After seemingly spending an eternity in development, id Software has finally brought its hit PC game Quake 3 Arena to the Xbox 360 console. Renamed and revamped as Quake Arena Arcade, the game now resides on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft points.
"Quake Arena Arcade introduces the definitive, competitive first-person shooter to a new generation of gladiators," said Bethesda's quick little press release on Wednesday. "Frag up to fifteen of your friends in six game types over Xbox LIVE, including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Harvester modes. Experience QUAKE like never before with over thirty classic maps, twelve Xbox-exclusive arenas, HD and Widescreen support, and a brand new Single Player campaign."
From what we've played so far, the game is extremely tight and brings everything we've loved about Quake 3 Arena over to Microsoft's console. Granted this isn't the first time we've seen id's Quake-themed shooter on a console-- it's already appeared on Sega's Dreamcast and Sony's PlayStation 2 ten years ago-- this is by far the best console version we've seen to date, sporting sharp, high-quality textures and liquified framerates.
If you don't have 1200 Microsoft points to spare, the demo's single-player campaign offer the first tier: Welcome to the Arena, Arena Gate, House of Pain and a few others. The multiplayer aspect has a 60-minute lock and only grants access to the "Player Match" portion. But as always, you'll need an Xbox LIVE subscription to actually play with anyone else-- the game will promptly reject all non-paying gamers.
Old-school Quake 3 Arena players accustomed to the mouse-and-keyboard setup may find the Xbox 360 version somewhat challenging, as the controller takes some time to master. PC gamers not wanting to move away from their old fragging ways may want to give Quake Live a try. Still, from what we've played so far, Quake Arena Arcade is 100-percent id Software awesomeness, and could very well pull many hard-core PC gamers over to the console side even if it's only for a day or two.
The Frags are strong with this one.
