Strife (1996) PC

The visions of the future, which the authors of computer games are wandering before us, do not look very promising. Cosmic catastrophes, epidemics of deadly diseases, blood thirst and the denial of fundamental human rights are simply the norm in electronic entertainment. This is no different in Strife. The earth survived all possible tragedies, and when mankind was destroyed in fratricidal battles, the mysterious organization "The Order" stood at the top of power, which subjugated the survivors and limited their freedom to the rest of the world. But not everything is lost, after all, you are still you, the hero. When you join the Rebels, you have a chance to destroy the usurpers and restore true order....

Strife is the first program of the Rogue Entertainment group, fans of Quake, probably known for their sensational mission packs: Dissolution of Eternity and Ground Zero. The game at first glance is also a shooting game, based on Doom's engine, but that's just a pretence. In fact, the program goes far beyond the canons of the genre, offering not only massacre of enemies, but also adventure elements. At Strife, for example, you can talk to other characters and this is crucial for the development of the action, as this is the only way to get the tasks necessary to complete the game. The range of missions is very diverse, sometimes you have to save someone, sometimes you have to kill or get an object out of the hands of acolytes. Execution of the order brings bonuses in the form of new weapons or ammunition, often we will also receive money, which we will pass in shops scattered all over the area. The boards have a modular structure, just like in Hexen, you can move between them freely. Compared to Doom, the game engine has been greatly improved, so you can look up and down in Strife or jump. An interesting innovation is also the fact that when our hero's energy drops to a minimum, he can't run and thus escape from enemy fire.

The biggest drawback of the game is poor graphics in low resolution and a bit archaic way of depicting the world. Let's remember that at that time the triumphs were celebrated by Duke Nuke 3D, soon Quake was to appear - the traditional Doom engine was long gone. Despite this, Strife is an interesting proposition for fans of the genre, bored with successive shootings, devoid of deeper content. The non-linearity of the game, the ability to talk with a large number of characters, as well as the various tasks that the game creators put before us, make Strife will surely appeal to more demanding players....

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Last updated on 10 December 2007