Last night, Quake Live hit the ‘ol intertubes. If you’ve never heard of Quake III: Arena, then you’re in for a frag-fest-feast as it is THE game that put multiplayer on the map like none before it. However, this time it’s totally free and even better…it plays right in your internet browser. This fact alone kind of makes my head spin as it doesn’t feel all that long ago when this game required a decent video card and a beefy machine to run. Now, we can play it with just as much ease as pulling up a Youtube clip without much of a noticeable hit in the game.

It took me a little while to wait in que to get the plug-in installer. After installing it and restarting Firefox, I was good to go. They run you through the usual steps of creating a user profile which includes choosing your in-game avatar as well as a chance to customize your controls.  After that, you play a 10 minute match against a computer controlled opponent to both get new players used to the environments and to judge your ranking so that you can be matche dup against players of similar skill. After that, you’re on your own to frag untill your little heart’s content. There are of course the usual Friends lists and leader boards.

The whole QIII: Areana game seems to be present. The fact that its free is pretty amazing as I hear that it is supported by in-game ads. I havent nocited any yet, but then again I haven’t had the chance to relly get into a game yet. All the servers fill up pretty quick. Unfortunately for you out there on Macs, you are out of luck for now as it currently does not support it. However, the site says it has a Mac and Linuix version in the works.

It’s Quake III: Arena and that means it’s great. Again, I’m really impressed at how well the whole thing runs in a browser. It’s a good time to be had by all.