Quake 3 - Q3's graphics are awesome, but it has that same shade of brown found in all Quake games. There's fogging, which is an awesome effect. Too bad though there's only one level that's blanketed with fog, and it's a pretty creepy one. Q3 also has curved surfaces, which some people think is a really big deal, I don't know why. I run both games at 800x600, and I have to say graphic-wise, Q3 is better. The player models have alot more variation that UT. The Original Doom Marine (who is no longer a sprite) is back, along with a female version and the marines from Quake 1 and 2. Among the weirder models are a skeleton (I have no idea where the gibs come from), an eyeball on hands, and a fat biker guy. One of my favorite models is Klesk, an alien with spikes sticking out his back. Also the skins are the best I've ever seen in a fps game. (Rating - 10)

Unreal Tournament - The graphics in UT are a bit better than Unreal's, after all, it's run on a heavily tweaked version of the Unreal Engine. They're great, but not as good as Q3's. The effects some of the levels have is amazing though. Imagine a castle, floating above a planet covered by a thunder storm. It's an amazing sight. In another level, if you look out the window, you can see rain falling, and the drops of water cause the puddles on the ground to ripple. The player models aren't much to talk about though. They're just human models with a bunch of skins. They're nowhere as cool and varied as Q3's are, since they're all pretty much the same. There are some pale looking 'alien'-like people, but they're just the same too. They're not that different from Unreal's models. Then again, it makes the game more realistic compared to Q3. (Rating - 9)

Level Design Okay, so both games look pretty good, but once your in the middle of DM everything can seem like a blur. Bad level design can slow down gameplay, or make it a bit frustrating. Q3 has the edge in playability, while UT's levels are alot more varied and prettier.

Quake 3 - The deathmatch levels are designed with one thing in mind, which is deathmatch. The levels are still nice to look at, despite that. 'The Void' levels are a bunch of platforms, floating out in space, which is quite eerie. Most of the levels are castle/cathedral type places (id has a thing for them I guess), and the rest are hi-tech maze type levels. the addition of Jump Pads and Launch Ramps makes deathmatch the levels more interesting too. Q3 has it's share of environmental hazards, but they aren't used much, thankfully. The single player portion is divided into 7 tiers. The levels early on are simple (wide corridors, and open spaces, etc.), while the game progresses, the design gets more complicated. Despite this, the level design never gets in the way of the action. Each tier is 4 levels, with the last being a 1 on 1 match, in excellent dueling maps. The game could use more maps though. (Rating - 9)

Unreal Tournament - The levels in UT are simply beatiful, but can feel cramped at times. For instance, one level called, "The Peak", which is a castle floating above a cloudy planet...Looking at it from Spectator mode is great. However, when you actually play, it's annoying when your on one of the small, but many, ramps that spiral the castle, and accidentally press the 'sidestep left' button twice and fall to your death, thus losing a frag. Inside the castle most of the hallways are big enough to fit one person, which makes very little room to manuever. One of the Assault maps, "The frigate" isn't all too different. Outside the boat, it's pretty and there's lots of room, but once you get inside, where a great majority of the fighting will take place, everything gets all cramped. The maps aren't all like that, thankfully. Some of the CTF maps are just huge. One of the maps, called "Lava Giant" is a huge piece of rock, floating on an ocean of lava. Two small forts house each team's flag, on opposite sides of the level. It's an awesome map to snipe on, and is an excellent map. The single player part of the game starts off with regular deathmatch, and after you finish the first few levels, Domination will open up. After the first three levels of that, then Capture the Flag, then Assault, and after you recieve trophies for completing every mode, you fight the boss. Again, the first few levels are simple (the 2nd deathmatch level really looks like one from Half-Life, imo), and then it gets more complicated. However, the design does interfere with gameplay in UT's case, play "The Galleon" and you'll see what I mean... (Rating - 8)

Music and Sound The music doesn't make much of a difference in gameplay, but with the right kind of music, deathmatch can be more fun. It all depends on what kind of music the player prefers though. Sound adds depth to the game, and experienced players use sounds to locate their opponents.

