Quake III Arena
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 24 first-person shooters by recommenders
Loved for fast, skillful multiplayer, smooth movement, and its long-lived server community and mods; critics find it generic next to the games it inspired.
Loved for fast, skillful multiplayer, smooth movement, and its long-lived server community and mods; critics find it generic next to the games it inspired.
52 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 49
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 49 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 16 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun multiplayer and LAN parties
“Quake Arena and LAN parties during college created some of the best memories I have related to computer games.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Forgotten Art of the LAN Party (2023)” “It was a fun MP game, I spent years playing.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” “Quake III Arena was pretty entertaining.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
- Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update”
- Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software”
Nostalgic favorite of its era
“Quake and Quake III Arena was were the magic happened.”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” “Quake III Arena was the last great one”
Comment from 24 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” “it was like nothing ever seen before”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “The mathematical beauty of hyperbezier curves” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Q3Edit – Edit and play Quake 3 maps in the browser”
- Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Microsoft Fire IdTech Team at Id Software”
- Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Vibe coded browser ports of Halo, The Simpsons: Hit And Run, GTA work well”
Active servers and community
“a Quake 3 dedicated server could be run from a mid-range laptop while playing the game”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” “quake arena, counter strike 1.3, starcraft had very lasting user base”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Microsoft Fire IdTech Team at Id Software” “You won't have trouble finding active servers in it.”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update” Open, extensible source code
“its great quality was that it was abandoned and frozen while also being extensible”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update” “Quake 3 the server is included with the game, anyone can run it, modify it”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “The California State Assembly Has Passed the 'Protect Our Games Act'” “Quake 3 source is like a beautiful gem of a code base.”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on Fabrice Bellard”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Feels generic next to successors
“QIII while solid feels missing lots of flair, it feels more generic shooter”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” “I think what makes Q3A seem generic nowadays is that it set the standard.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” Setup fixes needed to run
“It was the right more and it helped the industry forward but it was a little pain point at that time.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “Developer Gets Half-Life Running at 30 FPS on a Nokia N95” “ISTR having to do something to make Quake III work a few years ago, but it ran fine after”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”
Other first-person shooters people recommend
The four most recommended other first-person shooters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quake | 118 | 29 | 80% | 12 | 28 yrs8 owners | Approved |
| Doom by id Software | 102 | 24 | 81% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Unreal Tournament 2004 | 51 | 12 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Quake III ArenaThis page | 49 | 3 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Half-Life | 42 | 7 | 86% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 55 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“was just as good as Quake 3 Arena”
“Quake 3, same experience... my ping wasn't great.”
“quake 3, unreal tournament 99 and Deus ex alone justified the voodoo card purchase”
“it was like nothing ever seen before”
“there's literally no game with such smooth movement as had Quakeworld or Q3A CPMA/Defrag”
“You won't have trouble finding active servers in it.”
“hosting lan parties with quake and q3”
“its great quality was that it was abandoned and frozen while also being extensible”
“there exists a version of Quake Champions where everybody plays equally. It's called Quake 3: Arena.”
“The Quad Damage voiceover is still cool as hell.”
“servers got toxic with the same grumpy players knowing every single trick in the map”
“Quake Live has held it down since 2012-ish, and was always a free-to-play game.”
“I was grateful for Unreal Tournament and Q3A”
“such a good game and very nostalgic”
“mouse-clicker practice from Q3A sniping”
“quake arena, counter strike 1.3, starcraft had very lasting user base”
“immediately started having a blast”
“I think what makes Q3A seem generic nowadays is that it set the standard.”
“I didn't love Q2, but really enjoyed Q3A.”
“QIII while solid feels missing lots of flair, it feels more generic shooter”
“there was something about the physics in Quake 3 that just lent itself better to that type of mod”
“Quake III Arena was super fun!”
“It was a fun MP game, I spent years playing.”
“Quake and Quake III Arena was were the magic happened.”
“Quake III Arena was the last great one”
“the time Carmack spent optimizing Quake Live, based on Quake 3, ultimately made it his twitch FPS magnum opus”
“Quake III Arena was pretty entertaining.”
“Quake 3, "rebranded" as Quake Live, is the second best for me. I can play both for hours.”
“Q2/Q3 are totally fine too, but I feel like QW really just nailed everything.”
“Quake 3 source is like a beautiful gem of a code base.”
“It was the right more and it helped the industry forward but it was a little pain point at that time.”
“Quake 3 the server is included with the game, anyone can run it, modify it”
“Quake Arena and LAN parties during college created some of the best memories I have related to computer games.”
“I really like the controls I came up with for both games.”
“Finding obscure math and figuring out that it was the correct fit for his renderer is just so bonkers.”
“the game was wild and just fun”
“ISTR having to do something to make Quake III work a few years ago, but it ran fine after”
“I specifically ran Windows 2000 for that”
“I loved playing 1v1 on Quake 2/3 and UT”
“a Quake 3 dedicated server could be run from a mid-range laptop while playing the game”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.