Rise of the Triad Preview

It has been an amazing so far here at QuakeCon. One of the biggest highlights was definitely the Quake 3 Arena similarity that is Rise of the Triad. If there ever was a time to highlight a game like so, this event was undoubtedly the place to do it.

Apogee Software and Interceptor Entertainment will say this isn’t a Call of Duty, but in a way I would disagree. Gameplay is nothing like COD, but it definitely has some references to Zombies. Noooooo, you won’t be shooting zombies, but you will have a familiar environment.

Dialogue and jump pads will also mentally reference you to the zombies, but it ends there.

Rise of the Triad will focus on Single Player, Classic Mode and a massive 32-multiplayer mode that will keep you entertained. Sorry to say there will not be a co-op mode, however, multiplayer will keep you on your toes, or possibly dismembered.

How dismembered? In a preview session today with Interceptor Entertainment CEO and Creative Lead Frederik Schreiber, we picked up exactly what will stand out for Return of the Triads.

First and foremost unlike any and every other game you may experience, Rise of the Triad will not contain cutscences. Gamers pay to play, not pay to watch. It isn’t a bad thing to build the story, but Apogee and Interceptor Entertainment are looking for the gameplay to define the story. You can play as one of five characters with some of the most diabolical weapons at your disposal.

One of the most incredible weapons Schreiber demonstrated was the Flamewall. This crazy launcher has the ability to shoot out a enormus flame, killing anything it touches, but not right away! The person affected by the flames will die 3 seconds from contact, giving them a swift oppotyunity for retaliation.

Other weapons are the Firebomb, Split Missile, Drunk Missile and, of course, the Excalibat! Now this bat is indeed special and by that I mean it having one eye seeing everything you see. When put to use, you’ll score a few homeruns, knocking enemies or players a bit of a distance or create a massive attack to anyone nearby, causing them to explode. Be careful though, too much power and the wrong aim seems to perform a clean sweep, ending with you.

Bugs are bound to happen, but how rare is it that bugs enhance the fun within the gameplay? ROTT had one bug that made multiple limbs from the same body part appear if you continued to shoot in the same area. Bodies can be dismembered as you shoot, which is meant to be part of the game. But if you shoot someone’s head off and then shoot the head on the ground, another head will appear.

Rise of the Triad, for now, will only be focused on the PC platform. Fredrik said that they would love to release the game for consoles in the future based on responses from fans. But for now that is not the case. And with 6 months of crunching the alpha release for its QuakeCon debut, PC is the prinary focus. The plan is to launch the game for only $14.99 with plenty of DLC to follow. If that’s not enough, you can mod the game to your liking and all tools will be available through UDK and Steam.