Rise of the Triad: Dark War

About Rise of the Triad: Dark War

Rise of the Triad (1995) is Apogee's first-person shooter that began as a Wolfenstein 3D sequel, sending a UN special forces team against a cult on San Nicolas Island with jump pads, magic weapons and "Ludicrous Gibs".

Rise of the Triad: Dark War in Depth

A team of special operatives, the HUNT (High-risk United Nations Task-force), is sent to San Nicolas Island to investigate deadly cult activity in an ancient monastery, only for patrols to destroy their boat, their one way home. Learning that the cult plans to destroy nearby Los Angeles, they fight their way into the monastery. Players choose between five characters, Taradino Cassatt, Thi Barrett, Lorelei Ni, Doug Wendt and Ian Paul Freeley, who differ in hit points, speed and accuracy, and collect keys to progress through mostly linear levels, some with multiple exits. Enemies, played by digitised actors who were mostly Apogee staff and their families, may beg for their lives, fake death, dodge, ambush from the floor, fire nets or steal weapons.

Thirteen weapons fall into bullet weapons with infinite ammunition, missile weapons and magic weapons, and players carry the three bullet weapons plus one missile or magic weapon. Jump pads launch players upward or into long jumps, glass shatters, shooting lights dims rooms, and firing a missile at certain food warms it to restore more health. Sometimes kills produce extra gore with a "Ludicrous Gibs!" message, and gore can be set from bloodless to extreme. The COMM-BAT multiplayer supports up to eleven players across nine modes, including tag, a "Hunter" mode and capture the flag.

Making Rise of the Triad: Dark War

It began as a follow-up to Wolfenstein 3D using that engine, and after id cancelled the project, Tom Hall wrote a new storyline so the team's assets would not go to waste, eventually moving away from Nazis to a cult reportedly inspired by the Californian legend of the Dark Watchers. Hall led the Developers of Incredible Power, including Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Joseph Selinske and Susan Singer, some of whom went on to Duke Nukem 3D. Apogee released the shareware episode, The HUNT Begins, in 1994 and the full game in 1995, and Miller estimated it sold around 110,000 copies. Next Generation called it an entertaining but undistinguished Doom replica that "never strays far enough from the Doom herd to fully break free", while Świat Gier Komputerowych gave it 85%, praising its presentation and features such as looking up and down, though it found the AI weak and the maps awkward. A remake by Interceptor Entertainment followed in 2013, and Nightdive's remaster, Ludicrous Edition, in 2023.