Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first thing that works in Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins is its refusal to behave like a timid demo. You enter as Taradino Cassatt, a HUNT operative sent into an enemy island stronghold, and the episode gets down to the business of moving through ten single-player levels. Seven are regular stages, one is secret, and two are warp-only curiosities. That is a compact campaign, but not a trivial one.

What makes the episode more than a quick preview is the range it samples. You are not being handed a stripped-down slice of the arsenal or enemy roster: weapons, items, traps, obstacles, and even threats associated with later Dark War episodes are deliberately folded in. That makes the early going feel like an invitation to experiment rather than a tutorial-sized holding pen. If you want a clean sample of why the full game developed its reputation, this is a more persuasive pitch than most shareware releases of its era.

There is also a distinct value in the multiplayer component. Eight Comm-Bat levels and three modes—Normal, Score Mode, and Collector—give the package legs beyond the solo run. Better still, shareware owners can play against people with Dark War, which is exactly the kind of generous compatibility that made old PC shareware communities work. The limitation is obvious: the main campaign is short, and the warp-only levels are not part of a normal playthrough. Still, the core episode earns its time by feeling intentional rather than incomplete.

Graphics

The game is seen from a first-person perspective, keeping your focus on navigating the stronghold and reacting to enemies, traps, and obstacles in front of you. Its DOS-era look belongs to the same mid-1990s shooter world as the game’s direct, fast-moving structure: functional, immediate, and built around getting you into the next encounter.

Story

Do not come to The HUNT Begins expecting a heavily plotted prequel. Its story is a brisk mission setup: El Oscuro’s followers have established operations on a small island in the Gulf of Santa Catalina, and Taradino Cassatt must infiltrate their stronghold and shut it down. It gives the shooting a target without slowing the pace down.

That simplicity is a strength for a shareware episode. You know why you are there, who is on the other side, and what success means. The premise carries you cleanly from level to level, which suits a game designed to hook you quickly and leave you wanting the larger conflict in Dark War.

The prequel framing also helps it feel less disposable than a conventional first-episode giveaway. It has its own assigned operation and protagonist, even as it exists to point toward the retail game. That is a better fit for a short campaign than trying to stop mid-story just as things start moving.

Overall Experience

Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins is easy to recommend if you like DOS shooters with a concentrated, no-nonsense campaign. The real hook is its breadth: it packs enough of the weapons, enemies, hazards, and multiplayer offerings into a small package that you can judge the larger game on more than a first-level impression.

It is especially satisfying as a standalone historical oddity because it is not simply the retail game with an arbitrary cutoff. The separate prequel mission gives the episode a beginning and a purpose, while the secret level and multiplayer maps provide reasons to poke around beyond a single finish. You should treat the warp-only stages as bonus material, not a reason to hold off on playing normally.

If this compact version leaves you wanting more, the related Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins (Deluxe Edition) is a natural next stop. As it stands, this is a strong shareware release: short, varied, and confident enough to feel like a real game instead of an advertisement wearing one’s clothes.

Retro Replay Score

7.5/10