Rise of the Triad may be from 1995 old, but this DOS game is a very unique first-person shooter experience. You represent an operateive of the counter-terrorist group known as HUNT exploring San Nicolas Island. You and your team were set to investigate an old monastery on San Nicolas Island. Reports indicated that a cult was hellbent on destroying the world. As you found what you were looking for, the boat was blown up. Now the only way out... is in. So begins your mission to kill the cult leader, El Oscuro, and all of the many minions that inhabit this crazy monastery. While this post was originally about base "Rise of the Triad," this post will now about about "Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition."
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition
^ from: GOG.com -
"They'll bury you in a lunch box!" Get ready for first-person shooter madness never before seen with Rise of the Triad, and its Ludicrous Edition.
"Rise of the Triad" is a game whose origins date back to 1994. It originally began life as an enhanced "Wolfenstein 3D." Its storyline even was an extension of the Wolfenstein 3D storyline whereas three powers came together to form the ultimate evil. Hence- the Triad namesake. Over time, though, the story changed up to something completely not associated with Wolfenstein 3D.
The Ludicrous Edition of ROTT is the ultimate ROTT experience featuring four campaigns in one package. It also features a handful of extras and enhanced material for the best possible ROTT experience. Some of those extras include alternate actors as well as remixed songs. As with most modern games, this package includes a handful of achievements you must try to accomplish.
The Campaigns.
These are the four campaigns of ROTT's Ludicrous Edition:
• The HUNT Begins: The shareware campaign of ROTT.
• Dark War: The registered campaign of ROTT.
• Extreme ROTT: an add-on package that can be difficult to near impossible to beat.
• The HUNT Continues: the exclusive campaign with brand-new levels.
The HUNT Begins allows you to play the original shareware missions from 1994. You won't get all of the stuff included with the registered version, but you will get a basic introduction to the ROTT storyline. It has one episode and at least 10 levels.
Dark War features four episodes and over 40+ episodes. This is the story where you go against El Oscuro and his three top bosses. You also get to use newer weapons and battle newer enemies.
Although Extreme ROTT is an add-on campaign, it is an add-on package featuring difficult (and sometimes unfair) levels. It will test your patience at times.
The HUNT Continues is the exclusive campaign of ROTT Ludicrous Edition with four episodes and about five to seven less episodes compared to Dark War. You get to battle the forces of El Oscuro once again but in completely new settings.
You're going to be quite busy here. ROTT Ludicrous Edition also lets you create your own levels.
Characters.
There are five characters to choose from. Each character has their own advantages and disadvantages. Take a look:
• Taradino Cassatt - fairly average in all departments.
• Thi Barrett - the female equivalent of Taradino but with less stamina. Pronounced "Tee."
• Doug Wendt - built like a tank and can take a beating, but is very slow.
• Lorelei Ni - very quick and speedy, but she is very fragile. She is not good at taking beatings.
• Ian Paul Freeley (yes, I.P. Freeley) - fairly average character overall. Can't really tell what makes him much different from the other five.
Weapons.
To save the world, you have a handful of weapons. The coolest aspect of this game is that you don't have to go around picking up ammo from dead enemies just to have enough bullets left. Your bullet ammunition is UNLIMITED! You are armed with simply a pistol to begin with. You can pick up an extra pistol for two-handed goodness. The best bullet weapon is your MP40. It will save you lots of trouble when you don't have any missile weapons. Speaking of which... there are a number of them. Here is more about each:
NOTE: Items only in the full version are in braces ({}).
• Bazooka - a straight-shooting missile weapon. You get ten shots with these. In the hardest setting, some Lightning Guard enemies use bazookas that you can pick up if you kill them. More experienced and daring players can "bazooka boost" to lift themselves over some obstacles and reach some unreachable points.
• Heatseeker - a homing missile weapon. You get only seven shots. This can come in very handy when trying to hide or attack from a fixed distance.
• Drunk Missile - a weapon that shoots several heat-seeking missiles at once. You have up to seven shots.
• Flamewall - a weapon that shoots a wall of flames. A heavy missile falls to the ground, leaving a trail of flames upon impact to the ground. You can also fire the Flamewall at the ground to quickly take care of a pack of enemies. You get only five shots.
