Quake 3: Revolution

Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Bullfrog Genre: Action Release: March 27, 2001

For those of you who recall, Quake 3 came out on PC over a year ago.  The PS2 conversion is long overdue.  My experiences with N64 versions of Quake told me that Quake just wasn't meant to be on consoles.  This port just reaffirms my initial beliefs.

On the positive side, the game is four players, and, at least in two player mode, seemed to maintain a steady 45 to 60 frames per second.  I have no idea what framerate this game runs in four player mode, for the simple reason that Sony neglected to include four controller slots, and I'll be fucked if I'm going to pay $35 for a multi-tap.  By the way, the internet play originally intended for this game was scrapped.

The game seems to includes all the deathmatch arenas that were present in the PC version, a scant 16 or so.  All the original weapons are here.  They also added a cheap chain gun.  How imaginative.

The very worst aspect of this game is the controls.  You won't be able to rocket jump, period.  The analog looking feature is sluggish and it's always trying to correct itself.  I was big on Quake 3 about nine months ago, and rocket jumping was an integral maneuver in high levels of play.  The railgun has been made virtually useless by the unresponsive controls.  I also had a lot of trouble using the lightening gun, and other guns that required precision.  Here is the killer: the game isn't compatible with either keyboard or mouse.  You are stuck with the clumsy Dual Shock controller, and friends that have never played Quake before will be beating you.

If you still want to play this game, I should warn you: the load time in this game exceeds that of any game I have played that was released in the last three years.  You will find yourself staring at the loading screen for a good portion of your Quake-playing experience.

Bottom line: There is nothing "Revolutionary" about this game.

Overall - 3/10

-Michael Q.