"Blast, blast, blast...."

OK, Quake III. Been out a while and so i guess my review's incredibly late, but hey, i've only been playing the game for two weeks so why not give my 'two cents' on it?
As most PC owners will know, the Quake series of corrdior shoot-em-ups has been probably the greatest selling games on PC... I think. The third one diverted from the last two though by concentrating incredibly heavily on the multi-player aspect over the single-playing part of the game. good or bad? Ya'll see what i think at the end of my review.
If you know my format of reviewing, let's get things underway...

Graphics: 10

Really, these graphics are gob-smacking. There's just nothing else like them. Sure you need a hell of a upgraded PC, but most pc's can be bought today that should easily run Quake III. Anyway, these graphics apparently consist of the first ever used 'real' circular polygons... or something like that. In otherwords, Id haven't just used 10 flat polygons to construct a bending doorway. Get me? They've used 1 polygon which can bend itself... or so i've heard. personally, that's a hell of an advancement even if you do think it's not that big of a thing.

Gameplay: 5

Incredibly easy to play game, with not many different buttons to use (Thank god, say the Soldier of Fortune players!). There is one huge setback, that being that the two game modes on offer are very sparse. First off, te single-player mode... wait where is it? Oh it's that one there that's just multi-player against bots. That's how it is. it's got to be the most basic single-player corridor game ever made. No story, no special level features, unless you include the bounce pads (Wow! big improvement!... or not.) which aren't that big a thing at all. They are the only new feature which i can find in the game, which a shame.
The multi-player mode? Sure it's good. Playing against anyone over the internet is good, but when it's as repetitive as this, there's a problem. With only 4 modes to choose from, and only two worth playing (team and CTF) you're gonna get bored after a while. there's hardly any levels to use on these modes too unless you donwload from the internet but can you be bothered? 50-50 decision hey? Your choice, but this will get boring after a while.

Sound: 7

I never have liked sound in games. i always listen to music on my hi-fi unless listening to the game is imperative (A la Metal gear Solid). The sounds that are in here are quite ok though. the gun sounds are realistic enough, if you can imagine a lightning gun sounding like that anyway! Music is virtually non-existent in this game, which is probably no big deal however because music in bloody based games is always awful. bar Doom that is.

Lifespan: 5

Single player is awful, so forget about it. It's the multiplayer that's gonna keep you hanging onto this one. Better yet why not join a clan over the net? This will add on about 2 more points onto my lifespan score. At least in clans it's a lot more interesting than playing with strangers all the time.

Overall:

Above average but only just. Put it this way, it's nowhere as good as half-life single-player, and nowhere as good as Soldier of fortune multiplayer, but it is an ok blast. It also shows just how far we've come in terms of graphics which is always a good thing i guess.

Buy or Rent:

Tougn one this. i say rent first and if you like the multi-player over the net, then buy it. but if you were intending on buying or even renting it for the single-player game alone, FORGET ABOUT IT! Please! You'd be doing yourself a favour.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/00, Updated 10/15/00