Whenever a game from the massively popular first person shooter genre makes its way onto a console system, comparisons are inevitable despite the fact that they can't really be compared fairly. Unfortunately, console online gaming has yet to catch on and until then, any FPS port from the PC is going to seem terribly empty when viewed from the perspective of a PC junkie. So aside from graphics comparisons, you won't find this console version of Quake III compared to the PC version.

Gameplay
The great thing about QIII Revolution is that it has a strong single and multiplayer experience. It has a ladder style single player game in which you choose a character and fight your way up the tiers taking on ever harder opponents and partaking in different types of battles. The multiplayer mode supports anywhere from two to four players in the fastest most brutal experience you'll find on any system.

In the ladder matches you'll have to fight your way to the top in various types of matches including deathmatch, kills vs. time, possession, one flag CTF, elimination and skirmish. At the end of each tier you fight in elimination where you have a limited number of lives to defeat all of the opponents before moving on. The skirmish mode is the same as elimination only you are transported to different arenas throughout the battle. All of the arenas from the PC version are in Revolution including the ones from Team Arena plus even a few that were specifically designed for the PS2 version. Unlike Unreal Tournament's realistic "real-world" style environments, Revolution's arenas are just that, arenas. They are specifically designed for fast and furious shoot'em up action and there is definitely a lot of it. During your quest up the ladder your character's various attributes will increase in areas like health, power, speed etc., and his/her face will change to reflect battle scars. These are fairly minor but still cool additions.

PC and console gamers alike will be pleased to know that all of the Quake III weapons are back and look exactly the same and have the same feel as well. There are even a couple of new weapons to use like the nail gun. The name of the other escapes me but you'll know it when you find it.

Fans of the Quake series will know full well that it is based on brutally fast paced action and with Revolution the carnage never misses a beat. Besides how could it with a game running at over 60 frames per second even in the most chaotic of situations?! There is no need to worry about controls either as there are many different configurations to choose from and after a day or so you will be close to the precision that a mouse and keyboard provide anyway. Well that may be stretching it but I found that after two days of play I became very nimble with using the two analog sticks on the Dual Shock 2 to control my character in the game. Although the sensitivity can be adjusted, aiming on angles can be challenging until you practice a lot. I've played with both the Dual Shock and the Dual Shock 2 controllers and the difference in tension of the analog sticks seems to pose a bit of a problem. When using the DS2 controller, the analog sticks have more tension and this makes it more difficult to make fine adjustments when aiming. With the DS controller and it's weaker tension, I found making fine adjustments to be easier since you didn't have so much tension to counteract. This is by no means a big problem but you may want to try using the regular DS controller for the game and seeing if it helps.

All of the weapons seem to work quite well making the transition over to the PS2 but the rail gun may have you wishing for that trusty mouse. All I can say is that effectively using the rail gun in Revolution is an art form. You simply have to know exactly how to work both movement and turning in unison to get a been on anybody, but once you do make those rare one-shot kills the feeling is very satisfying.

Although ID Software has done an exceptional job in recreating every facet of the Quake gameplay experience on the PS2, the game is not without flaws. Sadly these flaws are more technical then gameplay related. One is the horrible loading times. I've calculated the loading for levels to be 1 minute 50 seconds. That's almost two minutes of sitting and waiting and you must do this every time you load level. There is also about a 30 second load at the end of a match as well. This isn't the only PS2 game with long loading times but it is the longest that I've seen. The other issue is freezing. The game has locked up on me once so far and my friend has informed me that his has locked up several times. This is just something that you hate to see in such an excellent game.

To get the most out of Revolution you simply must get some friends together for the multiplayer experience because it is simply unmatched for fast, addictive fun. Not only are there a slew of game modes to choose from but no matter what happens, the frame rate always remains constant at around 60fps! This is an amazing feat for such a graphically intensive game split four ways. If you're looking for the absolute best party game available, this is it.

Graphics
I've never owned a high-end graphics card for my computer but I do remember that Quake III on my measly 8MB card still looked gorgeous. That is, until I saw QIII Revolution on my PS2. The graphics in this game are without are without a doubt some of the best ever on a console system and has now made me confident that the PS2 can compete neck-and-neck with any high-end PC available today. The game is even a step above anything else on the PS2, including Timesplitters and Unreal Tournament.

What makes it stand out is the incredible level of detail in all the textures, the silky smooth 60+ fps and the cool dynamic lighting and effects throughout the many arenas. The metallic reflections are particularly nice and something that I don't remember seeing in the PC version. There is absolutely no flickering or aliasing to be found anywhere, giving the visuals a very crisp, sharp look to them similar to what you would see on a PC monitor.

The character models are well done and sport a fair amount of detail and about the only time that I noticed a drop in frame rate was only when the quad damage aura was on. Graphically, this is the most accurate port to a console I have ever laid eyes upon. This game takes eye candy to the max!

Sound
Yet another high quality area of QIII Revolution. Every weapon's firing sound has been faithfully reproduced as well as every grunt and moan from being pulverized by enemy fire. In fact, it can get quite annoying after a while. For one character, even when he jumps he lets out a desperate groan of agony. The arenas are filled with ambient background noise that helps set the mood and the music is typical of Quake games with nice deep base and clarity. ID Software really when all out for this game, even in this typically neglected category, the quality of sound in Revolution is superb.

Replay
It's got a ton of arenas and match types to keep anyone busy for a while, especially if they are looking to master the game on all difficulty levels. But if you really want to get the most from the game, the excellent multiplayer mode is the ticket. QIII Revolution is a high quality game in all categories with very few flaws. It's probably the best port ever from a PC to console and actually manages to look even better! I don't think I have to tell you that if you're looking for the best multiplayer or single player FPS experience on the PS2, this is the game you want.