Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition Review: The Madness Returns

Released way back in 1994 (and more fully in 1995), Rise of the Triad was initially intended as a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D before the game was axed by id Software. Apogee Entertainment picked up the license to the aborted title, repackaging it with a rather slapdash story, recasting its clearly Nazi soldiers as “Cultists” who are part of the mysterious “Triad”. It’s funny that now Rise of the Triad is being resurrected once again with this Ludicrous Edition. Can this latest reincarnation cut the mustard?

Nightdive Studios has done a fantastic job of updating this creaky old title for the current gen. There’s now razor-sharp 4K resolution, making all the “Cultist” soldiers look my detailed than ever. The lighting is now much more dynamic, really making the explosions pop as they light up darkened hallways. There’s heaps of cut content restored (such as enemies taken out of the original for performance reasons) and an entirely new campaign added by a group of experienced FPS level designers. It all runs smoothly too, even when playing with a pad as I was on this PS5 playthrough. There’s a jukebox allowing you to select countless funky tracks from the original game, with some remastered. There’s just an outstanding job that’s been done restoring and improving upon the experience of the original without losing its charm.

Rise of the Triad was a game made with tongue firmly planted in cheek and this is clear in its power-ups. There’s “God Mode” that temporarily turns the player into the almighty, making them immortal as they cast bolts of cleansing light from their hand. Then there’s “Dog Mode”, which transforms you into a canine, able to maul your foes with your paws. 

There are also little gags here and there like enemy soldiers begging for mercy, only to shoot you in the back if you decide to give it to them. The credits to the first campaign also includes a litany of in-jokes if you decide to stay to the end. You can even stumble onto a magic mushroom, taking your character on a wild acid trip. These little touches of humour really liven things up and give a fun atmosphere to the slaughter.

The weapon selection too is incredibly over-the-top with special weapon pick-ups including a “drunk missile” that sprays forward a shotgun-like spew of missiles, creating a conical cacophony of destruction. Then there’s the “firewall”, which sprays out fire in as wide an area as it possibly can, meaning it’s great for destroying a whole army of bad dues and equally deadly to yourself if used in tight areas. This arsenal of mass destruction is great fun to deploy.

There’s a selection of five different agents from the anti-terrorist HUNT organization intent on taking down the triad, and you can choose the one you like best with each one having different strengths and weaknesses in terms of health, accuracy and speed. This lets you tailor your playthrough of each of the chapters to your own playstyle and adds replayability if you want to challenge yourself to complete levels as a different character.

Despite the great job of remastering, this new gloss of paint can’t hide certain cracks in the proverbial masonry.

The issue with the weapon selection is that you can only have one “special” weapon at any one time and there’s no way to reload its ammo other than picking up a new weapon entirely. Other than that, you are limited only to pistols and an MP40 machine gun. However, once you’ve got the machine gun, there’s no reason to ever use the pistols again so they become a bit redundant. Since the machine gun has unlimited ammo and never needs to reload, there’s no real strategy to using it beyond pointing and shooting, and it can get pretty repetitive.

The level design can often be rather infuriating. There are somewhat obnoxious puzzles where you’ll need to step on a series of barely visible pressure plates to unlock secret doors, which are themselves often placed rather randomly, forcing you to push walls in the vain hope of finding them. This sort of thing is all well and good for those who want to scour each level to find hidden areas, but to make it a core part of finishing each level, it just stalls the wacky action and slows everything down. This is a lot like the clumsy first-person platforming where it’s frustratingly hard to tell where you’re standing as you attempt to clamber onto fast-moving floating platforms.

There’s also the problem that the levels are just rather ugly; often consisting of nothing but brownish-purple walls and metallic floating platforms. Unlike such classic contemporaries as Doom or Marathon, there’s not even a cursory effort made to make these levels seem like places with a distinctive theme and function. Every level just blends into the next aesthetically and none of them really stand out or immerse you in the setting.

When Rise of the Triad wants to throw a particularly tricky challenge at you, you’ll have to contend with a commando-type foe with a bandolier. This dude is a bullet sponge who can survive countless bullets and lob deadly grenades at you. This foe exposes the broader limitations of ROTT’s broader design. He is actually absurdly easy when facing just one of him because your machine gun can indefinitely stun-lock him. This would make him a tedious opponent but for the fact that he makes a loud grunting sound every time he’s hit. So firing at him will produce a machine-gun-like rattle of clipped grunts: “uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!”, which can make fighting him annoying as well as tedious.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is a lovingly made restoration of a cult favourite FPS title that significantly improves the source material. However, it can’t hide how fundamentally dated and limited the core design is. It just doesn’t stand the test of time like Doom or other classic 90’s shooters. Nonetheless, old-school FPS fans, and those looking for a shooter that doesn’t take itself too seriously, will be pleased and punch with this truly definitive version of Rise of the Triad.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5(Reviewed); Publisher: Newblood Interactive, Apogee Software; Developer: Nightdive Studios, Apogee Software; Players: 1; Released: 29th September 2023

Full disclosure: This review is based on a review copy of Rise of The Triad: Ludicrous Edition provided by the publisher.