Classic FPS games in the 90s contained certain elements that make them classics such as speed, cool weapons, open traversal, and secrets. Rise of the Triad (ROTT) was one of those games. Many have attempted to emulate old school FPS’, but have failed to do so on a fundamental level. Will the new ROTT cause a rise in your blood pressure out of frustration, or a rise in your pants from pleasure?
The new Rise of the Triad is a remake of the 1994 original. Pretty much exactly, from the story to the characters, weapons, locations, and even the cheat codes. The single player is broken up across 20 levels in four episodes. Each of the 4 episodes have unique appearances to give a different feel. This isn’t just a love letter to the original, it is a romantic evening with dinner and popping the question during dessert.
This first-person shooter is lightning fast and fluid, complete with infinite ammo in your pistols and even the machine fun, the mp40. Funny that the pistols and machine gun have reload animations when it’s entirely unnecessary for them to reload. The remainder of the weapons are rocket-based and feature alternate fire modes that do what the original weapons did.
Modern conventions creep up with the fact that all saving is done via checkpoints. Sadly, they are really far apart, resetting combat a crucial few minutes. It isn’t the worst thing in the world, but is frustrating and makes me want to dip out and go play the multiplayer. Or use God mode. Either way, it is quite surprising there isn’t a manual save here.
Other modern trends appear, such as an FOV slider and iron sights. These are very welcome additions.
ROTT’s multiplayer also makes a return. You can host your games on the Internet or via LAN. Or simply join a game from the server browser. There are three modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag amongst 5 maps. While that doesn’t seem like much, it’s enough and I do have to remind you this is only a $15 game.
The attention to detail to recreate the game in Unreal Engine 3 produces impressive visuals all while feeling familiar. One thing to note which has been a notorious problem in Unreal powered games is the texture pop-in, which simply does not exist.
The soundtrack has been fully redone with heavy guitars and lengthy riffs. Some tracks provide ambience and are just like jam sessions. For a good throwback, you can toggle a switch to get the classic soundtrack, which fits right in even with the new look.
Interceptor Entertainment hasn’t just remade Rise of the Triad, they’ve gone back in time. A time where FPS’ were fun, challenging, and full of replayability. Combine that with the insane multiplayer, and you have a problem where $15 seems too little to be asking of this game.
A pre-release Steam code was provided by PR for review purposes
