Bluepixie
6th July 2006, 13:25
Strife may be getting on a bit these days, it’s nearly 10 years old, and in many ways is very dated. Don’t let this put you off though, this underdog is still very much worth playing.
The story for Strife is nothing incredible mostly reminiscent of a B-movie sci-fi flick. However, the presentation is top notch throughout with a voice over and well coloured, stylish graphic novel type stills explaining the situation in the intro.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-15.jpg
ooooooo creepy. Great atmosphere still.
Once in the game proper it feels very much like a Doom game, but in good familiar way, not “been there done that”. Most comparisons stop at the engine though as the game as a lot more to offer than its technological founder. Your player starts in a prison with only his bladed fist to help him escape (wonder how he sneaked that past the guards.) Players of Dark Forces will feel quite at home with Strife to begin with as the game world is very well designed and feels like a real place. After escaping the prison though you find yourself in a town, which is the main area of the game. Strife’s level construction is based around a hub system which is a first for a 1st person shooter if I remember correctly. This allows you to return to areas even after finishing, adding to the sense of being in an actual place.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-23.jpg
Yup, it's pretty graphic.
The town is pretty big and feels like a real place with lots of people wandering about that you can talk to. There are guards as well, but along as you don’t start shooting everything, they’ll leave you alone. Yup this is an RPG, you can talk to people, buy items go on missions etc. Without giving the story away you basically end up joining the rebel group opposing the bad guys (The Order) and set out to stop them. Not on your own though I might add, a member of the rebels called Blackbird is with you at all times during the game informing and overseeing through your comm system. She is a fantastic addition to game, striking a sort of non-physical parody of the relationship between Alex and the player in HL2. Strong willed, opinionated and thoroughly ruthless and sensually voiced to boot.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-10.jpg
Flamethrower = AWESOME!
This may be an RPG but don’t worry, there is plenty of shooting as well. Your weapons are the tools of flesh sucking wounds and enemies are quite capable of returning the favour. However, combat is quite different from Doom, with opportunities for stealthy movement and silent kills with the crossbow. The big guns are great as well though, with the usual assault rifle, rocket launcher and grenade launcher making up the mainstay of your offence with some having different ammo types to spice things up. However, the star of the show is the flamethrower, it’s Syndicate all over again! Body’s burn, twist and scream as you torch rooms of bad guys making this one of the most violent shooters at the time (except Blood maybe). There are also two super weapons, the Mauler - a disintegration gun, with green explosive death for a secondary fire - and the Sigil which is tied to the story. It grows through out the game until it reaches the impressive Über powerful lighting BFG, very pretty. All of you that enjoy squelchy sound effects and gory death scenes, you are in for a treat!
Level design is also very good. They obviously spent a lot of time trying to make the world feel coherent rather than making it a corridor crawl. There is plenty of detail in the game world as well, all areas have a distinctive feel and look with lots of little objects even breakable monitors and glass. Item pick ups are generally sensibly placed (i.e ammo in the armoury etc) which means that you can go quite a distance without seeing a health boost. This means you have to save your money and kit yourself out at the shops before going on missions.
I feel that if Strife had come out in 1995 before Quake, it could have been big. Strife really has a lot going for it, offering more than even some modern shooters do. An interesting solid story line, well paced challenging action, strong characters and stylish visuals makes Strife an exciting action/RPG. If you like a bit of story and character interaction with your shooting I urge you to give it a try. Failing that, give the flamethrower a blast, it’s brilliant! Come here laddie!
*fuuuwhooooossss!*
Mwhahahaa!
Niall Macdonald
Written: 06/07/06
Edited: 4/04/09
The story for Strife is nothing incredible mostly reminiscent of a B-movie sci-fi flick. However, the presentation is top notch throughout with a voice over and well coloured, stylish graphic novel type stills explaining the situation in the intro.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-15.jpg
ooooooo creepy. Great atmosphere still.
Once in the game proper it feels very much like a Doom game, but in good familiar way, not “been there done that”. Most comparisons stop at the engine though as the game as a lot more to offer than its technological founder. Your player starts in a prison with only his bladed fist to help him escape (wonder how he sneaked that past the guards.) Players of Dark Forces will feel quite at home with Strife to begin with as the game world is very well designed and feels like a real place. After escaping the prison though you find yourself in a town, which is the main area of the game. Strife’s level construction is based around a hub system which is a first for a 1st person shooter if I remember correctly. This allows you to return to areas even after finishing, adding to the sense of being in an actual place.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-23.jpg
Yup, it's pretty graphic.
The town is pretty big and feels like a real place with lots of people wandering about that you can talk to. There are guards as well, but along as you don’t start shooting everything, they’ll leave you alone. Yup this is an RPG, you can talk to people, buy items go on missions etc. Without giving the story away you basically end up joining the rebel group opposing the bad guys (The Order) and set out to stop them. Not on your own though I might add, a member of the rebels called Blackbird is with you at all times during the game informing and overseeing through your comm system. She is a fantastic addition to game, striking a sort of non-physical parody of the relationship between Alex and the player in HL2. Strong willed, opinionated and thoroughly ruthless and sensually voiced to boot.
http://www.pausegaming.com/niall/reviewpics/strife/Strife-10.jpg
Flamethrower = AWESOME!
This may be an RPG but don’t worry, there is plenty of shooting as well. Your weapons are the tools of flesh sucking wounds and enemies are quite capable of returning the favour. However, combat is quite different from Doom, with opportunities for stealthy movement and silent kills with the crossbow. The big guns are great as well though, with the usual assault rifle, rocket launcher and grenade launcher making up the mainstay of your offence with some having different ammo types to spice things up. However, the star of the show is the flamethrower, it’s Syndicate all over again! Body’s burn, twist and scream as you torch rooms of bad guys making this one of the most violent shooters at the time (except Blood maybe). There are also two super weapons, the Mauler - a disintegration gun, with green explosive death for a secondary fire - and the Sigil which is tied to the story. It grows through out the game until it reaches the impressive Über powerful lighting BFG, very pretty. All of you that enjoy squelchy sound effects and gory death scenes, you are in for a treat!
Level design is also very good. They obviously spent a lot of time trying to make the world feel coherent rather than making it a corridor crawl. There is plenty of detail in the game world as well, all areas have a distinctive feel and look with lots of little objects even breakable monitors and glass. Item pick ups are generally sensibly placed (i.e ammo in the armoury etc) which means that you can go quite a distance without seeing a health boost. This means you have to save your money and kit yourself out at the shops before going on missions.
I feel that if Strife had come out in 1995 before Quake, it could have been big. Strife really has a lot going for it, offering more than even some modern shooters do. An interesting solid story line, well paced challenging action, strong characters and stylish visuals makes Strife an exciting action/RPG. If you like a bit of story and character interaction with your shooting I urge you to give it a try. Failing that, give the flamethrower a blast, it’s brilliant! Come here laddie!
*fuuuwhooooossss!*
Mwhahahaa!
Niall Macdonald
Written: 06/07/06
Edited: 4/04/09