][43] and WSVG[44] all used Q4Max.

[51] Websites and magazines such as IGN and UGO praised its single-player campaign, graphics and Hollywood voice-acting, but complained that its multiplayer was too much like Quake III's.

[68] The original 2005 Xbox 360 version of the game fared slightly worse with critics when it was released but still received generally positive reviews, scoring 75/100 on Metacritic.

[citation needed] Quake 4 was a finalist for PC Gamer US's "Best Multiplayer Game 2005" award, which ultimately went to Battlefield 2.