Rise of the Triad: Dark War

There's simply no other way to describe it. Not necessarily because it's a bad game, but because it's an outdated game. Every new item, weapon or mechanic it adds to a level, is something you would have seen done somewhere else dozens of times before by now. So you don't get the excitement you would have got back in the day, from reaching a new level & unlocking something new. The newer weapons are fun, but it's best to use the basic unlimited-ammo ones, since by simply shooting at en enemy you incapacitate them - they can't shoot back when they're shot at. You can tackle half a dozen enemies that way and not lose much, if any, health in the process. The game does do its best in trying to kill you, by placing enemies just behind a door, or hidden in an alcove to your right or left, but since Rise of the Triad was released, that enemy placement became so stereotypical, you can sense when an enemy is going to pop up. And having dealt quickly & easily with the bulk of the enemies in each level, you're left with a sprawling empty level where each room resembles the previous one, and it's up to you to find the exit. Which, really, is half the challenge. It seems like a level design made with multiplayer in mind. In fact, it seems like it'd be a very fun multiplayer experience. But not as a single player game. Having to walk through sprawling empty levels just to get to the next sprawling empty level just isn't fun. I found it hard to even complete a level in one sitting, and had to force myself to finish a level because maybe the next one is much more fun. But it isn't. It doesn't help that the controls are fairly clunky. Rise of the Triad seems like a game one ought to play with a controller. Playing it with a keyboard just made me feel like I'm slogging through the levels. It's a far cry from the speed, smoothness and ease of use of a game like Doom, which, as linear as it was, felt more fun and much more challenging, and it achieved that with keyboard controls.

Not one of my favorite FPS games back in the day but it was still fun shooting up pixelated russians, lol.

Since GOG only gives me 2000 characters for a review, here is a link to a Steam discussion page where I wrote my review without any such limitations. https://steamcommunity.com/app/358410/discussions/0/3882723820578996460/

I used to play this game all the time. It reminded me of "Heretic" which had sort of a mystic twist to it.

Fantastic combat simulation.