Quake III Arena

"The Leader In Console FPS Is Waiting For You!!"

Introduction

As I reflect on the way First Person Shooters (FPS) have evolved, ID Software comes to mind very quickly. This young, hip, new age development team brought us Wolfenstein, when mass computer gaming was just getting its feet wet. Now, with the ultimate demise of the Sega Dreamcast upon gamers everywhere, they have blessed the gaming community once more. Quake 3 Arena is an awesome FPS that deserves to be played. Unlike most FPS' (excluding Dream Works' Medal Of Honor series) Quake 3 Arena is not hampered by horrible controls, or a molasses-like frame rate. Instead, it glides smoothly across your TV, just like the blood and gore of your latest kill. Be prepared, this game is not for the weak of heart, and will call upon deadly and precise aiming. And with the SegaNETs 50 free hours, bring on the world!

Graphics

The beauty of such a title as this, is the almost seemingless interaction between your character (of one of dozens) and your foes. Never once have the levels, characters, or weapons ever looked choppy or fake. The game supposedly flies by a whopping 60 Frames per second (FPS), which suits this game just fine. The only ''lag'' a player should ever experience, will be due to a bad internet connection.

Controls

I must admit, when I first heard that the X,Y,A,B, buttons were responsible for the movement of my combatant, I was appalled. However, this non-conformist view on a First Person Shooter, made the control almost as good as having a mouse and a keyboard (almost!) The only drawback would be the precision of distance aiming. You know, when a foe just enters your section of the level, and you have had him scoped out for about the last 15 minutes, and he waltzes right into your line of sight, it makes your trigger finger just itchy. Well unfortunately without the rocket launcher, many of these longer attacks and quite difficult to pull off, yet that makes the satisfaction that more fulfilling.

Overall/Extras

In my mind, the ultimate selling point of this game, is the idea that console gamers can actually go online to play other people, which separates this game from any released on the Playstation 2. This game is probably the best first person shooter, especially with the recent cancellation of Half-Life. Hopefully SegaNET will stay up, and you can reak havoc.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/21/01, Updated 06/21/01