• ID = PS0680
• STYLE = First-Person Shooter
• DEV. = Bullfrog Prod.
• PUB. = Electronic Arts
• R-DATE = Mar-26-2001
• ESRB = M / For Mature
• PLAYERS = 1-4 players
• LIST PRICE = $19.99
  

Product Description
Quake III is a PC shoot-'em-up legend, regarded by many first-person shooter fans as the king of the genre, the one with the best arenas, most heart-pounding frag-sessions and convincing computer-controlled enemy bots. The good news is that it's finally made it to the PlayStation 2. And the even-better news is that it's been enhanced to suit its new console home, with a newly designed single-player campaign reflecting the move, and a new four-player split-screen mode giving instant multi-player fun for a bunch of friends gathered around a single machine. The 36 levels also include many new maps, specifically designed for these two new modes of play. What hasn't been changed is the finely balanced blasting action, the excellent range of weapons (including the chain gun, grenade launcher and famous BFG), or the beautiful creature and environment graphics. And both Deathmatch and Capture the Flag gaming is supported, along with a new Elimination variant.

Features

• New gaming technology creates 3-D graphics with curved surfaces and high-detail textures
  
• Lots of great weapons, including shotguns, lighting guns, and the BFG
  
• Rich environmental visual effects, including fog and realistic lighting
  
• Incredible multiplayer death-match competitions for up to 32 players
  
• Variety of tough, scary, and just plain bizarre character models

The Quake games have had a long-standing relationship on the PC, dating back to their predecessor Doom and its sequels, and have been considered by many gamers to include some of the best first-person shooters on that platform. The PlayStation2's crack at the whip is executed elegantly, as the hardware hardly breaks a sweat.

The player is placed in a beautifully detailed arena with a bunch of other nasty killers in a variety of do-or-die scenarios. In one, the player must survive all of the other assailants; in another, he must find the flag and keep hold of it for one minute. It sounds simple, though it's anything but.

With stunning graphics, amazing speed, and stomach-churning sounds, this game looks good and plays well, but it lacks the one element that makes the PC and Dreamcast versions of the game so good: namely, the online play. Having said that, it compensates with the multiplayer option--up to four people can play on the same console in four-way split-screen action. Playing this way against real opponents offers the greatest fun, and the graphics hardly suffer at all. --Robert Hyde