Yes, this is one damn fine shooter indeed. Back in the day, people complained about it being too limited in it's design (especially the 90 degree walls-issue, an inheritance from this game's younger brother Wolfenstein 3-D) but it was tons of fun to play and it really holds up quite well after all this time. Let's get the story out of the way first (copied from Apogee's catalog): "You are part of an elite group of operatives called HUNT (High-risk United Nations Taskforce), and you must stop a maniac cult leader from killing millions of people. While scouting a remote island, you are suddenly surrounded by enemy troops with guns blaring. In the distance you see your boat--your only chance to escape--explode into matchsticks. In front of you is a huge fortress monastery, and your only chance to stop the madness. You are equipped with awesome, high-tech weaponry like heat-seeking missiles, split missiles, and the Flamewall cannon, which leaves a trail of charred skeletons in its wake. You'll also find magical instruments and weapons so incredible they defy description." If that doesn't sound absolutely killer, I don't know what does. The game was designed by Tom Hall (of early-day id Software fame - think Commander Keen) and was originally intended to become a sequel to another Apogee classic: Wolfenstein 3-D. Some work was already done when id suddenly called the deal off and Apogee was left with a half-finished game. Then somebody got the fantastic idea that the work that had been done so far could be turned into another game. Enter ROTT. Enough backstory, on to the game itself. Now, the graphics are pretty damn good for it's day, about on par with Doom II (which was the most succesful shooter of the time) I would estimate. They are somewhat pixelated, yes, but still quite pretty to look at after all these years. Well, that's what I think anyway. The sound effects are absolutely hilarious as well as the bad guys you'll face. The music's nothing special, but not bad by any means. There's quite a few levels to explore in the 4 episodes that are included in the main game and if you're through playing those and still hungry for more, there's a good amount of additional levels that you can download from Apogee's website. The controls are smooth (meaning very responsive) and very customizable (yes, you can use WASD if you want). There's also an option to turn off the excessively gory graphics you'll see when you're mowing your enemies down using the more powerful firearms you'll encounter further along in the game (or in secret areas), so those who are easily offended can still play the game. Gameplay is generally much like Doom, except there's one awesome new element: the jump pads. These give the game a semi-3d feel that Doom lacked and make up for the 90 degree walls issue by far. It's just so much fun to jump around and over your enemies while blasting them to kingdom come and beyond. But be careful not to launch yourself out of the level and into oblivion! :-) There's also some great bonus items that will grant you both god mode (invincibility) and a very special dog mode feature you've never seen before and probably never will again either (you just have to see it to believe it). The game was also notable for it's interesting multiplayer features. It bears the distinction of being the first FPS to have a capture the flag mode (called Capture the Triad here, but it's same thing). All the other multiplayer modes that would be expected in a FPS from this era are available too (deathmatch, co-op, etc.) as well as some other unique ones that are more than worth checking out if you've got some friends who'd like to play this with you. As should be apparent by now, the game has an incredibly amusing sense of humor. It was obviously designed with the notion that the player should have a lot of FUN playing this game. And have a good laugh while at it. And it's almost impossible not to. The game doesn't take itself very seriously, which is a nice change from many shooters out there today. Back in 1995, when this way originally released, it wasn't given much of a chance due to the huge popularity of Doom and Descent, which is a real shame because it's quite a nice gem. While some of the criticisms that have been applied to this game are certainly valid (like the repetitive nature of the game, the 'mazy-ness' of parts of the levels or the 90 degree walls thing), it's at least good for a few hours of great fun and I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who missed out on it back in the day. Who knows, you might really like it. And it's only 5.99. So there's really no excuse... Get this now, I promise you won't regret it! And check out Apogee's website (http://www.apogee1.com) for some bonus materials like additional levels and more! (If you really need more convincing before buying, you can download the shareware/trial version from Apogee's website.)
I'm new to this site and I just wanted to say that I'm very happy with the service being offered here. For only 5.99, you get three games with all materials (including PDF manuals) intact plus many extras. Also, unlike for example Steam's version of Quake, this game INCLUDES all the cd-audio tracks so you won't miss out on the cool music they put on the original game cd! The fact that the games being offered on this site are DRM-free is a huge plus as well, and the prizes are more than fair. Terrific service, thanks GOG.com! I'll most certainly be back for more! Side note: Oh, and yes, the games run in a pre-configured DOSBox wrapper. I don't see why this seems to upset another reviewer. DOSBox is a wonderful tool that runs older games on modern systems almost flawlessly and you can actually choose during installation whether you wish to install it or not. So what's up with the complaining?
