Both Epic and ID wisely chose to spend the majority of their development time working on the multiplayer aspect of their products. It is no longer acceptable to slap on multiplayer features as an afterthought. Q3A does actually include a single player mode which just amounts to completing a series of multiplayer maps populated by increasingly difficult AI controlled opponents(aka bots). I would even go so far as to say they should have called this practice mode because that's pretty much what it's good for. Unfortunately Q3A is lacking in variety as far as types of multiplayer game modes go. While it does include the usual "capture the flag", "free for all", "team deathmatch", and "tournament" game modes, UT wins in this category with it's added (and extremely fun to play) "last man standing", "assault", and "domination" multiplayer options. As with Unreal, Q3A includes a basic server browser so you don't have to keep alt-tabbing to gamespy to check out different servers. My one complaint with the server browser is the lack of detailed information; there is no way of knowing which players are on any given server or what the exact ip of that server is without connecting. Why would I want to know that you ask? Well since I am using a cablemodem I am bound to get the fastest ping times (30-50ms) if I connect to servers on my local loop... by seeing a list of IPs I can pick and choose local games for top performance. UT wins out again here with very elaborate server descriptions so you know exactly what you are getting into. Having said that, launching a game is extremely easy in Q3A: merely select which server you want to use, and click on the "FIGHT" button and you're off!

You will feel right at home using the Q3A in-game controls. I really like the clean interface style ID chose to go with. Weapons are represented by simple one colour icons and when you pick up a new weapon you will briefly see a row of icons overlaying the game screen representing which weapons you currently hold - just in case you forgot. Ammo is scattered throughout the levels in small crates with the icon of the weapon they are intended to be used with on the side. As you would expect from a company like ID, the visuals are absolutely beautiful. If your machine has the horsepower, you can turn on 32-bit colour mode and prepare to be wow'd. For some reason (a political statement?) ID chose to go with OpenGL only and not Direct3D for Q3A. I have to wonder how this will affect the sales of the game as it leaves out the huge market segment of occasional gamers who don't have the latest $300 3D accelerator card. I was also happy to see that Q3A includes coloured lighting "in all the right places" rather than complete overuse a la UT. I can't stress how annoying it is in UT to be in the middle of a fire fight and be blinded by the sparkle guns and glitter bombs. Two thumbs up to ID for tasteful use of coloured lighting. Another fantastic addition was the small netgraph util which sits unobtrusively in the lower right corner of your screen. For those who are not familiar with the "netgraph" function from previous versions of quake, it's basically a tiny real-time graph that shows you the status of your network connection. If you are getting packet loss, it will show up on this minigraph. You used to be able to access it from the console only but I think it was a great idea to turn it on permanently.

A lot of people will complain that there is really nothing new in Q3A; that it's just another rehash of the same old FPS thing. One of the ways I think Quake 3 is revolutionary is the models. Big, small, sexy, ugly, scary, alien, undead... there's something here for everyone. Not only are they extremely well detailed, but the character animation is leaps and bounds ahead of anything else I've seen. Remember days gone by where your character would skate around the map - legs always moving forward at the same speed regardless of what direction you were moving? Well homey don't play dat now. Each character has its own individual set of animations. For example, when you jump with the grunt he does your basic looking hop, but try one of the other models and they pull off some sort of spin kick/jump or a spread eagled daffy move. There are unique animations for walking, running, and sidestepping. The movement itself is silky smooth and ultra realistic so if you join a game in spectator mode and follow someone around for a while, you will be amazed at how lifelike the character is. Compare this to UT where the models and animation are certainly not BAD but they are nothing we haven?t seen before.

Now on to the sticky subject of maps. I will say right off the bat that UT wins hands down as far as visual variety in maps goes. Q3A levels look very similar to each other and in fact similar to previous quake games. Don't get your panties in a knot though because I found the Q3A maps to be far better designed from a gameplay standpoint. So in other words, UT maps are PRETTY, but Q3A maps are a lot more FUNCTIONAL. I get lost on a regular basis in UT because the maps sprawl all over the place whereas in quake 3 the maps are tight and logically laid out with some rooms clearly engineered for spectacular gibfests. To add to the mayhem, there are now launchpads and teleporters which fire you up into the air so you can reach otherwise unattainable ledges. These things are a hell of a lot of fun, particularly in CTF mode where you will have people catapulting back and forth across the sky, trying to pick each other off in mid air. They also breath new life into the art of "fragging thy persuer" as you can bounce up on a launch pad, then spin around and greet your would-be assassin with a rocket between the teeth.

