Rise of the Triad: Dark War

A problem often arising with playing older games is the issue of nostalgia; is the game actually relevant nowadays, can I have fun playing it? In answering this question for Rise of the Triad, it's a little difficult. When I was a young one playing numerous shareware titles released by the wonderful Apogee Software, Rise of the Triad was always a fun one to go back and play for me: its over-the-top "ludicrous gibs", campy humor, and incredibly memorable soundtrack were, and still are, the best parts of that game. But are they relevant now? I give that question a big maybe. The story is simple: you play as an agent of a special forces team sent to an island filled with cultists plotting to destroy Los Angeles, and you have to stop them. Running through a series of very similar levels, you mow down the crazies with dual pistols, MP40s, and bazookas, among many other weapons. It was always wonderful finding that second pistol and shooting all those enemies pleading for their life on their knees with a bazooka, shooting ludicrous gibs all over the world, jumping on trampoline platforms, evading flame balls and lava columns. All to the wondorous tunes of Lee Jackson and Bobby Prince. Yep, always wonderful. Always wonderful... in 1995. In 2009? Again, a big maybe. For someone that has never played this game to appreciate it would most definitely require them to put themselves in the mindset of a PC gamer in 1995, and learn to appreciate the design that went into this game. For the community of GOG, I don't expect that requirement to be hard to fulfill. Overall, Rise of the Triad is a good purchase from GOG, but I feel it has fallen victim to "nostalgitis". I highly recommend it if you want to play as god or a dog, flying in the air, while on shrooms!

When Rise of the Triad was released, the first thing I noticed was its graphical realism. Enemies are humans made after digitized actors, which makes the game look closer to our universe than Doom and its monsters, for instance. Sprites are much detailed. The game's second and correlative quality is its extreme violence. Deaths are painful and very bloody. ROTT is the archetypal politically incorrect game that you want to play if you wish to shock those watching your screen above your shoulder. Foes look like nazis, which makes the game look even more controversial. Sounds are fantastic, too. A stress is laid on powerful missile weapons with devastating effects. Unfortunately, in spite of undeniable qualities, a charm of its own and some great ambiance, I find this game rapidly boring because of its repetitive level design. The engine does not allow floors nor stairs, a shortcoming that is not satisfactorily compensated by those weird flying platforms. I did not feel exploring a universe with its logic. I felt roaming square rooms lacking variety in shapes and textures. Finding one's way through this flatness can be as hard as annoying. ROTT could have rivaled Doom but its level design dooms it to remain a somehow enhanced version of Wolfenstein 3D. For me, it offers a great experience as a shareware but not enough to keep a player entertained any longer.

it definitely brings a blast of fun that DOOM didn’t: it has a faster tempo, it has more bloody scenes, it has unlimited bullets for submachine gun…… there’s definitely a lot of fun However, to fully experience its charm, if you are a modern gamer like me who only played games like COD, Farcry, CSGO, etc., you must tweak your “logic” in the game; if you don’t, your experience would be a little painful You CANNOT dodge bullets. In modern shooting games, you can rely on sprinting or rolling to dodge the bullets, but in older games like ROTT, the gunshots are not avoidable. The enemies see you, they shoot, you take damage. To prevent this, there are two ways: you either don’t let them see you, or you don’t let them shoot. The former could be done by using the corners and walls to ambush, so your enemies cannot see you, kill then when they walk out The latter could be done by shooting them faster than they could react, putting them in a state of “shot” (it’s an animation where they are getting shot and in that moment they are unable to attack) Anyway, just keep in mind you cannot dodge the bullets and your experience would get much better

I loved this game! I can remember only having the shareware version of this game and playing it over and over again. Everything from the enemies speech, to the weapons, and the glorious gibs was SO awesome. Back then the stores only carried a handful of popular games so I was always out of luck with games like this and Blake Stone. Even though ROTT came out after Doom and was covered in it's popularity shadow the game had things to offer that Doom did not. For example the game had the ability to look up at down, trampolines, and floating pads that allowed players to travel up and down as well as the ability to kill enemies by jumping on their heads. How awesome is that! All in all, it was a GREAT game back in the day. It brings a tear to my eye to be able to play them again. Oh how I wish I was 12 again. *weep!*