Back to the Future for Quake 3?
Quake 3 Arena , as one would expect, brings a mix of the best of the previous Quake versions plus benefits of new technology. Q3 has an entirely new engine, and the graphics of Quake 3 are tremendous compared to it's predecessor (you may have seen evidence of that already!). However the folks at id Software reached back to the original Quake for a couple of twists. One is really neither here nor there, but the other has definite spiritual underpinnings!


This is a picture of the HUDs (Heads Up Displays) of both Quake 2 and 3. Quake 3 brings back to the screen a feature left out of Quake 2: the character's head icon. Unlike Quake and Doom, this icon does not change to reflect either declining health value and damage, or collecting a super powerup (this is documented in the article on PC games at Jesus is Lord.com).

The other "Retro" feature found in Quake 3 Arena is the pentagram. The pentagram was absent (as best as I could tell) from Quake 2. But it comes roaring back in the Quake 3 Demo I played.

This is the room I told you about in the earlier page where you find the crucifixion mockery. In fact the silver plate on the wall is the plate that activates the grate. Let the bright yellow draw your eyes toward the ceiling. Yep, there they are: pentagrams! Also notice the carved bulls head just above the arched doorway!

Same room, opposite wall, same pentagrams.

There are pentagrams high.....

and pentagrams low. Shooting these things doesn't really do anything like open secret walls and doors or stuff like that. And speaking of da' bulls ;)...

Eerie scenes, beautiful graphics. Lots of skulls and fire. It's almost an obsession.

This is a shot after the round is finished. These are the top three "fragggers" (killers) of the match. Look at the eyes of Stripe, the one in the center. Spooky, isn't it? The player called Q Trey Nubie is my character in this match. Notice how my eyes still look human. Nobody else in this game has eyes that look like that. It's almost as if that's saying: "you haven't been here long enough to lose your soul just yet, human! But given time, they all do!" Perhaps as you progress in the game, your eyes will take on that look.

But wait! There's...gore!