In our accelerated society, terms such as "long-awaited" tend to mean, "we've been waiting for two weeks"; terms like, "awesome" tend to mean, "My PC struggles to run it". So can the the awesomely long-awaited Quake III go further?
James Price

Well, what a disappointment. A hugely protracted wait, and then this - a startlingly average, faintly tedious...

Only joking.

In the midst of a Quake III deathmatch, you can't help but continually marvel about how incredibly well designed it is. We cannot, without lapsing into pedantry, isolate a single aspect of it that distresses or even irritates. It is a chef-d'oeuvre; the highlight of an excellent year for PC software, arriving in time to rob our families of our love, attention and coherent conversation over the Yule period and beyond.

It can be described as a halfway house between Quake and Quake II deathmatches, but saying that communicates little of the true brilliance of Quake III. It is instantly playable. It is wholesomely familiar, and approachable beyond reproach. Cleverly, id have isolated the elements that made its two forebears so very enjoyable. It has their best weaponry. It has the furious pace of Quake, while retaining the sense of weight that its successor had. And, predictably but pleasingly, any level with that power-up is a chaotic battle to grab it and retain possession. Would it be fair to say that the Quad Damage is the most perfect power-up ever created? Future Gamer certainly thinks so.