Quake III: Team Arena Preview
We visited id Software's offices in Texas to play the new Quake III Arena expansion first-hand. Find out everything about the add-on in this extensive preview.
Team Arena, id Software's own expansion pack for Quake III Arena, is finally finished. But since it's just started shipping to most software retailers, we took the opportunity this week to fly out to id's offices in Mesquite, Texas (just outside of Dallas) to play the game. We'll have a full review of Quake III: Team Arena next week - but for now, please join us for a comprehensive look at the many new features in this expansion.
While Quake III Arena was designed for pure deathmatch, free-for-all play, Team Arena seeks to bring the team-play experience to a new level. Though it takes some inspiration from the team maps and game types of Unreal Tournament and Tribes, Team Arena maintains the distinctive Quake feel while introducing a number of small innovations.
The most impressive new element is the introduction of outdoor maps, which encompass such a large swathe of rolling terrain that they can accommodate up to 64 players per server, which is the Quake III engine's limit. On Team Arena's total of 11 new team maps, you can choose from three new team game types - one-flag capture-the-flag, overload, and harvester - all of which are included in the playable demo that was released last month. Also new are the four persistent power-ups that you can grab at your base for specific abilities - like increased speed or heath regeneration - which encourage players to take distinct team roles. For those looking specifically to play in line with Quake III: Arena, there are four new one-on-one tourney maps; plus, the original four capture-the-flag maps have been updated.
Being team-focused doesn't mean that Team Arena does away with the single-player component. When you can't get a fast Internet connection or find online opponents, the game's bot AI should make for some fun solo team games. In contrast with Quake III's tiered system, in which you had to unlock arenas sequentially, Team Arena introduces a complex scoring system that should have you returning to each map to improve your high score.
The bots have also been updated in order to take strategic team goals into account, and they will now coordinate amongst themselves to defend the base or go on the offensive. There's a simple menu-driven system for giving bots specific team orders, but the bots are smart enough to drop an explicit order if something more pressing comes up. For example, a bot that you've ordered to camp an area will leave its post if it sees an enemy flag carrier or, conversely, to guard its own team's passing flag carrier. Although much of what's new about the bots in Team Arena applies to all bots, the individual bot personalities that were so vocal in Quake III survive in the expansion. Each bot has its preference for taking either an offensive or defensive role; plus, each won't perform all its tasks equally well.
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- GameSpot Score7.4good
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