Amazon.com Review: For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Quake series, the popular PC game puts players in a violent world in which the point is to collect weapons and kill as many opponents as you can. While not without its flaws, Quake III Arena goes well beyond just mimicking this experience for Dreamcast users. It's the best PC-to-console port yet.
Quake III Arena is the first title to allow multiplayer, real-time networked gaming between Dreamcast and PC players. Hooking up through the SegaNet servers, players can go online and shoot it out with other people around the world for the first time in console history. (We played with a keyboard and a mouse--the only way Quake III should ever be played--and with them we exacted my punishment on more than just a few unsuspecting patrons.)
A full slate of 25 nasty warriors has been rolled out for the Dreamcast game. The weapons--which range from shotguns and rocket launchers to lightning guns and plasma guns--and effects also are packed in tighter than Charlie Tuna in his can. It also has all of the nifty springboards, quad damage, space-age dungeons, and everything that we loved about our favorite shooter on the PC.
The Dreamcast version has a large variety of gameplay options, including single player, free-for-all, tournament, team deathmatch, and capture the flag, most of which are open for play in two-to-four-player split-screen mode. The game's rendering engine achieves smooth and realistic texturing, and stunning environmental effects. The environments in particular are great, with dazzling sky textures leading the way. Also, the geometry and large, detailed textures of the character models make them the envy of the console world.
The character's movements in Quake III Arena didn't feel nearly as smooth as in the PC version, because of a rather slow framerate. Compared to the PC version, this one makes you feel like you're battling with one leg in concrete. While it's good for console and ambitious even for the Dreamcast processor, you find yourself losing targets that you feel you should track with no problem. One can forgive Quake III Arena if at the end of the day you have something good to play online. With Quake III Arena, something good this way comes. --Todd Mowatt
Pros:
Multiplayer, real-time networked gaming between Dreamcast and PC players
Smooth and realistic texturing, and stunning environmental effects
Cons:
Sluggish framerate
Amazon.com Product Description: Quake 3 Arena is one of the heirs of Doom, the first-person shooter that defined the genre. This version is based on the PC sequel that evolved from the single-player adventures of its predecessors into a network-based gaming experience. And since it is compatible with that PC version, it marks the first time players of any console can compete with--or against--the thousands of PC competitors online (PC users must download special Dreamcast-compatible maps to play). This version features 26 levels of maps and 24 warriors to slaughter with shotguns, lightning and plasma guns, and rocket launchers.
