Rogue Entertainment, the crew behind the original Quake Mission Pack No. 2: Dissolution of Eternity, stopped by the GameSpot offices to show off its next entry into the Quake universe, Quake II Mission Pack: Ground Zero. Based on this very early look, this reporter will volunteer that the crew has come up with a few interesting features that add considerably to the Quake II experience. Here's our quick take on the build we were shown today - stay tuned for a full GameSpot preview in the near future.

　　Ground Zero has cast in a slew of new enemies to grace the center of your crosshairs (and you theirs). New enemies include stalkers, turrets, the Daedalus, medic commanders, carriers, and the ultimate black widow.

　　The stalker assumes a spiderlike form. It can crawl up walls to menace you from the sides and from above. When it gets to ground level, though, it takes on a whole new identity as its AI gives it the ability to leap away from your shots just when you really want to pick him off. And it gets twice as hard to land a shot when he leaps. Its other feature is that it can feign death (it will turn over on its back when it gets close to "death"). If you don't hear the death cry, frag him, or he'll sneak up behind you as you walk away.

　　Turrets sit on walls and ceilings. As you enter a room they will begin fragging you with either lasers, machine gun fire, or grenades. The Daedalus is a hovering Icarus-like enemy with a modified laser2 and a power shield to ward off your simpler weapons. Out of all the enemies that we saw, the carrier was the most threatening. Looking like a small battle cruiser from an anime movie, the carrier uses several types of weapons including a rail gun. If you try to sneak up behind this massive machine, you'll quickly see that it has a set of rocket launchers there to welcome you. Its deadliest attack is that it can deploy several flyers quickly. Flyers are normally an already tough kill, but with the added power of the carrier, your single-player experience may be cut a little short.

　　New weapons to grace the second expansion pack include a chain saw, a negative light disruptor, an ETF rifle, and a plasma beam. The chain saw is Rogue's response to the lack of a melee weapon in Quake II. In about two quick sweeps it can make sloppy joe out of almost any opponent. Like any other melee weapon, it requires no power to run. The disruptor uses a new type of negative light blast to take out enemies. Rather than have a standard blast that shines off the walls, you see a dark cloud erupt from your weapon. The reason for the weapon is that many deathmatchers can see others from their blast. The negative light adds an extra strategy option for those looking to sneak up on an opponent. The ETF rifle (or Explosive Tip Flachettes) looks like a really slow blaster - but with more kick and a lot more bass. A plasma beam sends a powerful energy-gobbling beam to burn into enemies and knocks camping enemies from perches or into lava pits.

　　New add-ons to the pack include infrared goggles that allow you to better locate power-ups and creatures, double power-ups alongside the quads, new explosives, more spheres in addition to the popular vengeance sphere, and the new doppelganger.

　　The new explosives for the game include more-accurate proximity mines that explode as an enemy walks by, new tesla mines that pop up and attack as an enemy walks past, and a new anti-matter bomb that wipes out everything in its radius after four seconds.

　　One of the big things that the Rogue crew seems to want is more weapons that help rip through armor. Rogue's president Jim Molinets said that the reason for the armor-intensive weapons was due to many deathmatchers bulking up their armor all the time. Rogue thinks the best way to make the armor-bulking strategy less effective is to bring armor piercing weapons into the arsenal.

　　Spheres in the game still include the popular vengeance sphere from Dissolution of Eternity and new defender and hunter spheres. Vengeance spheres will attack enemies as you take heavy hits. A defender sits as your wingman to help assist you in taking down an enemy. A defender only lasts until you kill one enemy, though. A hunter will wait beside you, and as someone takes you out, it'll hunt down your killer anywhere in the level. The added bonus of having a hunter track down your enemy just makes your death a little less painful.

　　On to the doppelganger. The doppelganger looks like your character but without a weapon. Say you're being chased and want to corner your victim attacker. As your attacker runs into a room and begins shooting the fake you, the real you can take him out. Hidden within the doppelganger is an option after a 30-second period to either explode or launch a hunter or vengeance sphere to pick up where it left off. Interesting, eh?

　　One of the game's biggest features is its AI. Gone are the enemies that "stand on a ledge for you to just pick off." Enemies in Ground Zero will leap down from their perches, hunt you down throughout the level, and do their best to take you out. The levels are designed with a larger track, so if you run past an enemy in an attempt to just get to the next level, the enemies will follow you (unless you lose them around some quick corners). Enemies will have also learned to strafe, jump, and duck to avoid being shot.

　　Ground Zero is due out by late summer. It will add fourteen single-player levels and ten to sixteen deathmatch arenas. We were shown some of the massive multitiered deathmatch arenas, and they looked very engaging.

　　Look for an upcoming official preview from the GameSpot preview team soon. And remember, any part of the game that we were shown today could change during the game's final tweaking.