Quake 3 - Music-wise, Q3 has that techno/metal thing going on, a little like Q2. Again, Sonic Mayhem contributes to the soundtrack. Personally, I like the music for Q3, alot better than UT's, but that's me. The music tends to get drowned out by all the action though. Besides all the normal jumping, getting hit, grunting (etc.), there are taunts for each player model, which can be activated by pressing the bound key. The Railgun sounds the same as it did in Q2, which I thought sounded cool. All the other weapons don't sound all too interesting though... There's also the addition of an announcer, which is a nice addition to deathmatch. It counts down the last 3 frags, which makes the last moments a bit more tense. Also, when two people run for the Quad Damage power-up, it'll say "Denied!" to the person who missed it. There are ambient sounds, but they aren't much to talk about... (Rating : 7)

Unreal Tournament - The music in UT it techno-ish, but it's pretty cheesy. I don't really think it's right for deathmatching. It sounds like 80's techno, or something... UT also has all those jumping, getting hit, and grunting sounds...But it takes the taunting further, by adding voices. They do get annoying though, especially when you play bots (Look the bots section). It does have it's good points though, especially when playing a team game, you don't need to keep looking at the words. The voices for the taunts don't sound too enthusiastic, in my opinion. The weapons sound stronger than they do in Q3, and there's ambient sounds too. They're pretty cool, like rain coming from the outside, or giant fans spinning. In the "Overlord" map, you can hear battleships shelling the beach, and gun shots. It's a really nice touch too, but only a few levels have sounds worth mentioning. (Rating : 8)

Weapons In the weapons department, Q3 has all the old id weapons, and UT has tweaked versions of the Unreal weapons. The BFG is back, but it's different. It still is the most powerful weapon in Q3 though. As for UT, the Redeemer is the thing Unreal lacked, a power weapon. In the weapons department, UT beat Q3 with quality and quantity...

Quake 3 - [Weapon Count 9]. The weapons are (In the order of their numbers) The Gauntlet (The infinate ammo, upclose weapon), Minigun (Your starting weapon), Shotgun, Plasma Gun, Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Lightning Gun, Rail Gun, and the almighty BFG. There isn't too much originality in the weapons. The Shotgun, Machine Gun, and Rocket Launcher have been seen everywhere. The rest of the weapons were in the id games, and the Lightning Gun doesn't seem as strong as it did in Q1. The BFG has changed though, no longer is it a big ball of energy that destroys everything in sight, but now just a combo of the Plasma Gun and Rocket Launcher. The weapons aren't all that ground breaking, and I feel more confident fragging someone with the weapons from UT than the weapons from Q3. (Rating : 7)

Unreal Tournament - [Weapon Count 12-13] UT's weapons (in the order of their numbers again) are The IMPACT Hammer (like the gauntlet but much stronger), The Enforcer (A Pistol. Your starting weapon), Dual Enforcers (By picking up dropped one), GES Bio Rifle, ASMD Shock Rifle, Pulse Rifle, Ripper, Minigun, Flak Cannon, Rocket Laucner (like the Eightball gun in Unreal), Sniper Rifle, and the Redeemer. Also, you start off with the Translocator in CTF, and Domination. You drop it the fire button, and teleport to that area with the Alternate-Fire (ALT-Fire) button. I think most people would agree with me, that the weapons in UT are stronger than those in Q3. Meaning, frags come quicker, and easier. Alot of the weapons are beefed up versions of those in Unreal (which was one of the weak points of Unreal), but they're so much more better, and balanced. Also, like in Unreal, ALT-Fire adds more to the weapons, giving you two ways to shoot. The Redeemer is one of the new weapons, which is like a slow moving nuke, and it's ALT-Fire allows you to control it. The Rocket Launcher fires grenades as well as rockets, and if you hold the fire button, it'll store up more ammo, and shoot up to 6 rockets/grenades at a time. The weapons in UT are stronger, and more original than those found in Q3. Sometimes, they can be a little too strong though... (Rating - 9)

Bots Bots are always there, even if you want a game 4 A.M. in the morning. No lag, as easy/hard as you want it, and as many as you want. Both games include bots (as I'm sure you already know), and they're both great. UT's bots are smarter, even though they can get annoying.

