Ever play much Quake 3? Lots of people did, and now you can enjoy that same twitchy deathmatch experience in your browser. Quake Live is now open for business to everyone, after an extensive closed beta. Oh, and did I mention it’s totally free?

Just point your browser to the Quake Live website, sit in a queue for a bit, install the plugin, restart your browser, sit in the queue for a bit longer, and then you’re in. The game ranks you by completing a 10-minute training match, and then you’re ready to go.

Technically, it’s less impressive than it seems. It basically just uses your browser as an interface for a program that runs on your PC. That said, though, the ranking and matchmaking system is sophisticated, pitting me mostly against people that weren’t a million miles better than me.

Developers ID Software make money from it from ads on the walls of the arenas, as well as advertising on the socreboards at the end of the matches, and in the border of the browser window.

You’ll find that the site’s rather busy right now, as it’s only just become available, but if you perservere, then the actual ingame experience is pretty good, even on an aging PC with a rubbish internet connection.

What’s your experience been of Quake Live, so far? Let us know in the comments.

Quake Live