Graphics

Curved Surfaces

Built on a brand new graphics engine, Quake 3 boasts true curved surfaces and a wealth of other technical advances that amount to some eye popping graphics. These curved surfaces create a subtle, but definite impact on the visual quality of the game, particularly on the level design. Artfully and judiciously implemented, Quake 3's curved surfaces accentuate a distinctive and pleasing architectural style on many of the maps. Levels in other games seem blocky and uninteresting by comparison when judged against Quake 3's graceful arches and fascinating organic elements. Most notable among these are the undulating, intestine-like moldings of "The Place of Many Deaths," - a disturbingly rhythmic peristalsis that suggests the Xenomorph queen from Aliens.

Lightning curls and ripples around the pipe

These organic structures undulate

Other Eye Candy

Aside from the base architecture, Q3's levels are decorated beautifully with tons of detailed textures and items like statues and columns. Winged gargoyles on columns stand watch over the quad in the "Temple of Retribution," while macabre demons with flaming hands haunt other levels like "The Nameless Place." Other seemingly innocuous details do much to add life and personality to Quake 3's levels. A fleshless ribcage rests half submerged in the slime pool of "Vertical Vengeance," while a full skeleton sits dejectedly in a dark corner of "Temple of Retribution." Many players have noticed a dismembered head (id intern Eric Webb's - thanks Redwood) on the floor of "Demon Keep."

Volumetric fog contributes to Q3's brooding atmosphere, particularly in the fully shrouded Q3Tourney5 level, and around the red armor in Q3DM4. The fog also helps denote areas in other maps where players can fall to their deaths. Spectacular lighting effects lend ambience to the tech oriented maps like "Power Station 0218," and "the Dredwerkz," where you'll see charged lightning ripple along and around overhead pipes with scintillating pizzazz.

Flaming hands

Fog effects obscure items

Models, models, and more models

One of Quake 3's huge triumphs is its wealth of high quality models. All told, there are around 30 distinct models, each of which has a few different colored skins providing nearly a hundred choices for player models right out of the box. What makes the Quake 3 models so impressive isn't just the astonishingly exquisite detail put into each model and their animation - everyone knows that Paul Steed and company are legendary for their detailed work. It's the variety of shapes and sizes that you can choose from that really make Quake 3 shine in the models department.

Say hi to Bones

Anarki - Skate or Die!

You won't just see the sculpted physiques of body builders and voluptuous women (although there are a few of those). There's a huge range in Quake 3 - fat ones, skinny ones, and a ton of non-humanoid models. Of course we have to have the old favorites like the Doom Marine (Doom) and the Quake 1 guy (Ranger), but the more exotic models are simply fantastic. Orbb is a bipedal eye that "holds" its weapon above its solitary eyeball. Bones is a walking human skeleton - modeled as perfectly as if he stepped out of a sleepy med student's copy of Gray's Anatomy. Anarki is a futuristic cyber skater complete with hover board - and yes he does skate/slide around the levels on it. Slash is a lithe cyborg "woman" that skates around on sci fi hover blades (instead of a board). Uriel, with his hood and rippled musculature, looks like Darth Sidious after raiding Mark McGwire's medicine cabinet (he's got a bird-like leg structure too!). And Lucy….well…let's just say she's not about to win any "computer babe of the year" honors with her horrifying resemblance to Roseanne Barr. We could fill the rest of the review describing all the other cool models but you probably get the idea by now that you're in for some high quality stuff.