Full disclosure, this review is about the main game of rise of the triad and not the several expansions added in this port or the port itself. I generally consider myself a fan of New Blood and this port is once again another excellent addition to their catalog of great games, it has basically everything a fan of this game could ever want and about hundred times more than that.
Rise of the triad is an utterly bizarre collection of ideas and concepts haphazardly stitched together in a Frankenstein's monster of a game that only sometimes accidentally stumbles into fun gameplay. Most of this game's enemy roster is hit scan which results in most encounters feeling very unengaging as this severely limits your options on approaching encounters. Not to mention the level design only feels like a moderate step up from that of wolfenstine 3d, while not as monotonous and labrythian as that game was, levels often have a stream of consciousness vibe to them that feel more like the designer was just making them up as they go along as opposed to something that's actually layed out well and feels fun to run though. (Apparently the expansion levels are better but I didn't play them.) Despite this however the weapons for the most part are very fun to use, especially any explosive weapon which the devs seemed to have taken the time to make as spectacular as possible. Which is a pretty consistent theme of the game, rott might not he the most well designed or even competently put together games of the era but it's developer's enthusiasm is made extremely apparent from all the wacky and bizarre ideas they were able to stuff the game with, resulting in a fun and weirdly carefree atmosphere that's admittedly a little infectious. I was not as huge of a fan of this game as I thought I would be after hearing people in the retro shooters community talk it up, however I understand how a game this willing to go crazy with it could stick out in the minds of so many people all these years later. I wish even half the triple a titles that come out today had even half the enthusiasm that rott has.
Rise of the triad is an utterly bizarre collection of ideas and concepts haphazardly stitched together in a Frankenstein's monster of a game that only sometimes accidentally stumbles into fun gameplay. Most of this game's enemy roster is hit scan which results in most encounters feeling very unengaging as this severely limits your options on approaching encounters. Not to mention the level design only feels like a moderate step up from that of wolfenstine 3d, while not as monotonous and labrythian as that game was, levels often have a stream of consciousness vibe to them that feel more like the designer was just making them up as they go along as opposed to something that's actually layed out well and feels fun to run though. (Apparently the expansion levels are better but I didn't play them.) Despite this however the weapons for the most part are very fun to use, especially any explosive weapon which the devs seemed to have taken the time to make as spectacular as possible. Which is a pretty consistent theme of the game, rott might not he the most well designed or even competently put together games of the era but it's developer's enthusiasm is made extremely apparent from all the wacky and bizarre ideas they were able to stuff the game with, resulting in a fun and weirdly carefree atmosphere that's admittedly a little infectious. I was not as huge of a fan of this game as I thought I would be after hearing people in the retro shooters community talk it up, however I understand how a game this willing to go crazy with it could stick out in the minds of so many people all these years later. I wish even half the triple a titles that come out today had even half the enthusiasm that rott has.