Quake Champions Takes A Page From Fighting Games With Its Brutal New Duel Mode

Quake Champions promises to be plenty of fast, furious fun, but what if you want a slightly more focused experience? Just you and one other player in a brutal showdown without 10 other people trying to shoot you in the back? Well, Quake Champions delivers just that in the new Duel mode, which pits you against a single opponent in the ultimate test of wills.

Here's how id Software describes Duel mode:

"Duel mode introduces an additional layer of strategy to Quake Champions, incorporating multiple Champions with differing Abilities. To start, players will select three Champions in a snake-style draft before heading to the Arenas. In choosing their roster, players will have to consider which Champions are better suited to their unique playstyle and which are effective counters to their opponents' choices.

Taking a cue from fighting games, Duel is played as a best-of-three match. There are three total rounds, and in each round, a player has to defeat all three of the opponent's Champions. When a player is fragged, they will respawn as another of their chosen Champions. When one player has eliminated all three of the opposing Champions, a winner for that round is declared."

Now this is my kind of mode! I'm kind of hopeless in multiplayer shooters, but if I dial in on one other player and focus on fragging them, I can usually do okay. Taking a page from fighting games is also just a logical extension of the whole "hero shooter" thing – Mystery Duel is definitely one of my favorite parts of Overwatch.

Quake Champions is currently in the midst of an open beta, which will continue until May 21. Just head over to the Quake website to grab yourself a key.

Quake Champions doesn't yet have a final release date, but it's expected to launch on PC sometime this year.