Quake III Arena
Up until now, many of the first person shooter games that have been previously discussed in this series have been single player games. As these games have advanced, they have started to add more and more multiplayer options. This was in keeping with the growing demand for those styles of games. So with that in mind, ID software, in conjunction with Activision, came out with Quake III Arena in 1999. After the release of Quake II, the developers had decided to concentrate specifically on multiplayer goodness. This did not mean that Arena did not have a single player option. However, it eschewed a storyline based gameplay for a bot driven slugfest. Nonetheless, there was no doubt that the single player mode was secondary to the multitude of multiplayer levels.
Deathmatch Palooza
Out of the box, Quake III Arena comes with several different multiplayer gameplay modes. These include Free for All (FFA), which is a classic deathmatch. In this mode, each player competes against the rest for the highest score. Team Deathmatch (TDM), usually includes two teams of four who compete for the highest team frag (kill) total. In addition, Tournament is included. This is a deathmatch between two players, usually ending after a set time. Finally, they have included Capture the Flag. This is played on symmetrical maps where teams have to recover the enemy flag from the opponents’ base while retaining their own.
As previously stated, Quake III Arena was specifically designed by ID for multiplayer. The game allows players whose computers are connected by a network or to the internet, to play against each other in real time, and incorporates a handicap system (for players like myself who…what is the technical term? Oh yes, Suck!). It uses a client–server model, that require all players’ clients to connect to a server. Just as in previous Quakes, the Quake III Arena’s focus on multiplayer gameplay spawned a lively community that is active to this day. As one might expect, a game of such popularity was ported to a numbers of systems, including the Sega Dreamcast, XBox and the PlayStation 2. However, the PlayStation version had some issues with loading times and was not as well received as the Dreamcast and PC versions.
Laying the Groundwork
Quake III Arena is still available on Steam as well as GOG. This is good news if you have a more current PC system that has decided to leave off the DVD-Rom drive from the system. Games like Quake, Doom, and Half-Life have lead the way toward the huge multiplayer contests prevalent in such games like Call of Duty. Because of their hard work, players are able to join in with people around the world in such games. Which no doubt has been a godsend for gamers during this self-isolation phase we find ourselves in. Have you ever played Quake III Arena? Share your battle reports with us at Geek Vibes Nation.
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Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
