Comparison: Unreal Tournament vs. Quake III Arena (DC)

[Falco Girgis]

Okay, this is an in-depth comparison of the two most prestigous first person shooters for Dreamcast (unless you count the unreleased Half-Life game that completely owns both of them).

Polish
First of all, we'll start with the "polish" of the games. Both Quake III Arena and Unreal have user-friendly menus that are easy to navigate through and are attractive. It all depends on your style which you prefer. There is no victor here, both titles exceed expectations.

Graphics
Next, we'll compare graphics. Both titles have insanely good graphics--period. Rent the PS2/X-box versions. There is really no difference for either of these sexy, sexy titles. Quake III Arena is definately the more colorful of the two games. Of course the levels aren't pink and red--it's a first person shooter, but most Unreal levels look dark and gray-ish. While the resolution and character detail of both games are so freaking close to being equal, I'd have to say that Unreal probably has a bit more detailed polys.

Although Unreal might have the more detailed models and textures, it certainly doesn't show too much. Most levels are just downright bland. The colors don't stick out enough for such an insignificant difference to really show. I can't really declare a victor here. I think that Quake is more pleasing to look at, but Unreal might have the slightly better polish.

Framerate
Now lets talk about a very important factor: framerate. An FPS had damn well better have good framerate. Quake III wins. No competition. When Unreal gets really messy with weapons and guns blazing, you occassionally get frameskip and slowdown. It's rare, but it does exist. It also gets much worse in multiplayer mode. I'm not hinting that this has any affect on the game, however. This is personal preference, but you can't deny that Unreal has slowdowns. Quake III Arena has freaking amazing framerate even with a kajillion rapid plasma guns blazing from all four players on deathmatch mode. Quake III runs smoother than Unreal. It's just a fact.

Sound
Okay, I'm not going to say which is better here, but I will state that what you're about to read is opinion. Quake III Arena has the more "badass" rocker sounding music playing. Unreal has the more calm "stealthy" music playing. It's all personal taste. I find that Quake III has the better music by a long shot, but that's because I enjoy blasting people to hell with some energetic music playing rather than music that might play when my grandma dies, but hey, that's just me.

Gameplay
Oh man... more opinions. Unreal is a little bit slower paced that Quake. The weapons and the speed of the combat is just slower. This can allow you to put more thought and strategy into the game. Quake III is for those of us who just want to blow the hell out of people nonstop. The action is Quake III is far faster and heavier than Unreal. I also think the levels are much more interesting in Quake. It seems like the battles can be a bit bland in Unreal at times. Another thing to note is that some people like to say that the AI in Q3A "cheats." Although CPU players don't cheat in Quake III, they certainly are cheap ass bastards at times. I don't remember having such frustration at Unreal computer combatants. Maybe it's just because the pace is different in the two games, though.

Extras
Both games have multiplayer modes. Both games support all the necessary peripherals. I find that once again Quake III is the victor, though. Multiplayer on Quake III is alot more fun. You can't deny it. The levels are alot more fun to battle on, the framerate is superior, and the array of weapons are better suited for multiplayer action. I am not, however, hinting that Unreal tournament isn't fun multiplayer--it is. Another point that I'd like to mention (no matter how small it is) is the fact that after you beat Q3A, you get to play the uber 1337 VMU maze on your memory card to unlock cheat codes. It's fun. Oh, and Quake III Arena can still be played online with homebrew servers; the online days of Unreal Tournament are over.

All in all, I recommend you buy both of them. You really should. They are both that good. But, for reasons that you've just read, I'm going to have to advise you purchase Quake III Arena first.

[Wutai]

Thanks for the review, Gyro.

I saw some movies for Quake 3, and it was moving so fast that I thought they were speeding up the video. How do you even aim when going so fast?

[Falco Girgis]

Thanks for the review, Gyro.

I saw some movies for Quake 3, and it was moving so fast that I thought they were speeding up the video. How do you even aim when going so fast?

Bwahahaha. Trust me, you get good at it. Even though the game was meant for the mouse and keyboard, it plays equally well for Dreamcast using the controller and analog stick (trust me, I've logged so many hours with my trusty blue transparent controller).

It's one of those games that you start off on easier modes and then you just get into it. After a few killing sprees you become a machine and can just own everything. It gets fun and you can become insanely good at it.

It also has different modes so both the newbies and expert players can have equal fun.

[Wutai]

Alright, I got Quake, ($9 at Game Crazy) but I have a huge problem: my mouse and keyboard aren't working properly. They work fine in the menu screens, and it even let me assign he keyboard controls in the setup menu.
When I tried to play a game though, the keyboard did not respond. The mouse let me aim, but when I tried to shoot, nothing happens.

Is there some way to fix this? Have you had any similar problems?

[MarauderIIC]

Unreal Tournament 2004 (xbox) seems twitchier than Q3, at least from what I recall of Q3... I can't find my CD. :/

[Wutai]

UT 2004 isn't on the Xbox.
There are only three Unreal games on the Xbox.

There's Unreal 2: The Awakening.
After that is a port of Unreal Tournament 2003 that was renamed Unreal Championship.
The latest one is Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, which is a completely different game that isn't even on PC.


Anyway, I figured out how to use the keyboard and mouse, and I still suck.

[Falco Girgis]

Wutai, I recommend that you start off with controller on the easiest mode. Work your way through the tiers using the controller. After you've beaten it on easy mode and are confident with your skill, switch to keyboard and mouse.

The mouse and keyboard are ideal because you have pinpoint accuracy with the mouse and have a button for every command with the keyboard (not enough buttons on the controller for things like zoom in and crouch).

But you must be really good to use them. It takes alot of skill to get fluent with that kind of setup.

By the way, how much was the keyboard + mouse + shipping off of ebay? Hyper Shadow told me his was around $30 together and I'm looking at getting another set. I just want to get the best deal...

[Falco Girgis]

I just won this auction on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

That's a Dreamcast Mouse + Keyboard with original box + shipping for $17. Sounded like a pretty badass deal to me, so I went with it.

Man, this report card money is leaving so fast... I have $7 left.

[Falco Girgis]

Whoah! The guy is relisting keyboards + mice like crazy! I just read in the description that shipping is cut in half for every additional item and the buy-it-now on a keyboard + mouse is only $4 + 1/2 shipping of $12 so I only pay $10 for every additional set.

Okay, I'm buying 3 sets of keyboards and mice.

That'll put me at a total of 4 DC keyboards and 3 DC mice. Man, you guys have nothing on me!

[Guest]

Wutai, if I were you I'd just use the controller until you beat Hurt Me Plenty, THEN try using the keyboard and mouse.

Don't even try to use just the keyboard; you cannot move at full speed with it and there is no way you could win when not at full speed.

As for the Quake vs. Unreal thing, I'm for Quake. But, think that Unreal is a great game also. Get both, but quake first.

[Falco Girgis]

Don't even try to use just the keyboard; you cannot move at full speed with it and there is no way you could win when not at full speed.

Umm... yeah, you can dipshit. You just can't look around as fast as with the controller or mouse. You can move perfectly fine.

[Wutai]

I'll try using the controller, but southpaw control is so extremely akward to me that I can hardly use it.

[MarauderIIC]

Oops, must have been championship then since nothing else sounds familiar :)

[layhooo]

So basically...
Unreal sucks and Quake is amazing

[Ginto8]

whoah... OP from '05. Mar?