One of these days I'm going to get around to writing an email to ID to let them know about this little company called Creative Labs that makes sound cards. Seriously, c'mon guys, where's my EAX??? This had the single most disappointing aspect of Quake 3. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect support for the SBLive! from a top tier developer like ID. As with the decision to leave out Direct3D support, I have to ask WHY? Was the game rushed out for Christmas? Is this a political statement? Epic games didn't seem to have any trouble adding EAX support to UT. Bleh. Well I guess I will be resigned to playing with two of four speakers disabled. Speakers or no speakers, the in-game CD audio is pretty ambient stuff but does a good job of creating atmosphere while remaining unobtrusive. One great feature is when you hit an opponent, a soft beep sounds. In other words, you know exactly when you are dealing some damage. This is particularly helpful when you are unloading rockets at the feet of other players to do splash damage. The rest of the sounds are top notch whether it's the high pitched stutter of the plasma gun or the rain of death from the BFG. One thing is for sure - you will be thanking your lucky stars when you hear the rumble or a rocket whizzing by your head as it misses by millimeters.

Weapon balance has always been a bit of a sore spot for FPS games. Can you kill with every gun? Is there one gun that is clearly head and shoulders above the others? ID spent a lot of time play testing Q3A to ensure a fair fight with each and every one of the guns and I think for the most part they succeeded. Mind you there is nothing really new in your quake 3 arsenal, you've seen all of these guns before: shotgun, rocket launcher, plasma gun, and the lightning gun are just some of the toys you will have at your disposal. The BFG has undergone some changes and some would complain it is too powerful. I don't really see this as a problem though as BFG haters can just play on servers that don't have "BFG enabled" maps running. I really like how when you re-spawn or join a new game you start out with a small health bonus and the machine gun. Not only can you do some damage right off the bat with this gun, but the extra health helps avoid a lot of "re-spawn insta-gib" where some sod plants a rocket up your ass 0.5 seconds after you come back to life. One of the weapons I do have issue with is the grenade launcher. Maybe I'm just used to kingpin but this thing seems pretty damn weak. Small splash damage + a short range = 1 useless weapon. Also, where is my grappling hook in CTF play? Man do I ever miss this thing. UT has the "translocator" which is a lot of fun to use and I really wish ID had thrown in some similar "people moving" item or gun(and don't email me saying "There IS a teleporter in Q3!" cause that thing is just lame). The rocket launcher is very fast and delivers a fair punch. One word of warning though: once you've used the Q3A launcher you will never be happy with the "granny launcher" in UT. Snipers and campers will be happy to hear that the good ole railgun is back in all its glory - you can even choose the colour of your blast now. How novel it is to punch holes in some sucker with your "forest green" or "dusty rose" designer railgun... hoho!

OK, so enough about the features, how does it PLAY? In a word.... brilliantly. No other game even comes close to delivering such fast-paced nerve wracking action. The moment you start playing you can tell this game was made by the best in the business. Control is lightning quick and that is a good thing because things happen in a hurry in Q3A. At the beginning you may experience a bit of a frustrating learning curve as "r4iNm4N[IXA]" or some similar /<-r4d cLaN k1d whoops your ass 30 frags to 1 but stick with it - as you start to get a feel for the controls the game becomes more and more fun. The game certainly grew on me and I consider myself a hopeless addict now. Thanks a lot ID! =P

Highs: top notch models, animation is fantastic, super smooth high-speed gameplay
Lows: no EAX sound support, no D3D support, not enough multiplayer game modes

Quake 3 Arena is almost purely a multiplayer game by design and I can safely say that ID has lost none of their magic. This game is beautiful graphically, well-designed and awesomely quick. With all of this said here is the review.

