Apogee Software of Duke Nukem Trilogy fame took the stage first at QuakeCon 2012 to reveal their newest old-game-rebirth project, Rise of the Triad. This first person shooter has players battling not-Nazis (that look a lot like Nazis) called Triad. Rise of the Triad’s big reveal was extremely violent and clearly born of the makers of Duke Nukem. The quick teaser trailer showed a brutal killing of someone begging for mercy as the crowd cheered, followed by many similar moments punctuated with some uh, impressive voice work yelling “f*ckin’ A!” and similar witticisms.
The reveal was delayed a bit by technical difficulties when the demo first started rolling without sound. In the interim, the crowd was kept from rioting by QuakeCon Girls throwing t-shirts out to a not-very-pumped crowd while Motley Crue’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” blared over the speakers.
Rise of the Triad is playable on the show floor with several PCs being provided for attendees to give it a try. We’ll attempt to get some time with the game and let you know what our impressions are.
If I can be a hater for a moment; If you placed everything I despise about the modern video games into a room, I'm pretty sure what you describe is exactly what it would look like.
You are not alone. Crowds didn't seem too interested in trying out the demo on floor, and reaction to its reveal was pretty muted. I think we're to the point where violence for violence sake is not a draw, even among the hardcore.