When comparing Painkiller: Hell & Damnation vs Quake III Arena, the Slant community recommends Quake III Arena for most people. In the question“What are the best PC arena shooters?” Quake III Arena is ranked 6th while Painkiller: Hell & Damnation is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose Quake III Arena is:
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.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Fun, over-the-top weapons
The game includes weapons such as Ectrodriver, that can shoot electrified shurikens, Stake gun-Grenade Launcher, that can shoot stake propelled grenades and Shotgun-Freezer that can shoot a freezing charge.
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.
Cons
Con Pretty much dead
According to SteamDB data the game averages about 50 peak daily concurrent players.
Con Bad netcode
They made an HD remake of the original Painkiller, and that's regrettably the only thing they improved on. This game was fantastic on LAN and tournaments, but horrible online if you're pushing above 40 ping. Painkiller's bad netcode primarily contributes into the game's unpopularity as well.
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.