The original Rise of the Triad was released in the mid-90s, a time where FPS' were absurd and pumped out faster than movie sequels. Some games had to break certain boundaries to get noticed, or they would just disappear into obscurity. ROTT was one of those games that would leave an impression on people, mostly due to its arcadey feel and ridiculousness, in weapons, items, and even what could be called a story.
This new reinvision of the original has the same story basis, a group of anti-terrorists who go take out a large scale organization called The Triad. There is a lot of Wolfenstein kind of feel as it delves into the cult and mystical, but it still continues the absurdity that the original ROTT had. Power-ups like becoming a dog, an elastic rubber band shield, or even getting high on mushrooms.
The player can choose from a list of characters, each with their own abilities and downfalls, and you run 20+ missions to get through the Triad to fight the main boss. The boss fights are medicore and you could beat most of them by circle straffing them until they die, crouching as they tend to shoot above you, and sitting next to a wall just far enough that your gun shoots forward.
As you progress through the story missions, everything takes place on San Nicolas Island in California. There are not huge art shifts as you mostly go through a military base, but you will get weird occult underground castles as well as some caverns filled with lava.
The gameplay is super fast, meaning you run by default, and you may have to adjust your mouse speed as it is designed for fast paced combat. You will also have a score system that will add per kill, combo as you kill enemies, and collect different kinds of coins. If you can do really well and gain 5 stars, you will be treated to an achievement as well, so stay sharp!
The audio is great, and it includes the original 1994 music in all of its glorious campiness. If there are little ones around, watch it as it is full of F and S-bombs. It is also very gibbeous. You pop most of the enemies with explosives, so expect a ton of body parts and spines everywhere. Again, while hilarious, you may want to disable the Gore function in the Options menu.
There is a Multiplayer section for some Deathmatch, but it is just not as popular as it was back when the game came out in 2013, so do not expect much. You will want to mess with Steam Workshop as there are tons of player mods out there, including DOOM and original ROTT level designs.
Review Note: The reviewer of this title purchased the title at their own expense. This does not affect the content of the review or its final grade.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
The controls are pretty customizable, just watch that mouse speed!
The game includes the original 90s soundtrack, and updated soundtrack, and some hardcore metal for level loading screens. The sound FX are sometimes overwhelmingly hilarious, and the VO is just horrible... but in a good "B Movie" way.
The game does do a good job trying to be updated over the original, but it just doesn't cut it with all the browns, grey, and dark rooms. Even for a game released when it did, the game is kind of bad to look at, and dark rooms are everywhere.
Even when it first released, MP wasn't a huge definer of the game. It tried to be like everyone else, but it just isn't that. The story mode is good to replay to get all 5 stars on each mission and collect achievements. Feel free to beat it and move on though.
PROS / CONS
- Great reinvision of original game.
- Soundtrack is great, old MIDI based music or full Soundtrack.
- Great kill of time, you will smile at things.
- Graphics are so muddy.
- Really easy to get lost and trying to figure out where to go next.
- Boss fights are a huge let down, way too easy to avoid most attacks.
