Rise of The Triad
Developed By: Interceptor Entertainment
Published By: Apogee Software
Date of Release: July 31, 2013
Price: $14.99
The year is 2013, and the First Person Shooter genre has gone to hell in a handbasket. The once sprawling, secret-filled maps of yesteryear have given way to liner corridors, with cutscenes every few steps. In trying to emulate blockbuster movies, videogames have lost sight of so much of what made them such worthwhile experiences. Regerating health has replaced healing pickups, and button mashing quicktime events have infected every inch of the FPS experience. Not to mention that most modern heroes are such wusses that they can't even wade into the crossfire without dying instantly, preferring to hide behind cover trading shots like spineless cowards. Thank god for Rise of The Triad, and for the awesome and ballsy team at Interceptor Entertainment for bringing it to us.
The first thing you're gonna notice when you start up Rise of The Triad is that the launcher lets you customize EVERY LITTLE DETAIL of the graphics settings. That's right, no craptastic console port here. Once you get into the ingame menu you can finish setting the basics like resolution, brightness and stuff, as well as choose your FOV. Again, no consoleized bullshit here. You also have full reign over your control bindings as well as audio levels (also be sure to try Classic Mode in the audio menu for a nostalgic blast!). That's not to say the new soundtrack isn't utterly badass, because the newly remixed tracks by Andrew Hulshult (of Burying The Trend) are utter ear candy. The use of the Unreal Engine also makes for eye candy, Rise of The Triad has NEVER looked this good. It's good to see that the folks at Interceptor give a damn about what makes PC gaming sofa king awesome.
For one thing, the sprawling mazelike levels that made oldschool gaming so much fun make a triumphant return, with dead ends, keys to match up with doors, and a total boatload of secrets. Seriously look EVERYWHERE around you, chances are that little out-of-the-way nook or cranny is hiding something badassedly awesome. The team at Interceptor have hidden awesome references new and old alike all over the levels (Dopefish Lives!). Oh, and then there's the other thing that makes PC gaming especially kicking rad: MODS! Rise of The Triad fully supports modding, and even has it's own easy to use drag-and-drop level editor (coming SOON™) so that you can make your own insidious arenas of mayhem and death! Not only that, but all future DLC is FREE (no Disc Locked Content here folks!).
Ok, all that stuff sound fine and dandy, but how does it actually play? Well imagine someone took the original Rise of The Triad, made it prettier, added proper aiming and WASD controls, and then basically turned everything up to 11 AND added more cowbell. Rise of The Triad looks and plays effing amazing, with a perfect challenge level for any player out there. There's a veritable army of foes waiting for you to take them on, and enough firepower to deal with them all. And that's just the singleplayer, there is also a full fledged badass multiplayer experience to be had, and let me tell you it is utter forking bliss. What other game lets you turn into a dog, zip across a bridge at breakneck speeds, and then tear your enemies a new one with your razor-sharp maw? CoD's dog is a wussy chihuahua compared to this beast. Oh and if you want you can do 'shrooms while you blast your foes into chutney.
So let's chalk things up here: Big freaking guns, frickin awesome powerups, four massive single player episodes, enough multiplayer to choke a horse (one of those big Clydesdale things, not some rainbow colored friendship pony), more guns, mayhem, Dopefish, secrets, adjustable FOV, ludicrous gibs, and a guy who is seriously named I.P. Freely. How could you possibly go wrong with this fluffy stack of murder pancakes? If you don't go out and buy this game now, you are seriously missing out and should really reconsider your priorities in life. Rise of The Triad earns a solid 11 out of 10, and also pre-emptively wins the Slipgate Complex FPS of The Year awards for the next decade, or until they come out with a sequel. Go. Buy it now. El Oscuro is a very inpatient guy, you don't wanna get on his craplist.
