Quake 3 Arena Arrives on Xbox 360

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Quake Arena Arcade has arrived on the Xbox 360, and it's pure awesomeness.

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.

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.

Kevin Parrish

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then, he’s loved all things PC-related and cool gadgets ranging from the New Nintendo 3DS to Android tablets. He is currently a contributor at Digital Trends, writing about everything from computers to how-to content on Windows and Macs to reviews of the latest laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and more. 

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • LATTEH
    it would of been cool if they did quake live, and allow you to play online for free! but you already get that on the PC :p
    Reply
  • NuclearShadow
    A great game and surely a classic but can players actually expect the average modern console gamer to be able to be able to even appreciate the game?

    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

    Or I could just reinstall it and play on the servers that still exist today. This way I can still use my mouse and keyboard. Besides if your expectations are so low that even a person
    who has a history with the game and loved it would only play for a few days then the game is certainly doomed to have a extremely small gaming community as there is no way console gamers will stick with it.
    Reply
  • borisof007
    Can't wait to go home and try this, was a huge fan of Q3 back in the day.
    Reply
  • chickenhoagie
    played this all the time in my High school Cisco networking class..was fun, but got kind of old. I introduced everyone to mobile counterstrike source and CoD1, and that quickly took over the classroom :D
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    90% of 360 owners main complaint with QA:A "Where's my sticky 'nades? this game is teh sux w/o sticky nades and the magnum!"

    If only they ported it and released it 2 months before Halo. When there'd be no Mastur Cheuff & Arby.
    Reply
  • silverblue
    I've still got my Dreamcast, copy of Q3A, plus the mouse and keyboard to go with it. Might get it out soon for a trip down memory lane. :)
    Reply
  • if you have a PC, better stick to QL it's 100% better with mouse/kb.
    Reply
  • bildo123
    I don't care what anyone says, a mouse will always be more accurate than any console controller joystick. Can't you just hook a keyboard/mouse combo to the 360?
    Reply
  • bildo123
    I don't care what anyone says, a mouse will always be more accurate than any console controller joystick. Can't you just hook a keyboard/mouse combo to the 360?
    Reply
  • Mikez
    BulkZerker90% of 360 owners main complaint with QA:A "Where's my sticky 'nades? this game is teh sux w/o sticky nades and the magnum!"If only they ported it and released it 2 months before Halo. When there'd be no Mastur Cheuff & Arby.May you please learn how to spell; or at least learn to use spell check.
    When people don't know how to spell, that really irritates me, unless it's in-game chat, then it's okay. But when you are commenting, please spell correctly.
    Reply