Rise of the Triad: Dark War

The Good
ROTT is a great game. I don't care what others say about it.

Gameplay is similiar to Doom but it looks more like Wolf3D but without the roof restrictions. You basically run around and shoot people. In fact, the level of gore can be changed, depending on whether or not you want your kids to see exploding people :)

Control is mostly with the keyboard. Basic controls and easily customizable.

The sound is pretty good, although listening to the enemies go "Argh!" every time the are shot is annoying.

The level layout is very good. Probably easy to do, but I haven't designed levels... yet :)

Another excellent idea built into the game is swappable weapons. Unlike the other 3d Shooters, you can have only 4 different guns. You keep a pistol, dual pistol, and machine gun (with unlimited ammo). The fourth weapon is swappable, meaning that if you pick up another weapon, you drop the one you have. It's an excellent way of evening out the game, especially during deathmatching.

The Bad
The bouncers. The little pads on the ground that toss you up a level. They are just plain annoying, even though they good put a good twist on gameplay.

The Bottom Line
This game is a great introduction to 3D shooters. If you are timid about the Dooms and the Quakes, this will be and easy "stepping stone" into the more advanced games.