Many of you may know Doom. The 1993 classic FPS was for many their first exposure to the genre. And it was arguably the most influential and important game of the 90s. But how many of you are familiar with its younger cousin Strife?
Strife was one of the latest games to utilize the Doom engine. It released in 1996, when more advanced games like Duke Nukem 3D and Quake were released. So graphically and technologically it wasn’t that impressive.
But what it lacked in impressive tech, it made up for with its unique blend of first-person shooting and roleplaying. Strife was a unique title in the sense it ran on an already-then antiquated engine but had an open-world structure. You could visit any level you wanted in any order you wanted. And things would remain persistent on the levels you had visited.
Strife ended up getting a bit of a cult following. And would receive a lot of attention over the years, despite its initial low sales. It had a lot going for it, with fully voice-acted dialogue, a great inventory system, and lots of FPS action. It’s often regarded as a precursor to Deus Ex.
Nightdive Enters The Picture
Strife lingered in a bit of legal limbo for years. Getting a legit copy was difficult as the game’s scarcity made physical copies insanely expensive. And nobody was sure who owned the rights to it. So the original game eventually ended up being spread around for free.
Nightdive Studios eventually picked up the rights to the game and did a proper remaster of the game. Strife: Veteran Edition launched in 2014, and brought some new life to Strife with an enhanced engine. And now Nightdive is bringing this version to the Switch.
Nothing specific has been shared on the Switch version yet. And we are still waiting for a release date. Though the idea of having Strife on the Switch is great, as the Switch is already home to a decent library of retro shooters as it is. With Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Doom II, Ion Fury, and even DUSK soon coming to the console as well, Strife: Veteran Edition will be a great addition to your Switch library if you’re into old-school FPS titles.
