We had to get round to this eventually. Id Software’s follow-up to the hugely popular Doom II can be argued as THE game to introduce gamers to the delights of multiplayer gaming.

Not only was the game a huge graphical improvement on its predecessor it was tremendously well designed too. The single-player mode not only offered more of a challenge but managed to offer a lot more variety as well, but it’s for its multiplayer arenas that Quake must be celebrated.

Frantic, intense and heart-pounding are all words that spring to mind when Quake multiplayer is considered and the game actually rewards practice. Knowing just where the Quad Damage and armour power-ups are can really make the difference between fragging and being fragged. Although Quake II appeared a little while later, aficionados still insist that Quake gives a better multiplayer game and will choose it for their deathmatches over its younger sibling.

The beta versions of Quake III – Arena, a game that promises to be one of the biggest of the year, have just been made available on Mac and PC and even Quake die-hards are heralding it as the game that will wear the multiplayer crown for a long time to come.