| Strife | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developers |
|
| Publishers | |
| Producer | Susan G. McBride |
| Designer | Jim Molinets |
| Programmers |
|
| Artists |
|
| Writers |
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| Composer | Morey Goldstein |
| Engine | id Tech 1 |
| Platforms | |
| Release | MS-DOSVeteran Edition Windows,OS X,Linux
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| Genres | First-person shooter,role-playing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Strife (also known asStrife: Quest for the Sigil) is afirst-person shooterrole-playing video game developed byRogue Entertainment. It was released in May 1996 in North America by Velocity Inc. and in Europe by Studio 3DO. The shareware version was released on February 23, 1996, while the full version was released on May 3. It was the last commercially released standalone PC game to utilize theid Tech 1 engine fromid Software. The plot takes place in a world taken over by a religious organization known as "The Order"; the protagonist, an unnamed mercenary (sometimes referred to as Strifeguy), becomes a member of the resistance movement which aims to topple the Order's oppressive rule.
Strife added some role-playing game elements to the classic first-person shooter formula, such as allowing players to talk to other characters in the game's world or improve the protagonist's abilities. Contemporary reviews praised these innovations and the story, but also criticized the quality of the graphics and the obsolete engine. Years after its release, the game was retrospectively considered to have been underappreciated in its day, and described as a precursor to games such asDeus Ex.
An enhanced version of the game,Strife: Veteran Edition (also dubbedThe Original Strife: Veteran Edition) was developed and published byNight Dive Studios and released onSteam on December 12, 2014.Veteran Edition was also released onNintendo Switch andAmazon Luna on October 25, 2020 and September 29, 2022, respectively.Atari was later in charge of the publishing duties of the Nintendo Switch version, as itsparent company bought Nightdive Studios in March 2023.[2]
Strife's gameplay is standard for the first-person shooter genre; the action is observed from the protagonist's viewpoint, and most of the game involves combat with the Order's infantry and war robots.[3] The main character begins with just adagger, but more powerful weapons, such as acrossbow or aflamethrower can be found throughout the game.[4] The protagonist also has an inventory where he can keep items for later use, such asfirst aid kits for healing, protective armor, or gold coins.[5]
The game contains numerous friendly or neutral characters with whom the player can converse or trade. These characters often assign the player character missions, thus advancing the plot.[6][4] If the player fires a weapon while not in a combat situation, it usually sets off an alarm and makes the guards attack the protagonist; however, certain weapons – the dagger and poisonouscrossbow bolts – allow attacking enemies stealthily without activating the alarm.[6][7][8]
Unlike most other first-person shooters of the time,Strife does not follow a linear series of levels. Instead, the town of Tarnhill acts as a central hub from which the player can travel back and forth between various areas, which stay the same as they were when the player left them.[8]
The player character has two numerical attributes, accuracy and stamina, which can be improved at certain points in the game. The first attribute increases the accuracy of ranged weapons, while the latter increases the maximum amount ofhealth.[6][8]
The game is set some time after a catastrophiccometimpact, which brought a deadlyvirus onto the planet. In the resulting plague, millions of people died, while other victims became mutated and began hearing the voice of a malevolent deity. They formed an organization called "The Order" and enslaved the rest of the populace,[9] but a rag-tag resistance movement, called "The Front", is trying to topple The Order's reign.[6]
The unnamedprotagonist of the game is a wandering mercenary, captured by Order troops near the town of Tarnhill.[6] After killing the guards and escaping, he meets a man named Rowan, who makes him an offer to join the Front. The protagonist receives a communication device through which he remains in contact with a female member of the Front, codenamed Blackbird.[10][11] From then on, Blackbird provides assistance and commentary throughout the game. The protagonist heads to the Front's base, where the rebel leader, Macil, sends him on a number of missions in order to weaken the Order. After several acts of sabotage, the Front proceeds to assault the Order's castle. The protagonist, accompanying them in the attack, kills a major member of the Order called "The Programmer".[12] He loses consciousness upon touching the weapon that the Programmer had been using.
The mercenary wakes up in the castle, now taken over by the Front. Macil explains that the Programmer's weapon is one of the five fragments of the "Sigil", a powerful weapon worshipped by the Order. He orders the protagonist to find the remaining four.[13] To this end, the mercenary visits a knowledgeable being called "The Oracle", who reveals that the next fragment is being held by another of the Order's leaders, The Bishop.[14] After killing the Bishop and acquiring the second fragment, the protagonist returns to the Oracle, only to be told that the third fragment is being held by Macil himself; the Oracle claims that Macil is a traitor who has been using the protagonist as a pawn in his scheme.[15] At this point, the player must make a decision: either disbelieve the Oracle and kill it, or trust the Oracle and kill Macil. This choice affects the rest of the story.
