Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or not, there’s always a new and exciting game in development that when you hear about it, you’re eager to play. This is the case with Quake Live and while it’s not necessarily new, I think the game speaks for itself in terms of the wow factor.
Developed by one of the world’s top game developers, id Software, the pioneers of the great Quake series, comes Quake Live – a great first-person shooter game that can be played without leaving the web browser. See what I’m raving on about inside the article.
Overview
Quake Live is a really fun browser-based version of the popular Quake game by top game developers, id Software. Offering various exciting modes of game play, it is guaranteed to relieve boredom and I daresay it, become your new gaming addiction. As well as being cross-platform, it runs inside your browser providing you’re using a modern one and your computer’s capable of handling it (which is generally not a problem for the majority of people). Though it is by no means a brand new game, it’s still one that’s worth the time to go and check it out.
Overview
Design & Interface
For a person who has never played nor heard of Quake before Quake Live, I personally liked the futuristic yet fantasy style of the game and I think that it fits the context very well. The graphics aren’t spectacular but considering the fact that it’s completely run inside the web browser, it can easily be excused. Everything also renders surprisingly fast. The game’s actual interface is quite simple and easy to understand, too – it is non-obtrusive compared to some others that seem to get in the way a lot during play. Despite its poor support for modern wide-screen monitor resolutions, the game generally looks fine if the window is re-sized, though I hope they don’t make this a necessity.
Interface
Pricing
Like many other successful games and apps, Quake Live operates on the freemium business model. The actual gameplay is provided free of charge but is mostly ad-supported. The game is priced extremely well, allowing the full pro yearly upgrade for the price of a retail game.
Pricing
With the (fairly cheap) upgraded accounts, you are supplied with various premium arenas to play in, as well as being able to create and join more clans than the free account. With the “Pro” account, you are also allowed to start matches – as well as being given the option to define certain criteria the other players must fulfill before they are allowed to play in that match.
Getting Started
It doesn’t take that long before you can actually start playing. To create an account, simply visit the registration page and from there you’ll be asked for some basic personal details and your chosen name tag for in-game playing. The next step is to actually install the game on your computer so that it doesn’t have to be pre-loaded each time.
Registration
There’s two main steps to actually installing the game. The first is to install the plugin which acts as the main way that Quake Live connects with your computer and you’re prompted to do this upon accessing the game. You can save the executable file wherever you like and once you’ve run it, there’s no more installations of software. You’ll then be taken back to the page which will then begin downloading the actual game’s content. This can take a couple to a few minutes depending on the speed of your connection but once it’s done, you’re then ready to start playing.
Practice
Quake Live also offers various private practice matches against bots that can prove to be a great way of getting used to the actual game play before you begin playing against real people. The practice matches offer exactly the same playing modes that are present in the multi-player version of the game so there’s no real difference between that and the real one, meaning that the learning curve and the actual grasping of the game’s process can be done beforehand.
Practise Modes
Game Play
The actual game play can be picked up really easily and the game offers several modes of game play. These include a Free For All play where the match is everyone fighting for themselves and to get the highest frag count, a traditional Capture The Flag in which players must retrieve the opposing team’s flag and bring it to their own base, a Clan Arena where teams battle it out, Team Deathmatch which is the same as the Free For All but with teams and finally a Duel play where it is simply two players fighting it out to get the most frags.
Game Play Screenshot
Personally, I found the game to be quite fun and although I’m not usually a big fan of multi-player first-person shooters, Quake Live can be one of my exceptions. The environments are quite rich but with the fast-paced nature of the game, you don’t really have time to notice them. It’s clear that a lot of time and planning has gone into the actual methods of game play as they allow the game to be enjoyed with various different goals, and each time strengthening the players’ skill. I also love how, despite the game is browser-based, it actually runs quite smoothly with minimal lag (for me, at least) – ensuring that the experience is the best.
More Game Play/Loading
Final Thoughts
Though I’m not one of the most hardcore of gamers, I’ve really enjoyed playing Quake Live. The graphics are great and, overall, the game is great to look at. The environments suit the game really well and allow for a really seamless experience for all players. The loading time for the game is also unbelievably fast, which is understandable since it’s stored locally, but it does everything possible to break down the barrier between the fact that it’s a browser-based game, as opposed to a standalone.
Long story short, I loved it. Initially, it wasn’t my thing but after just a few plays, I became pretty engrossed and I highly recommend it to anyone that has doubts about first person shooters, and even more so to those that love them!