Rise of the Triad by developer and publisher
Apogee Software—
MS-DOS retro reflection written by
Hamza.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Apogee. Gosh darn it, modern gaming culture will never understand the
thrill of booting up a computer, typing an Apogee game's executable
into MS-DOS, and seeing that logo fly across the screen with the
immortal tagline, "Apogee means action." Damn right! Apogee
may have fallen out of style and recognition lately, but their 3D
Realms banner is still flying high, responsible for the first two Max
Payne games, Prey, and the ill-fated Duke Nukem
Forever.
Having grown up playing Apogee games, the company holds a soft spot
in my heart and will forever remain one of my many gaming heroes—even
if their games aren't exactly ultra-classics, barring Duke Nukem
3D and Rise of the Triad. Despite lacking a consistent
one-two punch, several of their games are indeed highly enjoyable,
such as the side-scrollers Bio-Menace and Monster Bash.
Rise of the Triad was not only the first Apogee game I ever
played, but it was also my very first exposure to first-person
shooters. That's right, my interest and morbid addiction to all
things FPS originated here. ROTT FTW!
Right from their inception, Apogee dabbled in the silly and absurd;
with
ROTT, they waded deep into surrealism—an unprecedented
feat in a then-infant genre that had no guarantee of becoming the
next big thing. With id Software being deathly serious about their
titles, it is safe to say Apogee brought much-needed humor to the
genre. It consists of
Shadow Warrior (a parody of Eastern
martial arts movies),
Duke Nukem 3D (a parody of over-the-top
action films),
Rise of the Triad (a parody of violent gangster
movies), and
Blood (a parody of horror films, mostly cheap
B-movies). At their heyday, these four were true rivals to id Software, but
now they exist solely to provide old-school, over-the-top, violent
action for those curious and brave enough to dive headfirst into an
era that wasn't yet filled to the brim with dime-a-dozen WWII
shooters.
Rise of the Triad follows a strict rule of exciting gameplay
and fast, gun-toting action. Mere seconds into the game, you are
handed a heat-seeker. After depleting that sweet carrier of carnage,
you switch back to your primary weapon—a handgun with unlimited
ammo. You never have an excuse for running around wide-eyed trying to
find extra bullets. Although it is the weakest weapon, the mere fact
that it is bottomless makes it beyond awesome.
One major crutch that has permeated a great many FPSs is the god-mode
cheat. Those scared stiff by a Cyberdemon's haunting footsteps to the
point they couldn't move have had no choice but to jam in the
now-legendary IDDQD
code. Those unlucky enough to be prancing down SHODAN's corridors
with a sweaty complexion also had no option but to grant themselves
invulnerability to protect against her "creations."
However, in ROTT, god-mode is neither a cheat nor an
unlockable; it is an actual, glorified, free-of-cost power-up weapon.
Like I said before, ROTT is crazy and anything goes. With your
godly powers, you can smite your foes and mash them down into gory
giblets.
If you think that isn't crazy enough, take a bite of this: you get to
play as a dog. Once again, your eyes do not deceive you. Getting to
play as a hound in this hilarious, gory, and surreal romp is the
wackiest concept I have seen since the playable killer rat option in
Die Hard: Viva Las Vegas, where John McClane and his enemies
are oversized rodents. Though the dog plays only slightly differently
than its human counterparts, it possesses the incredibly cool ability
to kill foes just by barking at them. Excluding the games by
ShinyEntertainment, very few games on the market present themselves as
this silly and actually relish in it.
ROTT is one of them, and
the man to thank is none other than Tom Hall.
As one of the chief founders of id Software, Hall was responsible for
some of the company's biggest breakthroughs, including Wolfenstein
3D, Doom, and the immensely likable Commander Keen
games. He is also the creator of the iconic Dopefish—the unofficial
mascot of pre-success id Software. Due to creative differences, he left id Software and
joined Apogee, serving as a designer for Rise of the Triad.
Though not his absolute best industry contribution (that honor goes
to Anachronox), it remains one of his creative high points.
Here, he was able to exercise his wildest and craziest ideas. With
two creative forces like Tom Hall and Apogee working together, ROTT
was bound to be ultra-wacky and insane. And boy, was it ever.
In conclusion, Rise of the Triad is a definite must-try for
fans of the genre. As one of my ultimate gaming guilty pleasures,
ROTT remains completely satisfying until it wears out its
welcome, and engaging for as long as you, the player, decide to call
it quits. Don't let its dated, sometimes embarrassing looks deceive
you; it is a great shooter. And delightfully gory, too.
Note: Screenshots from all platforms that were available at the time can be found here at
Moby Games.
