A really fun game by Apogee Software. Featured good old fashioned computer violence wrapped around nice big weapons and rather bizarre special bonuses. (You ain't seen God Mode 'till you've seen it in ROTT!)
Also had a nice truckload of multiplayer options and games. Very nice indeed.
UPDATE: 11/11/2000
Playing over ROTT again nowadays makes me realize quite a few things about it. Most of all, this game was REALLY ahead of its time. Around the time when Doom allowed 4-player deathmatches (teams if you're lucky) in the game's normal levels, ROTT allowed 11 players in 9 different deathmatch games (YEARS before the first CTF mod was made for Quake, ROTT had Capture the Triad) spread over 30 multiplayer levels (in the CD version... site license version had 10 more, PLUS the random level generator) PLUS the single-player levels.
Not only that, but ROTT had pre-recorded audio taunts (Remote Ridicule). You could have the game scream "BEHIND YOU!" right before cracking some skulls with Excalibat. And, LONG before Team Fortress 2, this had Live Remote Ridicule... primitive by today's standards, but it allowed one player at a time to speak into the microphone and have everyone in-game hear it.
Perspective-corrected sprites, too? Heaven forbid!
Rise of the Triad Weapons:
The shotgun, the rocket launcher, the BFG. Most gamers alive during the Doom era know these weapons by heart.
But, do you know the Flamewall, the Drunk Missile, and the mighty Excalibat? Unless you've played Apogee's Rise of the Triad (ROTT), you probably don't.
With that said, here's a rundown of all the weapons (Not counting powerups) in ROTT:
Pistols
Missiles
- Bazooka
Your general straight-firing, explosive weapon. Though it has no "special" things about it, it comes with the most ammo and is relatively powerful. Great for those long distance power shots.
Ammo: 10 shells
(If you snagged it from a Lightning Guard, it'll have 3-x shells, where x is the number of times the guard shot you with it)
Damage: 160-222HP per shell
- Heatseeker
Put bluntly, a heat-seeking missile. Not quite as powerful as the bazooka, but when you're hunting low guards or your opponents in Comm-bat, it really doesn't matter -- it's strong enough.
It should be noted that a heatseeker, true to it's name, will seek HEAT. This includes lights and torches in the room, as well as enemies.
Ammo: 7 shells
Damage: 100-162HP per shell
- Drunk Missile
Possibly one of the most fun weapons in the game, the Drunk Missile shoots a spray of 5 missiles which travel at random for a second before they all start to home in, a la the heatseeker. This can cause a great deal of pain and gibbing. Don't fire it in a close hallway.
Ammo: 7 clusters of 5 missiles each
Damage: 25-56 per missile
- Firebomb
The death weapon. A danger to yourself and others. The firebomb fires a missile forward which, on impact, spreads mushroom cloud-like explosions in an X pattern. Lethal in close quarters, dangerous in wide open spaces. Not a weapon to be messed with.
Ammo: 5 missiles
Damage: 150-242, plus explosions
- Flamewall
Another fun weapon. This kicks out a small missile which, on it's own, does little damage. The real fun comes when it hits the ground, whereupon it breaks into a huge wall of flame that travels across the floor. The flames will incinerate any normal human enemy in your path (This goes for other players in Comm-bat, too). Fun.
Ammo: 5 missiles
Damage: Instant death -OR- loss of Asbestos Armor
- Split Missile
A specialized-use weapon, to say the least. The split missile's shot starts as a normal bazooka shell until you release the fire button. Then, the missile breaks off at 45 degree angles into two more missiles, each of which home in, a la the heatseeker. Very nice in open areas where each missile can have a chance to home in on something.
Ammo: 7 clusters of 2 missiles each
Damage: 100-162 per missile
- Excalibat
The followers of El Oscuro, while casting a magic staff-creating spell, needed a length of wood to complete the spell. All they could find was a baseball bat. So, now it's a magic baseball bat.
One of the magic weapons you can find. Excalibat appears as a glowing green baseball bat (Louisville Slugger, no less). The basic (And infinite) form of attack with Excalibat is to swing it like, well, a baseball bat. Rather weak, but always fun to watch.
The "real" attack of Excalibat, however, is when you hold down fire, releasing a 180 degree arc of baseballs, each one exploding with massive damage. A great crowd-pleaser, although a little slow to fire.
Ammo: Infinite swings, 10 Excaliblasts
Damage: 10-50HP per swing, 160-222HP per ball in the Excaliblast
- Dark Staff
Extremely powerful, fun to fire. The Dark Staff summons a ball of pure kinetic energy and fires it straight forward. This is the sort of thing you don't want to get in the way of -- it's just that powerful. It does fall short in the speed department, though.
Ammo: 7 Kinetic Energy Spheres
Damage: 280-432HP per shot
NOTE: Some of the information in these nodes was taken from the official ROTT FAQ v3.0, at http://www.3drealms.com/faq/rottfaq30.txt. Specifically, the exact damage and ammo supplies were taken; all the descriptions are in my own words.