Quake 3 & Unreal Tournament (PC)

When, nearly two years ago, iD - creators of the first-person shooter (FPS) genre with title like Doom and Quake - announced their next game would be multiplayer-only, there were whisperings amongst the gaming cognoscenti that they'd lost it. Sure, so the multiplayer aspects of Quake II were far more involving than the single player and thousands of people played in online everyday, but the online gaming industry was in it's infancy and still a relatively small market. Time went on and more details leaked out; their would be a single-player mode, which would consists of a series of multiplayer-style matches played against computer-controlled opponents ("bots"). The world seemed set for another mammoth title from iD.

Then, Epic announced that the follow-up to Unreal would also be a multiplayer-style game played against bots. The cognoscenti could barely contain themselves; Unreal was considered a poor second to Quake II, with poor multiplayer capabilities and downright shoddy hardware support. It seemed clear that the upstart UT would be thoroughly smacked down by Q3.

Well, that goes to show what the cognoscenti know. Pre-release demos all over the internet hinted at it and now both games are here and the secret's out - UT is actually damn good and Q3 has a fight on its hands for supremacy. So which is better? Consider each game bit-by-bit:

The plot

UT has sports-theme, Q3 has nasty-alien's-arena theme. Both plots are, frankly, rubbish and totally disposable.

Graphics engine & style

UT uses a modified version of the Unreal engine, which is pretty enough and runs on quite low-end machines. Levels are hugely varied, based around some real-world locations (city alleyways, a wooden galleon, skyscrapers) and some fantasy ones(spaceships, asteroids, bizarre landscapes). Character models are a somewhat samey bunch of polygons, though with a variety of faces, colours and uniforms.

Q3, however, has a brand-spanking-new engine with spiffy effects, round bits, fancy lighting... the whole nine yards. The drawback is the ninja PC required to run the game smoothly with all the bells & whistles turned on. The levels mostly have a well-executed but samey "gothic castle" feel to them, but the character models are pleasingly chunky and are a diverse and bizarre bunch, such as the character who looks like a massive eyeball on hands.

Weapons

Particularly for multiplayer-style gameplay, weapons are important because they provide the balance - or otherwise - to the game. Q3's weapons are largely drawn from previous iD games, which gives old-time gamers like me a nostalgic kick. However, although they are well-balanced they only have one fire mode each. UT has the edge, however, with a greater variety of original and entertaining weapons, ranging from John Woo-style double pistols to the awesome Redeemer - a personal thermonuclear missile. Each weapon has at least two fire modes, leading to a greater strategic depth, and again game balance is preserved nicely.

Single player gameplay

Here, UT has the edge. Q3 has one main game mode, a simple free-for-all deathmatch with about 35 levels. There is a team-based, capture the flag mode that offers greater strategic depth, but it only has 4 levels and feels like an afterthought. There is an additional flaw in difficulty selection; you are free to choose a different difficulty setting before beginning each level, meaning you tend to start on the hardest and reduce it until you're flying through the levels with a minimum of effort. Ultimately, it's disappointing and unengaging.

In contrast, UT has four major game modes, including deathmatch, capture the flag, domination (team-based game, where the objective is to capture and hold certain points in the level) and assault (also team-based; one team attacks a base whilst the other defends it). This provides greater variety in gameplay, helped by the variety across over 50 levels. The game has a ladder-style structure with increasing difficulty, resulting in a real sense of progress and satisfaction on completing each new level.

Multiplayer gameplay

Despite their single player pretensions, the real battleground these games compete on is online competition against real people instead of software simulacrums. This is still a young market, particularly in the UK, but commands a strong following that will only grow in popularity as broadband access spreads. Internet servers for both games abound, but even fast modems struggle with these games, which are really designed for ISDN or faster access. Still, both games are extremely popular on the internet and provide for slightly different tastes; Q3 has the edge in reaction-testing fast action, whilst UT tends to be slightly more strategic and cerebral.

Modifications

Since the release of Doom many moons ago, gamers have demanded that their games allow enthusiasts to write new levels and game types for their games. Consider Half-Life: there are dozens of so-called modifications freely available for multiplayer Half-Life, many of which completely change the weapons, setting and type of game. These are so popular that multiplayer Half-Life servers are a dying breed, whilst servers for mods like CounterStrike, Action Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic and Science & Industry abound.

Both Q3 & UT actively encourage mod authors to develop and extend the games, and early indications from the online community indicate support will be strong for both games. UT offers an elegant and flexible structure for authors, whilst Q3 offers less refinement but a much more powerful graphics engine. Time will tell which will gather the most fans.

Conclusion

So, which is the better buy? Ideally, of course, both but that's a bit of a copout on my part.

If you mainly play these games with other people - whether on the internet or LANs - then the choice largely comes down to a matter of taste. Q3 offers more seat-of-your-pants action, with an emphasis on quick reflexes and split-second decisions. UT is slightly more cerebral, with a wider weapon choice and more strategic game modes, though still pretty fast and furious.

If you're buying for the single player game, then UT stands head and shoulders above Q3's rather weak effort and is a truly excellent game in its own right.