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By Contributing Writer Rob Pecknold Rating: Average Quake 3: Arena is pretty much the definition of Master Gamer's Average rating: It's a game that has some things going for it, but it doesn't compel you to keep playing, and it's just not as fun as it should be for one reason or another. Quake 3 is very focused on its online components. The single-player mode resembles a fighting game like Mortal Kombat where you have to fight your way up a virtual ladder and defeat everyone who crosses your path. I know that the Quake series has never been known for its creative story lines, but games like Half-Life and Goldeneye 007 have proven that it's very possible to have a great story and a great multi-player mode instead of just one or the other. The computer-controlled players (or bots) in Quake 3 aren't nearly as smart as the bots in the far superior Unreal Tournament. Unreal Tournament's bots get smarter as you raise the skill level, but they behave a lot like real human opponents no matter what skill level you choose. Quake 3's bots behave very differently in each skill level, so you could find yourself destroying the computer on one level and then getting your butt kicked on the next level like a newbie with a 28.8 modem. The bots also show some embarrassing gaps in logic throughout the game. For example, they will go after pre-placed items and weapons on the levels, but they won't go after weapons that are dropped by other opponents. It's disturbing to see someone run right past a rail gun like it's not even there. While the sound in the game is pretty good all around, the announcer is very annoying. It sounds like they just took a normal guy's voice and bumped it down a few octaves (which they might have actually done). The overall sound experience would have been better if they had hired a voice actor with the appropriate voice for the role. Regardless of what you think about its gameplay, Quake 3 is the kind of game that will make you proud to own a $250 graphics accelerator. For all their technical achievement, the curved surfaces are barely noticeable in the environments, but the graphics are very bright, colorful, and generally pleasing to the eye (even if the majority of the color comes from blood and entrails coating the walls and floors). My main gripe with Quake 3 is that it's just not fun after a while. The network code is great, the bots are passable, and the arenas are detailed and interesting, but the game is just not fun for me. After my 200th mindless kill, the whole experience started to blend together and the thrill started to fade away. It takes a lot more than killing things repeatedly to keep me entertained over the long run. John Carmack, the lead programmer of the Quake series, once said, "You can either make a great game or a great engine in 18 months; you can't make both." Nice job on the great engine, John. Now I guess I'll just have to wait 18 months for the great game. Send your thoughts on this review to rob@mastergamer.com
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