Number 16: Quake 3: Arena, Id 1999
This review is based on the demo and previous experience from a few year back.
Intro:
The slick looking movie at the start seemed to suggest a lot more story from that first clip, but it was mostly mindless violence and game footage. The menu is pretty simple, just red words over black in the special Quake 3: Arena font. The title burns with some sort of firey shader that traces the outside of the letter rolls around. Other menus are similar, sometimes framed by two curved objects.
Getting Going:
The first level begins in a safe room, where the player is instructed how to jump and such, if my memory serves me. When they feel comfortable moving around, they can step through a portal and fight the easiest bot they could find on a very small map composed of three small rooms, a sort of lobby at the center, and the short connecting hallways. The player ought to beat their head against this bot until they can at least beat her, since the bots never get easier and human players on the internet tend to be a lot more skilled. If you haven't played first person shooters, this game can be very intimidating and difficult to master, especially with the variable learning curve a 'net game can present.
Fun:
The action is fast and decisive, forcing a lot of stress on the player to keep aware of his/her surroundings. The weapons are pretty standard for a first person shooter, though the balance is questionable. The players can move quickly, more so that UT or Halo, and with mouselook limiting targeting to the player's own reflexes and forearm muscles things can get very intense and quick.
Visuals:
Little to say beyond the unified style and relatively impressive visuals. Id has a reputation and style that marks all of their games, and this once is right in line.
Intelligence:
Adding taunts is a nice touch, but the bots aren't especially creative or interesting to fight. A lot of times I find myself chasing enemy bots through repeating patterns of motion, which is disconcerting and broken only by confrontation with a third bot. Am I not special enough? Human players are much more fun. Except when the game decides to spawn them right in front of me.
Immersion:
There's no music, which is a bit of a bummer but in the middle of a firefight you won't notice and outside of combat you'll be straining your ears for the location of the nearest enemy. The style and action are quick, and even respawning seems fast. The only things that ruined the buzz were lag from players with poor connections, players who were too good/cheating, and the end of the round.
Cameras:
Unless you went to the console, it was all first person, so no apparent camera issues.
Control:
Standard WASD FPS controls. Being so fast takes a little getting used to, but it feels nice to be in and out of places so quickly when every corner presents a possible opponent.
Ideas:
This was one of the first games I remember to focus entirely on the multiplayer experience (along with Unreal Tournament). While the weapons reflected single player games more than the trends of multiplayer games, it was still a fun (if unbalanced) game. The speed combined with overpowered weapons made this game feel very intense compared with UT, more focused on gut reaction than UT's more deliberate and strategic pace.
Memory:
At the time, this was a great place for people to get their fix of mindless gore and hot futuristic graphics. The numerous updates the genre has recieved have driven this game into oblivion, but it holds a place in the hearts of kids like me when we (I) need a fix of mindless action.
Intro:
The slick looking movie at the start seemed to suggest a lot more story from that first clip, but it was mostly mindless violence and game footage. The menu is pretty simple, just red words over black in the special Quake 3: Arena font. The title burns with some sort of firey shader that traces the outside of the letter rolls around. Other menus are similar, sometimes framed by two curved objects.
Getting Going:
The first level begins in a safe room, where the player is instructed how to jump and such, if my memory serves me. When they feel comfortable moving around, they can step through a portal and fight the easiest bot they could find on a very small map composed of three small rooms, a sort of lobby at the center, and the short connecting hallways. The player ought to beat their head against this bot until they can at least beat her, since the bots never get easier and human players on the internet tend to be a lot more skilled. If you haven't played first person shooters, this game can be very intimidating and difficult to master, especially with the variable learning curve a 'net game can present.
Fun:
The action is fast and decisive, forcing a lot of stress on the player to keep aware of his/her surroundings. The weapons are pretty standard for a first person shooter, though the balance is questionable. The players can move quickly, more so that UT or Halo, and with mouselook limiting targeting to the player's own reflexes and forearm muscles things can get very intense and quick.
Visuals:
Little to say beyond the unified style and relatively impressive visuals. Id has a reputation and style that marks all of their games, and this once is right in line.
Intelligence:
Adding taunts is a nice touch, but the bots aren't especially creative or interesting to fight. A lot of times I find myself chasing enemy bots through repeating patterns of motion, which is disconcerting and broken only by confrontation with a third bot. Am I not special enough? Human players are much more fun. Except when the game decides to spawn them right in front of me.
Immersion:
There's no music, which is a bit of a bummer but in the middle of a firefight you won't notice and outside of combat you'll be straining your ears for the location of the nearest enemy. The style and action are quick, and even respawning seems fast. The only things that ruined the buzz were lag from players with poor connections, players who were too good/cheating, and the end of the round.
Cameras:
Unless you went to the console, it was all first person, so no apparent camera issues.
Control:
Standard WASD FPS controls. Being so fast takes a little getting used to, but it feels nice to be in and out of places so quickly when every corner presents a possible opponent.
Ideas:
This was one of the first games I remember to focus entirely on the multiplayer experience (along with Unreal Tournament). While the weapons reflected single player games more than the trends of multiplayer games, it was still a fun (if unbalanced) game. The speed combined with overpowered weapons made this game feel very intense compared with UT, more focused on gut reaction than UT's more deliberate and strategic pace.
Memory:
At the time, this was a great place for people to get their fix of mindless gore and hot futuristic graphics. The numerous updates the genre has recieved have driven this game into oblivion, but it holds a place in the hearts of kids like me when we (I) need a fix of mindless action.