The graphics in Quake 3 are not the most visually stunning graphics that we have ever seen in a First Person Shooter (FPS) but they are damn good. Not only are the levels well textured and without flaw but they run smooth and fluidly on my PII 266 w/ voodoo2. This surprised me as many of the recent games that have been released have been clunky, bloated whales that barely run over 20 fps. Carmack and Cash have obviously put their work into optimizing the engine and making sure that it squeezes every possible frame out of your machine. This game is OpenGl only so if you don't have a 3d accelerator you must go out and buy one. Unlike most FPS games I didn't notice any tearing or random dots which surprised me. Smoke trails are well-rendered and little effects like bullet holes, blood on the walls and tons of gibs help to suck you into the kill or be killed environment. Powerups give you a cool glow and I think that the quad damage is awesome. One of the great things about the Quake series is the ability to customize them completely and Quake 3: Arena is no different. You are able to endlessly tweak the graphics variables in order to get those three extra fps that might give you the advantage. All of the character models are well modeled and the skins are interesting. There is enough variety in the basic model set to give everyone a different look. I personally like the retro Quake 1 model but that's just me. Overall the graphics in Quake 3: Arena are not jaw-dropping but they aren't supposed to be. The engine renders the environment well and keeps a good framerate while doing it.

Sound in a fps is one of the key factors that affects your experience, especially in multiplayer. Quake 3's sound is very well done. The gunshots pierce your ears and explosions rock your chair. Stereo positioning is very well done which helps immensely in determining your enemy's position within the level. A voice tells you when you are in the lead or when you have lost it. It gets a little repetitive when you are jockeying for first place but it pushes you that much harder. The music is not really music in that is just a bunch of sounds thrown together to heighten the suspense level. I didn't try it but I assume that if this is like other ID games you will be able to choose any audio CD as your soundtrack, I personally prefer turning the music off. There really isn't much to say about the sound except that ID has once again done a good job of choosing sounds in order to supplement the graphics and gameplay.

Well this is the real meat of any game and Quake 3 is quite beefy. Quake 3 is fast and furious in both single player and multiplayer modes. The single player mode with bots is a lot of fun as the bots are reasonably intelligent on normal difficulty level and ludicrous on the higher levels. They make perfect sparring partners if you can't play against other people for some reason. I did notice some predictability in the bot's actions but this is to be expected. Overall a vast improvement over the reaper bot that was made for Quake. The bots do not cheat like most bots. They fight each other well and are easily distracted. My only gripe is that they turn and run a bit too quickly instead of staying and fighting. Multiplayer is a different story altogether. It is awesome. Much better than any game I have played so far (I haven't played Unreal tournament). It is quick and fast paced. Unfortunately, I was only able to play with three other people but it was still a blast. ID did an awesome job designing the levels and balancing the weapons. The levels are small and well planned. There is not much room to run and hide and often times you find yourself being thrown into action. I don't mind this as I feel the default machine gun you respawn with is more than adequate to stave off death until a better weapon can be found. This game takes away some of the power of the rocket launcher and I am happy to see it. Every weapon is powerful and sure to deliver an ass-whupping. I found that frag counts were generally much higher as all the weapons seem to take off more health then they did in previous games. Several different gameplay modes such as teamplay also add to the beatdown if straight deathmatch is not enough. Powerups like quad damage, speedup and regeneration all add to the fun and there is always a rush to gain any advantage you came. I also really like the awards that are given at the end of every match. Overall gameplay is quick and furious and I loved it.

This game is very fun and quite addicting. Past that there is not much to say. Little touches are what make this game and keep you coming back for more. I think that the aforementioned awards really added to the fun and I had a great time bragging to my friends after we had finished playing (at 4:00am). The feeling I had when I played this game was the same I had when Quake and Quake 2 first came out. The graphics are smooth and fast, the sound well done and the gameplay outstanding. I can hardly wait to finish this review so that I can return to playing. If you're a Quake nut or love deathmatch, I recommend picking this up, it's a sure win. Well done ID software.