Chainsaw

Weapons

Weapons and level design go hand in hand when it comes to gameplay. Some objects/weapons and level design simply don't go together very well. A BFG and Quad on the same level would be horrendous, as would simply throwing all the weapons into one level. Just keep that in mind while reading the following.

Chainsaw

Overview -- The chainsaw brings back some fond memories of the good ol' days of Doom. The Q3 chainsaw is the strongest hand-to-hand weapon in any id game to date, not including the berserker pack in Doom. Of course, a weapon like this has its limitations… you have to be at point-blank range to inflict any kind of damage. Whenever you are wielding the chainsaw, it emits a rather loud and distinguishable "revving" sound, which throws any thoughts of stealth right out the door. If you manage to make contact, the chainsaw has a cool "grip" feeling to it, similar to when you pin a lightning gun on an enemy in Quake.

My Thoughts -- Purely from a deathmatch standpoint, the Q3 chainsaw wasn't very effective. Of course, the hand-to-hand combat weapons in id games were never really meant to be a serious threat, but more of a humiliation tool when you're playing against a weaker enemy, or an avenue for sheer desperation. Most of the levels were expansive with open spaces, which made it damn near impossible to get close to an enemy unless they wanted you to.

I remember one instance when we were playing in a large free-for-all. I was down to 4 health and was wielding a rocket launcher. I was limping around looking for health when I ran into Hellrot (John Cash), who was emitting the all-too-familiar chainsaw-revving sound. He charged me and came within millimeters of lopping off my head as in ran almost headlong into him, but I was lucky enough to get enough room to strafe-jump to safety. I was more than relieved that I didn't get mowed down… I'm sure I would have never heard the end of it after that. :) In short, as powerful and beefed up the chainsaw is from its predecessor, it won't play a factor at all in DM… it could make for some hilarious kills, though.

Suggestions to id -- The chainsaw was fun and entertaining, but Anna (from id's Biz department) and I thought a "bitchslap" feature would have even more so. Carmack didn't quite buy it. ;)