The rise of Quake's Brutalist Jam
Quake might be pushing thirty years old, but its community is still finding fresh ways to keep this classic shooter alive. One of the coolest examples is the Quake Brutalist Jam, a mapping event where creators build new levels inspired by brutalist architecture. Think towering concrete walls, sharp angles, and moody lighting wrapped around old school demon blasting.
The first Brutalist Jam arrived in 2022 and delivered 35 maps bundled into a single mod. It was followed by Brutalist Jam 2 in 2023, which added another 30 stark and stylish levels for retro FPS fans to chew through.
Those releases already felt like major community efforts. But Brutalist Jam 3 takes everything to a completely different level.
This year’s event kicked off in October and has exploded in popularity. The organiser, known as Makkon, has confirmed that the third Brutalist Jam has pulled in a massive 75 map submissions from the Quake community. For comparison, the original Quake campaign shipped with 37 maps in total. Brutalist Jam 3 is literally more than double the size of the base game.
That is not just a fun trivia fact. It shows how active the Quake mapping scene still is, and how much creators are willing to push an old engine with new ideas, art styles and gameplay rules.
New weapons, enemies and systems built just for the Jam
One of the big reasons Brutalist Jam 3 has attracted so much attention is that it is not limited to vanilla Quake gameplay. Instead, the event is built around a custom ruleset and feature set created just for this Jam.
The most important gameplay change is a brand new armor system inspired by Quake Champions. In the original Quake, armor worked in a more limited way. In Brutalist Jam 3, armor is fully stackable at all times. That means you can keep piling on armor pickups and really beef up your survivability, which opens room for more aggressive enemy encounters and higher damage fights. For players, that usually translates to faster, more intense combat where you are encouraged to stay on the move instead of hiding.
The weapon lineup has also been redesigned. Instead of just reskinning old guns, the Jam’s custom arsenal includes:
- A pipe wrench for up close melee brawling.
- Twin nailguns to chew through enemies with rapid fire projectile spam.
- A shotgun that fires bouncing projectiles, similar in feel to a Flak Cannon, letting you bank shots around corners or into tight spaces.
These weapon tweaks shift how you approach each level. Brutalist layouts usually feature tight corridors, big open atriums, and a lot of vertical space. Having a bouncing shotgun shot changes how you use cover and corners, and twin nailguns make arena style rooms much more frantic.
The enemies have not been left alone either. The Jam features its own custom roster of foes. Some are stylish reskins of classic Quake monsters, giving them a look that better matches the brutalist vibe. Others are entirely new creatures designed specifically for mappers to play with. For players, this means you are not just seeing the same old shamblers and fiends in yet another map pack. You are dealing with enemies that might move, attack or combine in new ways, making combat feel surprisingly fresh for such an old engine.
This kind of custom feature set is part of why the event has grown. It feels more like a mini expansion built by fans than just another random map collection.
Seventy five maps and one massive hub
Getting 75 maps in a single community event is impressive, but there is a catch. Someone has to actually package them into a coherent release. That job falls to Makkon, who now has to build and polish a huge hub system that ties all of these maps together into one playable experience.
Creating a hub map is a long standing tradition in Quake modding. Big projects like Arcane Dimensions use a central area where players can access different episodes or map clusters. Brutalist Jam 3 aims to follow that same idea, but on a much bigger scale.
The breakdown of the content looks like this:
- 43 main maps
- 18 new faces maps
- 14 miscellaneous maps
That is a huge amount of content for any organiser to wrangle. Some community members have suggested splitting the Jam into multiple releases to make it more manageable. Despite that, Makkon is committed to delivering it as a single package and has already described the task as an insane challenge. For players, that is good news. It means you will eventually be able to download one big mod and explore the entire event without juggling separate packs.
If you do not want to wait until the full set is released, there is already a way to get a taste of what is coming. Makkon has created an introductory map that anyone can download and play. This intro level is designed as a showcase for the Jam’s new features, but it is not just a short tutorial room.
The map includes a dedicated shooting gallery where you can try out the redesigned weapons and get used to their behavior. After that, it throws you into a more traditional Quake style level, complete with combat encounters and a chance to fight the new enemy types. It is essentially a mini demo that previews the tone, pacing and systems that the full Brutalist Jam 3 release will build on.
For retro FPS fans, this Jam is shaping up to be one of the biggest free content drops in years. It combines the nostalgia of 1990s Quake with a modern twist on weapons and armor, all dressed in a strong artistic style that gives the maps a unified look. When the final hub and package are finished, Brutalist Jam 3 will be a must play download for anyone who loves classic PC shooters and wants to see how far dedicated fans can push an old engine.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/quakes-third-brutalist-jam-now-has-a-whopping-75-maps-and-its-organiser-is-working-on-a-hub-to-stitch-them-all-together-this-is-going-to-be-an-insane-challenge/
