Nightdive Studios, one of my favorites, have recently teamed up with New Blood Interactive to release their remaster of Rise of the Triad (ROTT), the cult classic mid-90s FPS originally developed and published by Apogee nearly thirty years ago. First available on PC at the end of July, the console release is available now and includes everything the PC release has other than the level editor and multiplayer support. Honestly, though, while I used to play deathmatch ROTT with friends after school on my dial-up connection, I don’t think I’ll miss multiplayer options these days, but it would have been cool to have. I also remember the level editor being a pain to use, but the PC version has a brand new editor; I’m not sure why it was not included here. That said, I have been enjoying all of the old ROTT content and a brand new campaign made exclusively for the Ludicrous Edition.
For just $20, you’re getting a lot of FPS here. Four campaigns are included, those being ‘The HUNT Begins,’ which is eleven levels across two episodes. You also have Dark War, which is what I am most familiar with from my youth. The HUNT Begins was actually the old shareware release, and the ‘registered’ or ‘full version’ of the game is Dark War. The levels between the two are different, but there is some elements that overlap, but actually as I will elaborate on a bit later, the level design of ROTT is such that it can be pretty hard to tell them apart. Anyway, Dark War is four episodes with thirty-four levels. Third is Extreme ROTT, and I still have my original retail CD of Dark War and Extreme that I bought in my youth; pretty sure I had to mail order Extreme. As the title suggests, it’s crazy tough. Some of the hardest enemies are waiting for you at the very start of this crazy expansion pack that is literally listed as being ‘Very Difficult’ in its description in the Campaign selection menu. It’s four episodes and forty levels of hella tough action. Finally, the new content is THE HUNT Continues, giving players another four episode, twenty-four level blast and continues the story of one of the most unsettling endgame bosses I can think of (El Oscuro). So you have over 100 levels of FPS mayhem here, and it’s not to say they’re all great by any means, but if you’re a fan of ROTT or challenging old school FPS action, it’s a pretty solid deal here.
Before diving into any of these Campaigns, it’s not a bad idea to check out your Options, and Nightdive added several new ones here that are worth mentioning. Controller Binds include your basics, but also, thanks to the Mercury Mode power-up, you can fly at times, so having your flight up/down controls set is important (default is L3/R3 for this). I loved being able to also assign Quick Save and Quick Load to d-pad left and right, respectively. Especially in Extreme ROTT, being able to quick save/load is vital for making this really tough game more doable and enjoyable. There are no checkpoints in any of the levels of any of these Campaigns, and using the quick save option is a lot smoother than pausing to use the manual save menu. Speaking of which, you can even bind mappings to get you right to the save and load menu, too, as well as a cheat menu and oddly multiplayer-like binds even though the game does not support that mode. Further detailed controller options include the ability to adjust X/Y sensitivity, invert vertical look, swapping stick function, adjust vibration intensity (I love the feel of the haptic feedback when using the dual pistols), and even motion sensor functionality but I did not use this. Being able to toggle Auto Run is nice as well, and while I had it on most of the time, there are enough tricky platforming like moments where having it off at times made sense.
Some interesting Gameplay Options exist as well that I appreciate Nightdive adding in. You can alter the percentage rate of spawning different versions of enemies in, which I thought was kind of cool. I noticed as well that the ‘Original Self-Damage’ toggle is Off by default, and by having this off it means that your own splash damage from explosions does less damage to you than back in the ’90s. The ‘Original MP40 Drop Rate’ is also Off by default, meaning the original 10% drop rate of this most handy SMG is much less than the new default. Original ‘monk’ HP is also a new toggleable option that changes the HP the harder monk enemies have (and going with the new Nightdive setting does make Extreme a bit easier). These modern options that Nightdive has made are nice and I’m glad they made them options you can toggle, should purists still want to play with all of the original settings. Honestly for me, it having been 25+ years since I have played ROTT, I don’t think I would have noticed these specific gameplay difference, but I’m glad Nightdive has given players the options.
Several other miscellaneous options are available in non-control and gameplay modes, such as choosing the soundtrack from the original, or the 2013 remake (would have been extra cool if ROTT 2013 could have been bundled into Ludicrouis Edition), too. Players can also access the Jukebox during play to change up the BGM to suite, and there are some tunes that I never forgotten after all these years. FOV adjustments and other goodies are also available to tinker with should you desire.
Having not played ROTT in so long, despite it having a special place in my gaming heart so to speak, I wasn’t sure how well it would hold up all these years later. It didn’t take me long at all to realize that ROTT just isn’t a FPS for everyone (and never really was). It simply does not hold up as well to time as other genre classics like DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, and qutie frankly most others. Why is that? Well, for me, there are a few things about ROTT I just never cared for, and while I didn’t like them in my early teens, I like them even less now. The level design is chief amongst these gripes. Most levels feel like one another, and would be hard to tell apart. They have unique names, but the design of these includes so many rigid ninety degree turns, textures that run from the floor to the sky, and various gimmicky things like jump pads and floating platforms that just don’t make any sense. There are lots of secret areas, but many of these are super obtuse to get to and require janking around with the platforming. There are touchplates that shift huge walls for what would be hundreds of yards. There are traps of blades, sky-high moving columns of molten rock that slide, fire balls, and all kinds of other crazy things that again, just don’t make sense to be there, but are, just for the sake of it. Enemy placement and AI is also sort of arbitrary and there is little to nothing to interact with in a level, and also usually nothing about a level that makes it unique or feel tied together. Each level has an exit door that whisks you away to the next random-yet-same feeling level, whereas levels in better old school shooters have themes and coherent designs that are far more enjoyable and memorable.
Other ‘little things’ about ROTT that I didn’t like much then and now are the goofy power-ups, such as God Mode, Shrooms Mode, Dog Mode, and the Excalibat that are for the most part just weird and again, don’t make sense, not only in the real world, but in the context of the game, either — these things, like the enemy placement traps, the touch plates and all that are just there because they are. And sure, it’s cool and was quite unique at the time that you can pick between five different characters (the members of the HUNT team, each having differnt speed, accuracy, and HP levels), but ultimately the only one that ever made sense to use, for me anyway, was the all-arounder dude Taradino Cassatt — the others either move too slow, have too low of HP, or just aren’t as utilitarin as Cassett. Suffice it to say that much of ROTT presents and plays like a handful of random ideas just merged together, and while it’s often fun, it’s not particular memorable or awe-inspiring. I’m also not a fan of the original HUD, with the ‘jellybeans’ for your HP meter, and the drone of the rat-at-at-at sound effect of the MP40 gets pretty grating pretty quickly, and it’s by far the weapon you will use the most throughout the 100+ levels available here.
Even if ROTT does not stand the test of time as well as other classics of its day, I’m still happy that Nightdive and New Blood released the Ludicrous Edition. While not without its shortcomings, and honestly these are the same shortcomings its always had, the game remains pretty unique, challenging, and fun more often than not. I love that all three original Campaigns are included, as well as a big brand new one, and that several nice options are included as well that give players a more customized and slightly modernized experience. All of this for a very reasonable MSRP of $20 make ROTT: Ludicrous Edition an easy recommend for anyone that enjoyed it some thirty years ago or those that want to take on an old school, hyper-violent, and challenging FPS.
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