If the player trusts Macil and kills the Oracle (acquiring a Sigil fragment it was holding), he receives another task from Macil: to deactivate a factory, built on the comet's impact site,[16] where the Order is turning captured people into "bio-mechanical soldiers".[17] Upon completing his mission, the protagonist learns that Macil has gone insane; he returns to the base and attempts to speak to Macil, who declares in his madness that he wishes to free the "one god", then attacks the protagonist.[18] Upon killing Macil, the protagonist obtains his Sigil fragment. He then returns to the factory, where lies the laboratory of the Loremaster, another of the Order's leaders. After killing Loremaster and thus acquiring the final Sigil piece, he uses the Sigil to unlock a door leading to the comet's impact site.[19] Inside, he finds an extraterrestrialspaceship. Within the ship waits analien being known as "The Entity"; it is the one responsible for creating the Order and taking over the minds of mutated people.[20] The mercenary kills it with the Sigil; its death means the end of the Order. He then finally meets Blackbird face to face. She tells him that his victory allowed mankind to create avaccine for the virus, then kisses him.[21]
The plot takes a different direction if the player decides to trust the Oracle and immediately kill Macil. Once he does so (claiming Macil's Sigil piece in the process), the Oracle dispatches him to the Loremaster's laboratory.[22] Having killed the Loremaster and obtained his fragment of the Sigil, the protagonist returns to the Oracle, who then reveals that it was using him all along in a bid to acquire the complete Sigil, use it to free the "one god", and attain eternal life.[23] The mercenary kills the Oracle and, with all five fragments of the Sigil now in his possession, heads to the alien ship. There he encounters the Entity, but the being speaks with Blackbird's voice, and implies that it was manipulating the protagonist throughout the game in order to regain freedom and take over the planet.[24] After killing the Entity, the ending sequence is shown, this time less optimistic: the cure for the virus has not been invented and mankind's future is uncertain.[25]
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Strife was originally being developed byCygnus Studios, the creators ofRaptor: Call of the Shadows, forid Software.[26] Cygnus Studios was already working on another first-person shooter role-playing game,The Second Sword, utilizing the olderShadowCaster game engine by id Software.[26][27] id Software asked Cygnus Studios to create a game based on theDoom engine and requested that the studio be relocated to Texas from Chicago while they were still developingRaptor so that they would be able to develop the new title for id Software.[26][28] The studio agreed and after relocating, the studio no longer wanted to work onThe Second Sword and the title was dropped in favor of working onStrife.[26]
Cygnus Studios worked onStrife for a few months followingRaptor being finished.[26] However, internal conflicts soon arose and employees split off from Scott Host, the original founder of Cygnus Studios, and he re-located back to Chicago andStrife was essentially cancelled.[28][29] This group of employees then foundedRogue Entertainment and resumed development onStrife.[26] The shareware version was released on February 23, 1996, while the full version was released on May 31. It was the last commercially released standalone PC game to utilize theid Tech 1 engine fromid Software.
After the game's officialsupport ended,game engine recreations ofStrife were created by Doom source port developers throughreverse engineering. Notably authors were Jānis Legzdiņš (author of theDoom source port Vavoom), Randy Heit (author ofZDoom), Samuel Villarreal (author ofSvStrife), and James Haley (author with Samuel Villareal ofChocolate Strife). Except for the last, these allow for high resolution graphics modes, bettermouselook, and expanded modding capabilities.