Quake 3 - Preformance-wise, the bots aren't ground breaking. On harder levels, the routes they run don't become too much more complicated, but they do start rocket jumping. However, it's mostly their aim that improves. On Nightmare, the bots can rail you at really a long distance. They're pretty obedient in team games though, since they don't run off all of a sudden like the bots in UT. However... There is one area where the bots are 10x better than UTs. Even though it doesn't make much of a difference while playing, is their personalities... While I was taking screen shots for this article, I was just sitting around. One of the bots, named Mynx said, "When I said 'over my dead body' this isn't what I meant". I was pretty bored, so I said, "Why not Mynx?", and I was shocked when the bot replied,"Because I'm allergic to stamp glue". Then another bot commented, "Keep that up and you'll be real popular here.". I don't know if any bots for other games do that, but I thought that was a really neat addition to the game. The bots have their own personalities (Some are jerks, some compliment you when you kick their asses, some are just plain weird). It makes the game more interesting. (Rating : 8)

Unreal Tournament - The bots in UT preform better than Q3 bots, which I guess counts more. They're harder on 'God-Like' than the Q3 bots are on 'Nightmare!' too. But, sometimes when you ask a bot to follow you, or guard an area, they'll wander off. However, if you do tell them to defend, they will go out and pick up weapons best suited for defending a base, and then defend. This might be kinda bad though if you need the defense right then... On the personality side, well...They have none... They talk smack and all, but it gets annoying the 100th time you hear, "And stay down!!", especially since the bots will say something everytime they frag someone, There is an option to turn it off, but I wish the bots were cooler, like in Q3. I understand more voices means more disk space needed, though... But then again, I think it's funny when a bot kills you, but you manage to get a single rocket off and kill the bot as well, and it'll still say something like, "I just slaughtered that guy." in an unenthusiastic voice. (Rating : 8)

Modes and all the Other Stuff The different modes of play is where Q3 really dissapoints me. Instead of having cool new modes like Assault, you get about the same deathmatch and CTF as Q2.

Quake 3 -Id software shocked everyone when they announced Q3 was going to focus on deathmatch. It does really well at being a deathmatch only game, but lacks more modes of play. In addition to that, there's Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Tournament. It doesn't do much to improve on these familiar styles of play either. The only thing really new about the game are the jump pads, and launch ramps. I have to agree with people when they say that Quake3 has a certain feel to it that's hard to describe. It feels more raw, and the weapon hits feel more solid, at least that's how I see it. Q3 also has more attitude than UT, and has more of a cool, dark feeling. Q3 also has power ups and items that you can carry around till you need them. There's Haste, Quad Damage, Invincibility, and then the Medkit and Personal Teleporter. You don't find them too much though. Q3 already has a bunch of MODs available on the internet though, which can make up for the lack of game modes, but you can't use the bots for the most of the MODs. One that I haven't tried yet, but hear good things about is Quake 3 Fortress. If you like Team Fortress then you ought to check that out. (Note : The ratings I'm giving are based on what you get from the box) (Rating - 7)

Unreal Tournament - The different modes of play is where UT really shines. In addition to CTF, and team deathmatch, UT introduces players to Domination, and Assault. In Domination levels, there are 3 control points that each team must capture and control. They accumulate points by controling these points, and eventually someone wins. In Assault, one team must carry out objectives within a certain amount of time, while the other team tries to prevent them from doing so. Assault, is just awesome. Especially the "Operation Overlord" mission, which is like the beach landing on Saving Private Ryan. The Translocator also makes CTF and Domination better. Q3 just can't beat that... Also UT has Mutators which allow you to set rules for games. In my favorite one, "InstaGib", all players start out with super powerful shock rifles that kill all enemies instantly when you hit them. This adds even more replayabilty to the game. UT also has it's share of power ups. Like Jump Boots, Damage Amplifier, and Invisibilty. You can't carry some of them around though, like in Q3. (Rating - 9)

And in Closing

I would probably recommend UT to casual gamers, but I myself would rather be play Q3. UT topped Q3's sounds, weapons, and modes. But Q3 has a certain feel, like I mentioned before, along with awesome graphics and levels. UT's bots preform better overall, while Q3's has more amusing bots. So, I guess if you haven't already, go get Unreal Tournament, unless you prefer hardcore deathmatch and don't mind downloading MODs. By the way, I use Gamespy so I never really got to check out the server finder thing for both games... Quake 3 Arena's Total Rating - 48 Unreal Tournament's Total Rating - 51 -Shinji[tEs] (06/30/00) If you have any comments about this article. Please feel free to e-mail me at bobafettq2@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading. Click here to return to the mainpage