When comparing Quake III Arena vs Half-Life 2 (and episodes), the Slant community recommends Half-Life 2 (and episodes) for most people. In the question“What are the best first-person games on Steam?” Half-Life 2 (and episodes) is ranked 1st while Quake III Arena is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Half-Life 2 (and episodes) is:
When Half Life 2 came out it set the bar super high for character animation that still rivals some games today.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Worthwhile time investment for competitive play
Not many available FPS games have such a high skill ceiling as Quake III Arena, making this a great game to invest time into, for those that want to get to a competitive level.
Pro Offline LAN support
By using a LAN connection, multiple computers can facilitate multiplayer without the need for an internet connection.
Pro You can easily run the game on low end PC's
Due to the age of the title (released 1999) and the requirements of said title in the modern day, the game can easily be played on just about any PC from the last 10 years.
Pro Plenty of variation with multiple game modes keeps the gameplay fresh
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are the various modes that players can select within the game. This allows for enough change in gameplay for the user so that the game never gets old too fast.
Pro Amazing character animation
When Half Life 2 came out it set the bar super high for character animation that still rivals some games today.
Pro Guns are varied and interesting
Almost every gun is fun to shoot and is distinct. The crossbow is super awesome for it’s power and the gravity gun offers variety in puzzles and what you can shoot with. Want to hit someone with an explosive barrel? Pick it up and throw it with the gravity gun!
Pro Great Sci-Fi story
Aliens, portals to other dimensions, oppressive regimes, oh my! This game brings a great flavor of dystopian sci-fi as you fight part of the rebel cause to deliver justice with your Gravity Gun to the many species afflicted by the evil Combine. Also Half Life ties in somehow with the Portal series which makes it even more awesome.
Pro Commentaries
Hear from the creators about the making of Half Life 2 Ep1 and 2. Everything from level design to technical details are discussed. More developers need to use this.
Pro Very moddable
Entire games have been made from Half Life (such as Counter Strike) and the tradition continues with it’s sequel! In fact there’s a game essentially about making your own things made from a modded Half Life 2 and that game is called Garry’s Mod.
Cons
Con Poor quality voice-overs
Given that it is an older title and thus released when studios put little money towards quality voice-overs, Quake III Arena stands out as one of the worst of its kind, not least on account of the game announcer who is one of the main culprits.