• Firebomb - a straight-shooting missle that explodes a cross-like pattern of flames. This is by far the most powerful missile weapon. You only get five shots with this weapon. Absolutely NOT recommended for close-quarters combat!
• {Split Missile} - a two-way weapon used to take out one enemy or two in the area. Hold down the Fire button for a single straight shot, and tap for the Split Missile to attack the two nearest targets. It has about the quickest firing rate of all missile weapons.
• {Excalibat} - a baseball bat enchanted with evil energy, this can be a good weapon to use to take out multiple enemies in a lot of space. Swings of the Excalibat are unlimited. However, hold down the Fire button to charge to 10 shots of its spread attack that shoots multiple baseballs around the area. It is not a good idea to use this area in confined spaces.
• {Dark Staff} - the Dark Staff delivers powerful magic strikes in a straight line. Each of its charges emits a powerful magic strike. This is not recommended a weapon if you are quickly trying to take out enemies.
Items and Powerups.
There are a number of items and powerups to help you out. Here are some or all of them:
• Monk Meal - recovers one unit of health.
• Priest Porridge - told to be porridge made from the remains of murdered priests, these bowls of porridge recovers two units of health. However, there if you find a way to heat up the porridge, you can recover much more health.
• Healing Basin - drink water from these basins to recover energy. However much energy you recover varies.
• Small Monk Crystal - these crystals will recover a small amount of health upon pickup.
• Large Monk Crystal - the largest heal outside of a Full Health powerup can be had with the large monk crystal.
• Asbestos Armor - temporarily projects you from fire and projectile attacks. You can still take damage from projectile attacks, but they won't hurt you as much.
• Bulletproof Armor - temporarily projects you from gun fire. Find one of these before going into an area with a lot of gun-toting enemies or against gun turrets.
• Ankh - every Ankh symbol collected is good towards adding extra lives. There are four different ankh symbols- the basic silver one with a ring outside of it grants one life point. A bronze ankh with a granite background grants five life points. A bronze ankh outlined with beaded accents grants ten life points. Finally, a red ankh with two rings encircling it grants 25 life points.
Now some (or all) of the powerups...
• Mercury Mode - allows you to float into the air. This can help you reach high up places or get over obstacles like lava pits.
• Blue Ankh - gives full health. If already with a lot of health or full health, it grants an extra life.
• Green Ankh - gives full health. If already with a lot of health or with full health, it grants three extra lives. If not at full health, it recovers full health and gives two extra lives. These are rare to find.
• Elasto Mode - you bounce around the level! It sounds fun until you realize you're in a room filled with dangerous obstacles...
• Shrooms Mode - your vision shifts wildly, and your accuracy becomes distorted. On the other hand, using this powerup can help you get some hints about getting through a level. For example, some of the columns you can push while in Shrooms Mode will be highlighted to let you know what to push.
• God Mode - temporary invulnerability, and you can fire blasts that home in on enemies and kill enemies on impact.
• {Dog Mode} - you are invulnerable, and also pretty powerful. Use this fierce power to viciously rip apart your enemies. You can also use this mode to access narrow openings.
Hazards.
Many hazards (besides the enemies themselves) get in your way in kicking El Oscuro's butt. Here are some (or maybe all) of them:
* Fire Jets - flames shoot up from the ground or from the top. Run through it, and you'll become barbequed on the spot.
* Flame Walls - run into these, and you get burned up. Simple enough? Funny thing is, some of these flame walls can be pushed as push walls. Some of these walls even move randomly, making the trail through each level even more treacherous.
• Fire Chutes - walls that shoot flames will hit anything and everything in their way. Switches and/or Touchplates can disable (or enable) them.
* Spear Rack - a rack of spears shoot up from the ground, piercing into you upon arrival. They may also shoot downward from a ceiling.
* Spinblades - run into these to get your own complimentary flesh wounds. Some of these even shoot up from the ground or ceiling.
* Lava pits - avoid these at all costs! Stepping on these hot coals will slowly chip into your health.
* {Boulders} - rolling boulders fall from the ceiling, down to the ground, and rolling over.
* {Pits} - running over these areas will cause you to fall in. It takes a keen eye to find the pit areas on the ground. It isn't too hard to find these pits on the ground once you really notice the floor.
