Release date set at last!

The wait is almost over - id Software's Quake III Arena has finally gone gold and will reach UK stores on December 17 at a suggested retail price of £44.99.

Lunchtimes will never be the same again as hordes of office workers prepare to romp around 26 deathmatch and four capture-the-flag levels over the company network, or against sophisticated AI bots.

But can it live up to all the hype or will it be another disappointment, like Tiberian Sun or The Blair Witch Project? Before you all start writing in to defend Westwood's latest, remember that we did like it (heck, we gave it 90 per cent), but after all the hype, didn't you expect something really special?