Strife: Veteran Edition

The remaster itself is a tad dated and janky compared to Nightdive's later remasters, but hey, this was their first so it is completely understandable. Fair warning though. Don't even bother trying the multiplayer, as it is extremely unstable. As for the game itself, it gives you a lot of neat toys to play with and the maps are pretty great with a few exceptions (looking at you, sewer map), but the real star of the show is the voice acting. And damn, is the voice acting fun! Definitely a step above Resident Evil, but doesn't quite reach the polish of something like Half-Life. Overall, I give it a solid 7/10 for this remaster and 9/10 for the game itself. Strife has its faults at some points, but what it does well, it does extremely well. And the medieval cyberpunk aesthetic is quite fun. I would consider this a top three 90s Doom engine game at the least, alongside Doom 64 and the PC version of Killing Time.

Probably the most underrated one from the classic, commercially licensed doom engine games. There are definitely some annoying sections (even more so when paired with respawning robots on the hardest difficulty), and the maps range from fairly detailed and open ones to just indoor mazes and corridors. But overall a very enjoyable journey with rewarding secrets (even more added in this Veteran edition), some stealth elements, some great dialogue, definitely a step-up from the Heretic/Hexen games in this matter. Hoping for a remaster for the upcoming 30th anniversary of the game!

Disgusting activist company, God Bless you Mr Kirk your the best of us.

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I only discovered Strife thanks to Ross Scott’s excellent Game Dungeon episode, and what a hidden gem this turned out to be! Starting with nothing but a knife and trying to take down guards with guns is a bizarre introduction, but once you push past that rocky start Strife becomes a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable experience. The level design is excellent, with most levels feeling more like genuine locations than abstract mazes. The weapon variety is interesting, the combat feels fair, and the game even allows for stealth kills with the knife or poison crossbow bolts. The comic‑book‑style story presentation and NPC interactions adds an additional layer of personality. One of the most enjoyable aspects is exploring areas before alarms trigger, giving you a brief sense of being undercover and letting you learn the layout before the inevitable firefight. It’s hard not to imagine how other shooters of the era could have benefited from similar design ideas. For example, Star Wars: Dark Forces would have been incredible with mechanics like disguises, NPC interactions, or the ability to explore an Imperial base before triggering combat. And Strife accomplishes all of this in the Doom engine! Strife isn’t flawless, but it’s absolutely worth revisiting. Accept that it’s a little rough around the edges, embrace its quirky hybrid design, and enjoy the feeling of uncovering a genuine treasure from gaming history. For anyone who loves shooters with a bit more ambition and world‑building, this is a classic that deserves far more attention.

Again, this would deserve a neutral to slightly positive recommendation. The game is super fun the first few hours as you absorb the "novelty" of then new doomhybrid genre, the gameplay is fine, the world surprisingly rich and interesting, but it fades out pretty quickly and at times, Strife feels a bit unfair and too difficult. And I love when games don't hold your hand, but at least telling you what to do in general, so you don't have to figure it out yourself by dying a hundred times would be fine. Buy it on sale and experience a really interesting 90s hidden gem.

Doom Engine попытался стать Deus Ex, но по дороге его избили культисты, отобрали нормальную навигацию и заставили разговаривать с NPC через интерфейс боевого факса. Тут есть город, квесты, сопротивление, религиозная диктатура, диалоги, концовки и прочие признаки игры из будущего, но стрелять все еще приходится как в старом подвале, где каждый коридор спроектировал человек, ненавидящий удобство. Nightdive аккуратно отмыла труп, прикрутила широкий экран и современное управление, но запах 1996 года никуда не делся: это не бодрый шутер, а музейный экспонат, который внезапно хватает тебя за руку и шепчет: «Смотри, сынок, вот тут еще до Deus Ex придумали immersive sim, просто забыли сделать его приятным». Играть стоит, если любишь древние амбициозные уродства с характером. Если нужен чистый кайф — иди в Doom. Тут кайф грязный, исторический и слегка с привкусом ржавой канализации.

I only got to play the Demo from a PC Magazine CD back in the day. This has been a complete joy to play again!

Review is positive as I'm evaluating the quality of the remaster itself, not the game. The remaster is good, as usual from Nightdive, but... I never Strife played before. I read somewhere that it was Deus Ex before Deus Ex, but that isn't true. There is a hub (at the start at least), main quest, side quests, but it's all very rudimentary. Stealth, if you can call it that, seems to have been added just before release as it relies purely on whether you shot specific weapons or passed through specific sectors. There are very few, if any, options for most of quests, and this isn't an immersive sim at all. It's more of a simple FPS/RPG hybrid. Still, for the year it came out (1996), it's somewhat impressive for a Doom engine game. The most egregious problem is that many levels are tedious, with running around to and fro in brown and grey corridors shooting uninteresting weapons (with the exception of the flamethrower) and killing enemies with little variety. The game even has the audacity to lampshade the sewer mazes it constantly throws at you by having one character complaining they have no idea where you are and where to go. Several times. Story is interesting, and voice acting is goofy but endearing, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a great remaster of a mediocre, at best, game.