Strife: Quest for the Sigil, originally released in 1996 by Rogue Entertainment, and re-released under the name The Original Strife: Veteran Edition in 2014, is the last officially licensed game created on the Doom engine. A classic FPS of the era, Strife: Quest for the Sigil incorporated impressive RPG and storytelling elements that help this game hold up over twenty years later. Since it is very difficult to now obtain and play the original game (in fact the original source code has been lost), my interaction with this game has been through theVeteran Edition version (henceforth referred to just as Strife), as it is the only feasible way to play the game today. It should be noted that excepting a few details (a few HUD features that were not completed in time for the original game, the option for slightly better graphics, and a new extra secret level being some of the main differences) the newer version is essentially the same as the original.
While Strife was criticized when it was first released for being on an old engine and with consequently poor graphics, I found that Strife is still able to create a compelling world and narrative within this limited system. What most surprised me when playing Strife was how immersive and engaging I found the game, despite its poor graphics and simple design. The game itself details the story of a mercenary who joins a group of resistance fighters working to overthrow the world’s overlords – the Order. The Order is a cohort of individuals who were corrupted by a strange virus, and now work to serve a god whose voice only they can hear. They have enslaved, abused, and killed thousands of innocents as they pursue their supposedly righteous goals.
Unique to games on the Doom engine and integral to Strife's story telling power is the games conversation function. No other game built from the Doom engine had a conversation system through which the player could interact with other NPC’s. Indeed, right from the beginning the game goes against the player’s expectations for the genre. Like other games built with the Doom engine, the game starts off with combat, requiring you to fight your way out of your jail cell. However, after this brief scene the player cannot proceed further via violence and killing. Instead, the player must talk with a NPC in order to get in contact with the resistance. Indeed, this sets up a common sequence within the game. Levels of action and intense fighting are broken up by conversation and plotting in the game’s over-world. Visits to shops for items and upgrades, as well as the ability to talk to everyday citizens only further breaks up the monotony of combat.
Strife’s decision to break up the combat in this way has two immediate effects. First, it forces the player to not only play the game as a classic shooter, but to also pay attention to the story by keeping it front and center as the game progresses. While the story itself is not the most brilliant of scripts, I couldn’t help myself from feeling that it’s tone fit the game perfectly. Strife is not a complicated game, especially to those who are used to the genre. The combat and movement often feels a little less hectic than Doom's (at least in my experience), though the two generally have the same feel. The game doesn’t need an overly complicated story to make it any better. The mechanics are solid and fun in themselves, and the addition of a tangible plot helps keep the player engaged past the point where shooting another Order member is no longer entertaining. This is what Strife does so well. Each play session I had kept me immersed in the world and left me wondering what would happen next.
Second, breaking up the levels with trips through the (relatively) peaceful over-world offers a sort of respite from all the violence that goes on from level to level and helps to remind the player that the entire planet is not one big shooting gallery. I found this to be extremely important for my ability to immerse myself in the game. The soundtrack is especially important in drawing a sharp distinction between the violent and peaceful spaces in the game. Compare for example the soundtrack for the main over-world and the soundtrack of the rebellion's assault on the Order's citadel. The player can often tell just by the music alone whether or not to expect combat. By having this breaks, the combat felt more purposeful to me. I wasn't just killing every enemy I saw, I was actively making choices to advance towards the goal of overthrowing the order. This also made the boss battle against the rebellion leader in one of "peaceful" areas of the game all the more surprising. I was not expecting that this area would be the site of one of the more difficult fights in the game, and my choice to kill the rebellion leader felt all the more impactful on the story as a result.
There is one final hook that I feel Strife used to turn itself into something more than a simple FPS in a poorly constructed world: voice acting. For a game originally made in 1996 the voice acting is superb for many of its characters. Macil, the leader of the rebels, and Blackbird, the player's personal guide throughout the campaign, are prime examples of the quality voice acting the game offers. Blackbird especially stands out. She gives advice from level to level, cheers the player on upon success, and scolds the player for each death or failure (even simply leaving the game to take a break can elicit a caustic remark from her). The performances of these and other voice actors made it easier for me to connect with the characters I saw on screen, ascribe feelings and motivations to them, and overall consider them as part of a larger world. For me, the voice acting was able make up for what the graphics could not do, inject life into the world as I moved through it.
While I do feel that Strife's world-building capability should be commended, especially given the tools that were being worked with at the time, it needs to be pointed out that Strife could not help itself from falling into all too standard tropes. I feel that one of the most egregious examples of this is Blackbird. While her voice acting is extremely well done, perhaps it is telling that Tal Blevins felt the need in his 1996 review of Strife to say that Blackbird’s “voice is by far the sexiest thing to ever resonate from my computer speakers.”[1] Over the course of the game Blackbird is reduced to little more than love interest for the player character. Her lines will often switch between in-character quips and gratuitous suggestive phrases. For example, if you leave the game to take a break you might hear her say upon closing the game " Nobody walks out on Blackbird" or "But you’re the hope! My only chance!" or perhaps even, "Carnage Interruptus, what a tease..." Worse still, unless the player gets the “good” ending, Blackbird remains a disembodied voice. However, upon getting the "good" ending and saving humanity, the player is "rewarded" by finally seeing what she looks like and getting a kiss. In fact, when looking at the good ending cutscene (you can see all the endings here), the fact that the last image is just the player character and Blackbird kissing left me with feeling that the most important part of the ending was that you were finally able to get the girl. When I finally completely the game and got the "good" ending, I couldn't help but just sit there thinking "seriously?"
While I liked how Strife was able to create an immersive world despite my expectations for what the game would be, I wish the game had chosen to move past other story telling tropes as well - the use of Blackbird really left a poor taste in my mouth. Personally, I enjoyed my play through of Strife. What I expected to just be an early 90’s Doom clone ended up being so much more. I see Strife as an enjoyable window into the past and an example of good world building, but I also see it as an example of why the past should stay where it is.
Works Cited:
https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Strife
http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Strife
https://www.pcgamer.com/reinstall-strife/
[1] https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/strife-review/1900-2533265/
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