Review: Quake III for Sega
Nov. 13 -- Some games are meant to be interactive experiences, technology upping the notch of the user’s problem solving skills and powers of perception. These games invariably use words like “explore” and “uncover” in their descriptions.
Others exist for one sole reason: carnage.
Quake III Arena by id Software — makers of the classic Doom — falls into the latter category. “Frag Everything That Isn’t You,” the manual advises no earlier than page 3, using the colorful Quake gamer’s term for kill.
Yes, this game is definitely for mature audiences only. What would you expect of a company that features a “shopping maul” on its Web site?
The Cult of Quake
A first-person shooter with a loyal cult following, the cult of Quake is large and loyal. Some swear it’s the greatest game ever.
Early versions of the game — Quake and Quake II — were first-person shooters, intense, realistic and, above all, deliciously gruesome. But in addition to blood and guts, Quake and Quake II followed the tradition of the action-adventure genre: problem-solving skills were required, along with a quick trigger, to navigate the increasingly complex levels and defeat the nasty aliens.
But Quake III Arena for Sega Dreamcast is, as the title would suggest, an arena game — a deathmatch. You vs. computer-controlled opponents or, better still, you vs. real-world friends, enemies and 13-year-old kids you’ve never met who will, guaranteed, whip your butt.
But as an arena game, all sense of plot is gone completely. So too are some of the very elements that make earlier versions of the game so compelling: mystery and fear. Mystery, as in trying to unlock the secrets of each level, all the while killing the bizarre alien fiends. And fear, as in wondering — at 4 in the morning with the lights out and headphones on — just what is waiting for you around the next bend.
Deathmatch has none of this. We know who the characters are. In some cases, we know who — or what — is controlling them. Before long, we know every nook and cranny of each level. Now, it’s pure adrenaline, spirit of competition and the joy of slaughter.
Trending Reader Picks
ABC News Live