All right, here we go! It’s Monday, so, according to my experimental schedule, that means it’s time for a “smaller game” of some description. And while it also technically counts as “retro”, Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition’s release today made it an obvious choice.

I love Rise of the Triad. Always have done ever since I played the shareware version The HUNT Begins back in the ’90s. Someone in our group of friends at school acquired the registered version via some illicit means, too, so I also played a bunch of Dark War back in the day, too.

I have since atoned for my sins by purchasing multiple copies of Rise of the Triad whenever it has become available on modern digital distribution platforms.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is more than just a rerelease: it’s a remaster by the absolute maestros at Nightdive Studios and New Blood, put out with the full approval of the revitalised Apogee brand. I’ve completely lost track of who today’s Apogee really is, but as well as releasing new games, they’re going hard on remastering their ’90s MS-DOS titles for a new audience — and the results have been consistently excellent.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition features a veritable boatload of Rise of the Triad. It includes the original shareware episode The HUNT Begins, the original registered version Dark War, the super-difficult expansion Extreme ROTT, a brand new campaign called The HUNT Continues and the ability to play custom campaigns made either by yourself or the community. It also includes the ZDoom-based Return of the Triad, which is basically a whole new game in itself that is still distributed as a free mod.

I played a bit of The HUNT Begins after finishing work today. Rise of the Triad took an interesting approach to its shareware model that contrasted from the likes of Doom and Wolfenstein 3-D in that The HUNT Begins isn’t the first bit of Dark War; it’s a completely separate set of levels in its own right. Therefore, it’s a nice self-contained experience with which to familiarise yourself with all things Rise of the Triad — and, having played the shareware version a bunch while I couldn’t convince my parents to mail-order a copy of the registered version, it’s the bit of Rise of the Triad I know the best.

Turns out there’s quite a lot I’d forgotten about it, though. The last time I’ve really “seriously” played Rise of the Triad is back in the ’90s; while, as previously noted, I’ve purchased multiple digital copies of it over the years, I honestly haven’t really sat down and spent a significant amount of time with it for a very long time indeed. And so that is what I decided to make my Monday night gaming session: revisiting Rise of the Triad, and getting to know a game I used to love once again.

I have to say, I had an absolute blast. I played through in what I like to call “arcade style”, a way I like to play classic shareware games, and a way in which I feel they were designed to be enjoyed. When playing “arcade style”, the only time I allow myself to save is if I have to stop playing to, say, have dinner. Other than that, I am beholden to the game’s own checkpoint, continue, score and lives systems.

And in that regard, Rise of the Triad keeps things surprisingly old school. You have a score (though oddly no high score table, which is a shame) and lives, and you can collect 100 ankhs to get an extra life, as well as finding dedicated extra life items. At the end of the game, you get bonus points for any lives you have remaining, too. It’s a shame it doesn’t make a bit more of this, as score-chasing could add a massive amount of replayability. But so long as you remember to write down your score or take a screenshot or something, you can still enjoy this feature. On that note, then:

Yep, I beat The HUNT Begins this evening, without saving (except for when it was dinner time) and without getting a Game Over. Only on Medium difficulty, admittedly, but come on. I’m rusty.

I’m reminded of quite why I love Rise of the Triad. While its engine has severe limitations in comparison to its contemporary Doom, those limitations make for distinctive level design — and the folks who created the levels are absolute masters of making use of every trick in the book to bamboozle you along the way. Rise of the Triad levels are full of moving walls, shifting layouts, secret doors and all manner of other goodies — and it’s a delight.

The weapons are great, too. Basic bullet weapons — a single pistol, dual pistols and a machine gun — all have infinite ammo, so you’re never left in an unwinnable situation with a pathetic melee attack. But Rise of the Triad’s highlight was always its projectile weapons.

Ranging from a simple straight-firing bazooka to the rather more exotic (and dangerous) Drunk Missile, Firebomb and Flamewall, every weapon in Rise of the Triad handles in a distinctive way — and you’d better get to grips with using them safely, because firing them off blindly is just as likely to get you killed as it is to gib your enemies.

Take the Firebomb, for example, which is an essential part of making it through The HUNT Begins’ tricky final stage. This fires out a missile in front of it that, when it hits something, causes a Bomberman-style cross-shaped explosion in four directions. Devastating when used effectively. Devastating to you when used carelessly.

Dark War features even more weapons, including a magic staff, an enchanted baseball bat and the ability to turn into a dog, and the gleeful absurdity of it all is where the game really shines. While the premise of the game is semi-serious — you’re trying to stop a terrorist attack — the execution is pure batshit crazy “this is a video game” nonsense, and it’s all the better for it.

Even back in the day, the folks behind Rise of the Triad knew that their engine precluded them from making a truly “realistic” game. So rather than trying to bodge something in regardless, they simply embraced its “gaminess” and created a game that, if you stop to think about it, makes no real logical sense whatsoever, but which is simply a ton of fun to play.

So I recommend it heartily, then. And as for whether it was a good idea to devote my Monday to it? Absolutely. I feel that while I would have bought Rise of the Triad Ludicrous Edition regardless of whether or not I’d planned my week, specifically making time for it has allowed me to really appreciate it, rather than it feeling like something I picked up just for the sake of it, only for it to be forever lost in the depths of my Steam library.

I’m feeling positive about this whole “scheduling” thing so far. I feel like it’s going to be a good way to ensure I spend enough time with things to properly appreciate them. Sure, it might end up meaning that the longer games I’m playing take even longer to complete, but I suspect my overall experience will feel richer. And that’s a good thing.

I’m going to return to Rise of the Triad next Monday to play some Dark War, because I enjoyed The HUNT Begins so much. From there, we’ll see how things go! But for now, we can call Monday a success.

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More about Rise of the Triad

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