Rise of the Triad (2013)

ROTT 2013 : the music is dope, or at least a good re-imagination of the already stellar soundtrack of the original by Lee Jackson and Bobby prince. That's how the one redeeming thing about it, every else is buggy ( and there are a LOT of bugs in this game) or simply... bad design. Sincerely, I can't say how someone would call it ''retro gameplay'' : it's just junky and, frankly, uninspired. However, It's not easy to take such mantle : the original one ( which I gave it a 5 star score on this site), although less famous than its contemporaries, has stellar gameplay, level design, soundtrack and the graphics too were, at least, charming. Here, none of it is present, especially the level design, which tries to connect with old style but just feels... empty. Still, this game, however I criticize it, has been made out of love, that's a clear sign, plus the soundtrack is really worth listening it to. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver, but, if you have already beaten the original multiple times, this could ( and could here is perfect) be for you... but 'd personally stick to the old one.

I read some reviews about this game mentioning relentless difficulty, impossible platforms, unfair checkpoints, and performance issues. I’m not exactly sure if these things were fixed in this latest version, but I didn’t see any of those problems. There’s nothing relentless about the difficulty—actually, on easy mode (which I played just to relax) I found it pretty smooth. I also didn’t find any impossible platforms! No issues like that at all! No problems with checkpoints either, since the game has quick save and it works perfectly. The game runs light and flawlessly on my modest machine (4060) with all settings maxed out. It has the same vibe as the original, but many things have been improved, like the graphics (obviously) and they also added a jump button. A varied and fun arsenal that causes plenty of destruction. Personally, the only thing I didn’t like much was the music, but that’s a matter of taste—I just turn it off and put on something else to listen to. I’m an old-school gamer from the 90s and I loved this remake—for it to be perfect, it would only need that transparent map that was common in games from that era. My score is 8.5/10! Truly a great game!

If your QA team deems this game acceptable, please fire your QA team. Bad air control makes the platforming sections very frustrating. They also never seem to have heard of clipping to make sure you don't get stuck on every corner, decoration or pillar. Doesn't come close to the original game.

Like so many others, I have been longing for the days of old fashioned FPs. When the player's own skill was something that the level designed assume to grow, bigger weapons brought forth bigger enemies and scripting was minimal. At first it looked like Rise of the Triad would fulfill that need, with its gorgeous visuals and great sound design, going back to an uncompromisingly violent experience - one where shooting is its own reward. Unfortunately however, the whole thing comes apart at the seams pretty swiftly. Many oldschool PC gamers will know, that the ability to load and save at any given time was a primary selling point in the early days of PC gaming. Likewise, the guns were original and innovative in games like this, to keep things interesting. As they have added not one exciting gun, presumably to maintain the "charm" of the classic predecessor, they also stripped out the ability to save and bestowed upon us, the worst checkpoint placement in gaming history. A fantastic idea with some nostalgic appeal, that lets itself and its fans down in execution, variety and comfort. Buy on sale, if at all.

I love oldschool FPS games. ROTT tries so very hard to be like those old games but fails utterly to recreate their experience. The audio design is terrible. The most prominent thing you'll hear is constant burping and farting every time your character picks up something. (That's the game's humor) Half of the time you can't hear from where you are being shot at. That, the broken hit indicator and the deadly enemy hitscan weapons make the higher difficulties just frustrating. In a good FPS you can almost completely avoid taking damage. This is impossible here. No thought has gone into enemy placement or the level design. I've been standing in big rooms, being shot at, searching the screen where the last small enemy is located. Because enemies have no spawn-sound you don't know if some just spawned behind your back. Most of your weapons consist of variations of grenade and rocket launchers. (of which you can carry only 1 at a time) That would be fine if you wouldn't constantly fight in small corrdidors, hurting yourself with the splash damage of the explosive weapons. The melee hit detection is completely unreliable and you'll find yourself not using your melee attack at all. Technically the game is a mess. It's poorly optimized and looks dated. If you want a modern game that captures the old school FPS charm perfectly, try Serious Sam. Or try the Brutal Doom mod. Or just play the old games here on GOG.