Deathmatch Classic or DMC is a multiplayer video game developed by Valve as a tribute to Quake. It was released on June 1, 2001.

History

DMC was conceived by Valve  as a tribute to id Software

Id Software

Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...

, and is essentially a remake of the multiplayer component of id's Quake.

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to Quake deathmatch

Deathmatch (gaming)

Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...

, with essentially the same weapons (except the one for melee

Mêlée

Melee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....

 combat, which is Half-Lifes trademark crowbar

Crowbar (tool)

A crowbar, a wrecking bar, pry bar, or prybar, or sometimes a prise bar or prisebar, and more informally a jimmy, jimmy bar, jemmy or gooseneck is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on one or both ends for removing nails...

 instead of the original axe), armour and power-ups. DMC also imitates Quake's physics, which allows an advanced player to gain a lot of extra speed or jump very high by using a number of movement skills such as bunny hopping

Bunny hopping

Bunny hopping, or bunny jumping, is a term used in video games to describe the basic movement technique in which a player jumps repeatedly, instead of running, in order to move faster.-Concept:...

 and rocket jumping

Rocket jumping

In first-person shooter computer and video games, rocket jumping is the technique of pointing a rocket launcher or other similar explosive weapon at the ground or at a wall then firing and jumping at the same time. The rocket's explosion propels the player to greater heights and distances than...

.

The default game speed in DMC is somewhat slower than in Quake. The weapons scale from the basic shotgun to the rocket launcher and the "shaft", a powerful directed-energy weapon

Directed-energy weapon

A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...

. Three kinds of bonuses are scattered over the maps, which give the player a temporary special power: "quad damage", "invulnerability", and the "ring of shadows" which turns the player into a ghostly, almost invisible figure.