It's over! It's finally over! IT'S FINALLY OVER!
Rise of the Triad: Dark War + Extreme Rise of the Triad Released more than a year after the original Doom, can Rise of the Triad stand on its own legs as a worthy adversary? Truth be told, not really. While some of the things it brought to the FPS genre are interesting, like multiple characters, traps and power-ups, it didn't really succeed at getting the most important thing correct. What is that? The shooting.
In Rise of the Triad, you have 4 weapons: The single pistol, the twin pistols, the assault rifle and an explosive weapon. Once you get the assault rifle, the pistols are useless, since its stronger, faster and has unlimited bullets. It's also completely unsatisfying and there are quite a few enemies who laugh at your pathetic bullets. Which leaves us with the explosive weapons, which are actually quite good and have a nice variety. Unfortunately, you won't be able to use them in narrow spaces, unless you want to commit suicide and you may only carry one of those explosive weapons at a time and each has limited ammo.
As for the level design, it's very interesting with all those traps, mechanical devices and this gothic setting, but it never really gets any more varied and once you have seen one episode, you have mostly seen them all. Speaking of traps, the game can get really annoying with them, as failing to properly avoid them can kill you very, very quickly. And speaking of quick deaths, many enemies can also kill you very very quickly. Perhaps, it was because I was playing with Thi Barrett on hard but a single explosive is enough to instantly kill you, regardless of health. It doesn't help when there are many of those opponents on screen, especially when they are invincible. I really hated that, but what I hated even more, were the many platforming sections when there is no jump button in the game. Whoever thought that was a good idea, was certifiably insane.
I did have some fun, but I was not impressed as I was with other old FPS games. Well, at least the music (composed by Lee Jackson and Bobby Prince of Duke Nukem 3D fame), was awesome.
Oh, and regarding Extreme Rise of the Triad? Rename it to Rise of the Triad Romhack and you get an idea of what this is all about. The same number of rearranged levels, the same bosses and everything made harder to the point of having to quicksave every minute or so, because OHKOs are everywhere. And let us not speak about bullshit like being stuck in a level because you moved an object earlier than you should. Avoid it like the plague.
Updated my
list.