OpenArena is a free open source FPS game that uses the the ioquake3 game engine which in turn was based on the id Tech 3 engine responsible for the popular game Quake III Arena. Development on OpenArena first started the day after the id Tech 3 source GPL code release. On October 31, 2008 the developers rolled out version 0.8.1 which features a re-organized single-player campaign, three new maps, and a couple of bug fixes. Is OpenArena still worth playing?

Requirements

•  Pentium 166 Mhz processor
•  64 MB of RAM
•  8 MB OpenGL capable video card

0.8.1 Changes

•  Uses protocol 71
•  Single player campaign re-organized
•  'Depreciated' client for Windows 9X
•  New hitsound
•  New maps ps37ctf, ctf_gate1, and am_galevish
•  Space Marine should no longer crash on old client
•  Chaingun works in unlagged now
•  Non-free texture folders from previous release removed

The file that I downloaded was oa081.zip and I have to do was unzip it so that I can play the game. For simplicity's sake, this is awesome! However it doesn't have this polished look when installing a game. Hopefully once version 1.0 comes out is that they include a decent installer that automates everything for the user from installing the game files, to creating shortcuts, and setting up the uninstaller.

As soon as you open openarena.exe, you'll see the usual introduction in games and for OpenArena it's just a plain white screen and the logo of OpenArena. After that you're taken directly to the games' main menu where you can either choose to start playing in single-player mode or go directly head-to-head with other human players in multi-player mode. However it would be wise to setup your keyboard and mouse settings before you start fragging. By clicking Setup, you are taken into a sub-menu consisting of four categories.

•  Player for setting up your name, handicap level, player model, et al.
•  Control for setting up your keyboard and mouse controls plus other settings related to those two.
•  System for setting up your graphics, display, sound, and network settings.
•  Game Options where you can enable some of the extra eye-candy while you play OpenArena. If you ever screw up on your configurations, you can always hit up the Defaults menu to bring everything back the way they are before you started messing around with them.

First Impressions

OpenArena's website is not really the prettiest out when you compare it to other free FPS games' website. Since I'm a fan of function over form, I have to say that it does the job quite well and it works for me. However with that being said, good first impressions is what you're looking for if you're trying to get more and more people to know about something. And I think most of the people that want to try OpenArena are turning their backs away because of OpenArena's website.

Single-Player

You are presented with two choices when playing in singe-player, you either play OpenArena in campaign mode or you can setup a skirmish game where you can choose how many bots will play on a map that you choose. Since I've played Quake III Arena when it was first released I didn't focus much on OpenArena's single-player campaign mode, I did however started a mini skirmish game.

Setting up a skirmish game is pretty easy, first you choose what kind of game do you want to play - I choose Free For All. Then you choose how many bots will play, and the map that you want. After all that, you just click on Fight. The OpenArena maps all have the Quake III Arena feel in them, and that's pretty much what I was looking for map design-wise. The AI is decent since you can set it up to play like a newbie or you can check out Nightmare! mode and see how good you really are. I'll let the screenshots do the talking.

Multi-Player

It's time to frag a real person now so I headed back to the main menu and choose the Multiplayer option. I was then presented with a list of OpenArena game servers and then all I have to do is choose what kind of server I want to play. And basically it's pretty much just like the single-player skirmish mode except that you're playing against a human. And as most of us know, humans are pretty unpredictable!

Final Thoughts

Overall it really does feel like you're playing a re-branded Quake III Arena, with the exception of the player models which I should say are decent-looking for a free open source game. Who knows maybe there'll be someone out there that will contribute their god-like skills in creating player models for OpenArena.

For me, OpenArena can be a solid game if you're willing to overlook that it's still pre version 1.0 so there are still quite a lot of quirks to iron out. However when you consider the fact it's 100% free and that you can modify it to your liking provided that you abide by the GNU GPL version 2 license makes it a pretty attractive game to own and share with friends. I did enjoy playing the single-player aspect of the game as it brought back memories when I was still a high school student.

However what bugged me the most is that even though OpenArena's been out for 3+ years now there's less than 100 servers available all over the world and on those those servers only a few of them have humans playing in them. And then consider the fact that you want to play in a game server that's near your location...you're left with only a couple of servers available to you. And that pretty much kills the multi-player part of OpenArena because sometimes I just want to kick it with other players online from time to time and sadly there's not really a lot of available game servers for you.

Then you have to take into account Quake Live from id software itself coming out later which is also free mind you. Now that should definitely take most of the OpenArena crowd out of OpenArena. However if Quake Live isn't as customizable as OpenArena then I think most players who like to customize or mod their games would stick with OpenArena.

Would I play OpenArena again when I get the chance? Absolutely. Would I play it once Quake Live goes out of beta? I'm not really sure...I just wish the OpenArena community was a lot larger than it is right now. Then maybe...just maybe I might hold on to it even after Quake Live.

Ratings

Installer - I wish OA has a setup.exe file that does all the installs. Even though all you have to do to play the game is unzip the file having an installer makes it a lot easier for novices.

Graphics - Very Q3'ish but you will notice that the models don't really go together or they don't blend in as much as the models in the original Q3.

Sound - Just like the graphics, the sounds are pretty Q3'ish.

Gameplay - Since OA is pretty much a Q3 clone the only thing that I want is for it to have a much larger player base.Why? Because playing with real people is a lot better than just playing with bots.