There's no Co-Op in the enhanced edition! It's lucky the package includes the original DOS version...unfortunately, it doesn't include all the clever pre-set up GOG stuff you're used to seeing from GOG. For some reason you're on your own if you want to play the original version, or you want to play cooperatively. Strife is an interesting game, where every choice you make is the wrong one! A bit of crude stealth and a lot of talking to NPC's await in this great use of the Doom engine. A little crude around the edges though, as you can see that almost all of the graphics in the game are "paint overs" of original Doom and Heretic assets. What they lack in artistic creativity, they've more than made up for with level design, story, and creating a living world within the restrictions of the Doom engine! Worth checking out if you're a fan of a more RPG style FPS. Think Deus Ex, but much, much older! (And a fantasy setting instead of Sci Fi.)
I remember really enjoying this game as a kid, it was great! The undead theme was amazing, the knock off Monster Mash title music, the bad attitude kid shooting monsters into chunky gore with a sling-shot...Things didn't get cooler in the 90s! Now that I'm older, I can just imagine the level designers of this game sitting back in their chairs laughing as they placed every enemy, every spike, every stupid knife throwing hand and screaming skull in just the right spot that you have to get hit by them and lose health with every move you make...This wouldn't be such a problem if lives were aplenty, but they're not...you'll likely lose all your health trying to make your way to finding a health pick up. Lose all your lives trying to find an extra life. And just plain die by taking a wrong turn looking for the missing animals. Don't let your nostalgia for this game trick you into thinking it's any good. There are far better platform games out there, especially by Apogee! Unless you are a masochist, save yourself some pain, save yourself some money and grab Bio Menace, as it is a much better platformer...and it's free!
Sure this version runs in wide screen, and sure they've fixed the looking up and down glitches of a ray casting engine (but for some reason went with billboarded sprites instead of flat, which only serves to make the enemies look awful when you do happen to look down at them!) But the biggest crime here is omitting the most important part... MULTIPLAYER! Given that the original version is free on GOG anyway. do yourself a favour, save yourself some money, go grab the dos version, and play through the campaign in Co Op with a friend! Shadow Warrior is an amazing game, and was a brilliant use of the build engine at the time. Until someone comes out with a modern conversion that is actually better then the original (I'm talking high res assets and sounds), you should just stick with the original!
