That's it?
(Author's Note: Yes, I was a UT fanboy at the time I wrote this. I still stand by the sentiment, if not the expression.)
There was a time when id Software was famous for making innovative and awesome games. Remember Wolfenstein 3D, the granddaddy of the FPS? And Doom, the one that put the genre on the map, and gave us DeathMatch? And Quake, the one that brought us true 3D?
Those days are gone, my friends. Now, id is an engine developer, occasionally creating an empty shell of a game to promote said engine. Quake III Arena was the engine of choice for many, many shooters over the two years following the game's release, and yet the game itself is decidedly mediocre. For starters, unlike its competitor at the time, Unreal Tournament, this game completely lacks any mode other than DeathMatch out of the box. Not a bad thing if that's what you're into, but for those seeking something more, there's a definite sense of lacking. Furthermore, unlike UT, there are very few options for offline play--a single-player ladder you can finish in a day if you're any good, and the option to create a server full of bots if you REALLY want some kind of offline practice mode. The latter does emulate UT's Practice Mode to some degree, but it is an utter pain in the butt to try set up a match that way, and it just doesn't give you as much flexibility.
Graphics is probably the only place where Quake III truly excels. As I said above, it was the standard engine for years after its release, and it's not difficult to see why. Everything is smooth and very nice to look at. Unfortunately, pretty does not sell a game for me--there's gotta be meat, which there's precious little of here.
The sound effects and music were okay, I guess. Nothing really left a significant impact on me one way or the other, although I must admit, the hit sounds did prove useful on occasion. The celebratory voices, on the other hand, began to annoy me very quickly (although to be fair, they did in UT, too).
Replay value is almost exclusively online, and as with any online experience, your mileage may vary significantly depending on who you're playing with. If you get together with friends, or find a server with a good bunch of players, it can be fun, but if you get the kind of morons you frequently find in online shooters, the experience is ruined. However, I tend not to play shooters online too often, so this was pretty much a moot point. On the bright side, I picked this up at a good price as part of a package deal with Quake I & II, so I didn't completely waste my money--the original Quake alone was worth the price of admission, so to get even a mediocre game with it was a bonus.
Overall, I was extraordinarily disappointed with this game. Sure, it sold many engines to game developers, and sure, it was a huge hit with pure DM fans, but to be honest, it's not a very well-rounded game, and at the end of the day, that lack of variety is the major reason why Quake III was a failure to me.
