Guns are important in deathmatch games. There have been (and will be) more spectacular weapons, but Quake III's particular cache has been tweaked to an exemplary standard. Your default equipment, a machine-gun and a gauntlet for use only in close proximity, appear useless. Later, though, you come to appreciate the elementary beauty of both. The machinegun can be used to finish off wounded opponents as you leap into the aftermath of a melee, while its precision makes it handy for shooting over long distances if there's nothing better around. The gauntlet is, against reasonably experienced players, pretty damn hard to use. Succeed in downing someone with it, though, and the resultant 'Humiliation!' sound effect means just that for them - it's a great way to show off.

The Railgun is the perfect sniper weapon. The rocket launcher runs at a pace somewhere between Quake and Quake II, while the splash damage of each explosion has been toned down slightly. The BFG 10k is still the daddy of all guns, and levels where it makes an appearance see hotly-contested battles around the point where it lies. In fact, we can't think of any complaint we'd like to level against Quake III's weaponry. There's something for every style of play. In an inspired moment, id decided to include a universal 'zoom' function. You can use it at any time to snipe and, although it's pretty useless with the shotgun and grenade launcher, it's a feature that you'll be surprised you've survived without before now.