Strife was ported to theAmiga in 2013.[30]
In 2014Night Dive Studios coordinated the digital re-release ofStrife asStrife: Veteran Edition (orThe Original Strife: Veteran Edition), after acquiring rights to the game. Because the game'ssource code had been lost by Rogue Entertainment, a derivative of theChocolate Doom subprojectChocolate Strife was used as the game's engine, with its original programmers being contracted to do additional coding for the re-release. The source code ofStrife: Veteran Edition was made available underGNU GPL-2.0-or-later ongithub.com.[31][32] The enhanced version of the game was released asStrife: Veteran Edition byNight Dive Studios onSteam on December 12, 2014.Veteran Edition was subsequently released for Nintendo Switch on October 25, 2020, and forAmazon Luna on September 29, 2022.[33][34]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 72%[35] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Games Strategy Plus |    [36] |
| Computer Gaming World | [7] |
| GameSpot | 7/10[4] |
| Next Generation | [37] |
| PC Games | B[38] |
Strife received very positive reviews upon its release. Reviewers took note of the novel gameplay: unlike most previous first-person shooters, such asDoom, the player must cooperate with friendly characters inStrife, while killing everyone in sight ends badly.[7][4][39][40] Some reviews praised the story,[7][4][41] but the reviewer inNext Generation criticized it for being too linear and the choices being illusionary.[37]
The voice-acting in the game was generally rated positively;[4] in particular, the voice and personality of Blackbird was praised by some reviewers,[7][41] withGameSpot's Tal Blevins describing her voice as "sexy".[4]
Strife's graphics were overall rated poorly. The reviewers criticized the game for using the obsoleteDoom engine, which they considered especially jarring when compared to more modern games such asDuke Nukem 3D orQuake.[7][4][5][42] However, the hand-drawn illustrations which appear during dialogues andcutscenes were generally considered to be of good quality.[4][40] Some reviewers doubted the novelty of the gameplay, pointing out that similar ideas were already used in e.g.CyberMage: Darklight Awakening.[42][5] Limiting the player to a singlesavegame slot was also criticized, especially since making a wrong decision could make the gameunwinnable.[37][7]
Years after its release, retrospective reviews of the game were more positive. The reviewer ofjeuxvideo.com recommendedStrife for first-person shooter fans.[3] Two articles about the game were published on thePC Gamer website. Richard Cobbett described the game in his "Saturday Crapshoot" series; he consideredStrife to be an underappreciated game, but believed that it had not aged well.[43] Paul Dean likewise concluded thatStrife did not receive the attention it deserved back in its day, and encouraged readers to play the game.[8] Both journalists comparedStrife to the laterDeus Ex, a more commercially successful attempt to combine the first-person shooter formula with role-playing elements.[43][8]
Velocity Inc. has released a game the company says will impress players even more thanDoom, still considered the granddaddy of all fast-paced and innovative CD-ROM games...Strife has a suggested retail price of $49.95.
Narrator: "The comet struck our planet without warning. [...] The impact released a virus which swept through the land and killed millions [...] [T]hose that did not die, became mutations of humanity. Some became fanatics who heard the voice of a malignant god in their heads... and called themselves the Order. Those of us who were deaf to this voice suffer horribly and are forced to serve these ruthless psychotics [...]"
Rowan: "I have a business relationship with the Front's leader, Macil. I know he needs an incisive fellow like yourself, and he pays well. Take this recovered com unit and you'll be led to, shall we say, opportunities."
Blackbird: "Listen, if this com unit is working, that means you're one hundred percent human. I've been ordered to bring you in, we're talking trust here. [...] Oh, and by the way, you can call me Blackbird."
Macil: "Because of your daring our troops are on the move. I want you two to join the assault, with a specific target. Take out the Programmer."
Macil: "Good, you're conscious again. When you grabbed that item the Programmer dropped you let loose some terrible secrets. [...] Fragments assembled from the Programmer's files tell us that the Order is worshipping an intelligent weapon. They call it "The Sigil". The piece you touched and recovered is one of five. [...] One piece constitutes awesome power. Possession of all five pieces would be devastating and would give the user total control of the planet. We have no idea where this weapon came from, but we must find out. You have wrested one from the Order, but we must have all five."
Oracle: "I feel one fragment resonate within you. The second lies at the heart of the crimson and obsidian tower. There you must combat the Bishop, who is aware, and awaits you."
Oracle: "Your next challenge will test your spirit. The third piece is held by your own leader. [...] Your blind faith has allowed him to advance to his goals with each piece you gain. Confront him and resolve your fate."
Barkeep: "The factory's built on the comet's impact site. I don't think it's by chance."
Macil: "We have found out that the Order is not killing our people, it is transforming them, into bio-mechanical soldiers. Find the facility where this is being done and close it, permanently."
Macil: "I am the One God... I need his spirit to be free so that I can leave my body, and join him in flight. [...] The One God must be free... and he will reward me... I will be one..."
Blackbird: "From the looks of it we're gonna need the full Sigil to unlock this puppy. Something tells me this is the end of the rainbow."
Entity: "You... You have crushed my Order, torn through my ruses and threatened centuries of desire. But I will prevail. I will infect you and twist you to my will."
Blackbird: "I knew you would win, my gallant hero. All fighting has stopped. Your victory will allow us to create a vaccine to purge the virus from our bodies. You have saved our planet and set us free. Now, I'd like to thank you... personally."
Oracle: "Next you must find the surgeon who butchers and controls your people, the Loremaster. Stop him, and the next piece will be yours."
Oracle: "Pitiful man, you have done what thousands have failed to do... You bring me the power of the Sigil, the voice of the One God. [...] The Sigil will open the door and free the spirit which will cleanse this planet and let me live forever. I will strip this world of its energies and find new worlds to conquer."
Blackbird: "Ha ha! Welcome, I have waited for this moment. I have waited for a fool like you to bring me my freedom. Your tiny planet is mine, and you will wish you were never born."
Blackbird: "Yes. The evil was gone, but our future was uncertain and clouded with doubt. It would take generations to purge the virus from our people... if we survived that long. Whatever the evil wanted, it drained from us the one thing we needed. It left us without hope."