• {Boulders} - Boulders fall from the ceiling and roll straight, running over anything and everything they touch.
Enemies: Basic.
In this section, you will be introduced to some of the enemies in this game. This a description of some of the enemies you will be facing. They will be described by their appearance:
• Low Guard - a basic grunt that carries a pistol, wearing a gray jacket and black pants. Some play dead and awaken when the player draws near.
• Lightning Guard - an enemy in a dark green coat that carries a pistol. On the hardest setting, some fire bazooka rounds at you. Some may beg when they're about to die. If so, finish them off quickly! Some may drop their bazookas if there is still some ammo left in them (only on the hardest setting).
• High Guard - a bearded enemy in a dark green coat that carries an MP40. Waste them quickly because their MP40 shots can do some damage.
• Strike Force - an athletic enemy in a beige outfit, carrying a pistol. They can roll out of the way of missile fire and can be pesky to take down. It's best to take them down quickly with your MP40 (if you have one).
• Patrol Robot - a robot enemy that shoots drones. It can only be destroyed with missile weapons.
• Ballistikraft - a robot that fires drones and missiles. They cannot take damage or be destroyed. So if you see one, run.
• Triad Enforcer - a man in a gray/grey suit with a chaingun. It takes many hits to take him down. He also attacks by throwing grenades. Rely on missile weapons to defeat him quickly. This is the toughest enemy in the game and the toughest enemy in the Shareware version.
Here are a few more in the full game:
• Overpatrol - an officer in a black outfit. Overpatrols fire a pistol but also can shoot nets at you. If caught in the net, you'll need to have a knife to cut your way through or find some other way out.
• Turrets - There are two kinds of gun turrets: (1) a gun turret that rises up and quickly attacks you with relentless gunfire, and (2) a gun turret that fires in four directions when you approach it or enter its firing sight.
• Death Monk - these monks are mostly quiet and do not do any damage until they get close to you. They can take a lot of shots before being finally defeated, so you may want to use any missile weapons if you want to make quick work of them.
• Deathfire Monk - a small monk that fires energy at you. Kill them quickly because their monk fireballs can do some serious damage.
Enemies: Bosses.
You can only damage these bosses with missile weapons. I'll just describe them for the most part. Don't expect any advice on beating them here.
• General John Durian - A boss in a green jacket and white pants that totes a bazooka.
* Sebastian Krist - a man that rides in some sort of motorized chair that is armed with mines and bazookas.
* NME - a formidable and large robotic enemy that is very quick with powerful attacks. It is the toughest boss in the entire game with its great speed, homing missile attacks, and fireballs.
* El Oscuro - El Oscuro. Yes- that's all I'll say about him! You're on your own for this one.
A fun fact is that each of the enemies are actually Apogee employees that lend their image as enemies in this game.
Multiplayer.
The game features lots of Comm-Bat modes ranging from Deathmatch to various triad-collecting modes. There is support for as many as 11 different players.
My Opinions...
Rise of the Triad is a fantastic game. And from a guy who's played two different Shareware versions, it was a great joy to play this full game after years of not getting this game in the past. A lot of people say that this game wasn't all that spectacular for one reason- 90-degree walls. This game can be thought of as Super Wolfenstein 3D the way everything is executed. Instead of wasting Nazis in World War 2 at Castle Wolfenstein, you're trying to eliminate a religious cult and its minions at a monastery on San Nicolas Island in the future.
While it is okay to dismiss this game as a Wolfenstein 3D clone, this game is a first-person masterpiece with a very arcade feel. Its funny nature makes it stand out from the more iconic first-person shooters.
For More Information...
You can look up the original spec "Rise of the Triad" through 3D Realms' site here:
Rise of the Triad - Original Spec. To buy "Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition" on Steam, please visit:
"Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition" on Steam. Or get it on GOG here:
"Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition" on GOG.
Give this game a try and immerse yourself in a very fun first-person shooter. It is from 1994, so don't expect any modern things most first-person shooters today have to them. Subscribe/Follow my blog(s) in any capacity if you love my work. Share my blog post(s) with others if you enjoy my work. Support me further by connecting with me on social media; and if you are inclined, feel free to donate to me (donations are voluntary but would be appreciated). Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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