Quake 3 in VR is a flawless nostalgia treat
With Quake 3 Quest, Dr. Beef and his team deliver another genius VR port for Meta Quest.
Doom, Quake 1 & 2, Half-Life, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Doom 3: Team Beef has already successfully brought many PC classics to Quest. Last week, another top-class title of this kind followed with Quake 3 Arena. I tried out the VR port and have to say it's brilliant.
I played Quake 3 Arena, which was released in 1999, extensively in my youth. The VR version plays just as fast and chaotic as the original. Those who loved the game will like it in virtual reality as well.
Classic arenas like q3dm17 are especially fun in VR, as you're catapulted through the level at high speed. It didn't make me feel sick, but you have to try it out for yourself. The VR port offers adjustable tunnel vision for gamers with sensitive stomachs and can be played both sitting and standing.
Quake 3 VR: A flawless nostalgia treat
You have to admire the care and love with which the team has ported Quake 3 Arena to virtual reality. Weapons support motion controls and are selected via an intuitive and quick weapon menu designed specifically for VR. It doesn't get much better than this.
I'm still as bad as ever, but I'm hitting better with the railgun now, thanks to the hand controls. It puts a big grin on my face every now and then when a body explodes in the distance.
The port supports various frame rates and ran smoothly at 90 frames per second on my Quest 2 (72 FPS is recommended) in the arenas I tried. You can compete against bots alone as well as against human players on dedicated VR servers. And yes, the official Team Arena addon is also supported.
Pretty cool: A separate companion app, which you can also launch in VR, lets you select and download mods, maps, and texture packs.
How to install Quake 3 VR on your Quest
The VR port comes with the demo version of the original and is free. If you want to play Quake 3 Arena extensively, you can install the rest of the retail version's arenas on the Quest.
Installing Quake 3 Quest is easy if you already have Sidequest set up.
- Then go to the sidequest page of Quake 3 Quest and click on "Download App". Note: If you are still using a Quest 1, you will need to install a different mod version.
- Then switch to VR and open your app library. In the dropdown at the top right, switch to "Unknown Sources".
- Launch "Quake3Quest" twice in a row. The first time, the required folders and files are created, and the second time, the game starts.
If you want to install the full version, you have to install it on a PC first. The game is available on Steam, among other places.
Go to the game folder and copy all PK3 files from the folder "baseq3" to the quest folder "/ioquake3quest/baseq3". You can do this with Sidequest or the Windows Explorer. Overwrite pak0.pk3 if necessary.
Now start the game as usual under "Unknown sources".
More information and help for the VR port can be found on the official website and on the team's Discord server.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
