Impressions – Quake Live: Beta

We recently got access to the closed beta of Quake Live - the online version of Quake III: Gold, which will be released free, and only available in your web browser.

For something that runs in your browser, it is surprisingly advanced. So far I've had no lag problems, and the graphics are of a reasonable quality. And it is a beta - it can only get beta better (ba dum).

On the other hand, there is literally nothing to distinguish it from any other game on the market. The moment I stepped into my first battle, I was immediately reminded of Unreal Tournament. The very few weapons are much the same - a rocket launcher being among the most prominent, along with a lightning gun (See UT's Link Gun's alternate fire) and a grenade launcher. The powerups are also much the same - there's even a Big Keg O' Health, albeit by a different name. So it's not hard for me to say that it's Unreal Tournament without the fun.

On the other hand, it claims that it will be completely free. And in my opinion, we can allow free games some leeway with their quality, especially First Person Shooters. In fact, almost only First Person Shooters. Most other free games out there tend to be incredibly repetitive or otherwise bad. See BiteFight for an example of this.

Of course, the fact that it's a browser-based free FPS reminded me instantly of Rasterwerks. For those of you that don't know it already, Rasterwerks is a browser-based free FPS. Go figure.

Personally I think this game, on release, will draw quite a few hopeful gamers. However, at least unless there's a great deal more to add, before long the servers will be abandoned to the bots. The plain truth is that there's literally nothing to keep anyone playing - where Unreal Tournament has a single player campaign, different taunts, vehicles, Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and so on, Quake Live has guns. And other people. Where Team Fortress 2 has unlockable weapons, maps designed for teamwork, and great graphics, Quake Live has guns and people. Well, I say people. None of them replied to anything I said, and they kept repeating similar comments, so I am led to assume that they were all bots.

But before I start being attacked by id Software, or Quake hardcore fans, I do have to mention, once again, this is a closed beta. For all I know, it'll be released in five years' time with huge vehicles, massive battlefields, portals to other universes, different fighting classes, loads of different classes and aliens. Oh wait, that's Enemy Territories. I didn't think much of that either. Sorry. Please don't send the Strogg after me.

Nometet.com says: no comment. It's a beta, we'll see how it pans out.

+Free

+Browser-based

+Free

+Still got time to add stuff

-Nothing new (so far)

-Practically the same as UT without the fun