Join the fragfest with QuakeLive

If you’re a fan of Quake or other similar FPS games and have the itch to frag somebody, try out Quake Live.

Quake Live is an online version of the game Quake that you can play straight out of your browser. That’s right! It’s not something you have to install, just login to their site, and play your heart’s content with other players in a game of Quake.

When you sign in, you will first be directed to a holding area page that they use to regulate the flow of users coming in. No big deal it’s not a long wait. You will then have to download the Quake plugin for your browser and install it.

Afterwards, it’s time to download the basic game files. I suggest watching the demo tour while waiting for the download to finish. Then you create your character and play with a bot for 10 minutes to allow them to check your skills while downloading more game files in the background. Once all necessary files are downloaded (this may take quite a while, 40 minutes on a 384kbps), you can start joining matches available (even in the middle of it) or create one yourself.

There are different matches to choose from, FFA (Deathmatch, Duel) or Team Game (Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Clan Arena). There are also different maps each with a maximum number of players.

There are leaderboards as well as a system for buddies in case you want to be notified if they’re online and play with them. Oh yeah, stats are being recorded in your profile for more boasting capability.

The games doesn’t come with its flaws since it’s still in beta. When you join a match and after downloading necessary match data, you will randomly get errors and bring you back to the main screen. Sad to say it’s hard to make this work if you’re on a firewall or a proxy. Guess that discourages people from playing it while at work or school. Hehehe.