| INFO | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Apogee Software |
| Genre | FPS |
| Platform(s) |  |
| Release date | 1994-12-21 |
You could say I'm a big fan of first-person shooters. It's easily the genre I've devoted more time to, though I dislike being told so as I take pride in having tried all types of games without reservations (even sports, and I'd rather attend church than play FIFA). I completed the entire id Software lineage (Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Quake, etc) on the highest difficulty. I never tried Rise of the Triad though, so I was naturally curious about this experiment that was once meant to be released as Wolfenstein 3D II: Rise of the Triad before having to reinvent itself. And it's sad to say it didn't meet my expectations.
The game pits you against an army of Nazis cultists that plot to destroy Los Angeles (well, who wouldn't?) based in a monastery on an island off the West Coast. You must choose one character out of a group of HUNT (High-risk United Nations Task-force) operatives. They all have different stats (life, speed and accuracy) though in the end it doesn't really matter that much. You land on the shore and begin unloading your arsenal onto your enemies. That's it.
Well, to spice things up Apogee implemented several improvements, such as dynamic lightning, skies, decals, vertical movement (with elevators and floating disks that form stairs), jump pads... It all sounds great, but feels wasted after a while due to the monotonous gameplay, which is mortally wounded by two great mistakes.
The first one can be summarized as "boring maps". Yes, they are neither engaging nor memorable, something which is just inexcusable in a FPS. Despite the graphical improvements, the are mostly a succession of plain walls. But the layout is even worse. They're labyrinthine, filled with secret walls and pressure plates that not only take you to bonuses, but are indispensable to finish the level. Even with the auto-map feature, playing RotT soon becomes as fun as doing your homework.
The second problem is the lack of weapon diversity, due to a design decision I can't really understand. Bullet-based guns have infinite ammo, so you never have to reload or manage your reserves, which is frankly one of the funniest things in a shooter. Not only that, there are 3 firearms (pistol, dual-wielded pistols and MP40), but after getting the last one it makes little sense to go back to the previous, so 80% of the game is spent mowing down thugs with a weak, slow firing SMG. The second type of weapons could be called "special": explosive projectile launchers and magical attack items. They have limited uses, and you can only have one at any given time. So for all intents and purposes, your character can only carry two weapons.
Perhaps to add variety, there are also many power-ups, with a touch of humor. Some are really useful like the overpowered god mode (complete with bored yawning), the dog mode (necessary to get through crawlspaces) or the flying mode, while others are best avoided. The game tries hard to be funny, parodical even, but it fails by a big stretch and I barely smiled twice. This is not Duke Nukem 3D.
If you eventually choose to see the ending (because well, maybe you paid for it, like I did), I'm sorry to tell you that it doesn't get any better. On the contrary, some maps will have you bashing your head against a wall, and the final boss feels like a bad joke.
I'm not saying that this is a bad game. The engine features have some merit, and it even included a multiplayer mode (here called COMM-BAT), a level editor... It can be okay if you really want to be challenged by some maze solving, or if you don't mind pressing the "use" key on every inch of wall to see if it moves. But I find it tedious and uninspiring, like Redneck Rampage. The unneeded iteration of the same old idea.
Playing
- Steam or GoG. It should work out of the box, but read the manual to check the controls.
- There is a 2013 remake (a new game) and a 2023 remaster, Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition (the original game with improved features). I haven't tried them.