Yes, it has been a while since my last one of these. But the series resumes today with an actual hidden gem: Strife. Released originally in 1996, Strife is a first-person RPG-esque shooter created using the id Tech 1 engine, sometimes known as the "Doom engine." While Strife doesn't have true RPG elements, it has a town hub and 'safe' locations where you can talk to NPCs and don't have to worry about combat.

The game itself is set in a dystopic future society ruled by a group that is only known as "The Order." Much like most groups in dystopic fiction, The Order is very authoritarian and limits the freedom of everyone who lives under them. Naturally, a rebel group surfaces to take them down and that is where you, the player, come in upon finding the town hub and a specific group of rebels. Unlike most other games from the era, Strife has multiple endings, which are determined by a specific decision during the main plot.

The term hidden gem gets thrown around quite frequently, but few games actually qualify. Strife is a very undervalued gem from the mid-90s that shows what can be done with the id Tech 1 engine. I have an original 1996 release but the game is available digitally as "The Original Strife: Veteran Edition." I highly recommend this one.