Striden (Early Access)

It's always fun when new games made by Swedish studios appear. To keep the Swedish gaming tradition alive, so to speak. Striden, or strajden as it is pronounced in English in the game, from Boden studio 5 Fortress is such a game. It has just been released as an Early Access title and it is the one we will review here. It is therefore very important to point out that the final title may look very different from what is now available on PC, but it is the content of this Early Access version that I will tell you about below.

Striden is trying to break into the crowded market of looter shooters with a little Swedish flavour. Everywhere I turn in the game there is a Swedish smell. Everything from the environments, the red houses, shooting Automatkarbin 4, eating meatballs to recover, and moose running around with guns. An everyday life in any place in Jämtland so to speak. Now, I haven't been to Jämtland for a while, but something I assume is there is no radiation. It is a threat in Striden, which also classifies itself as a survival game. The basis of the whole game is that Scandinavia has become a battlefield between East and West where nuclear war has made it very difficult to live here. Some places on the map are therefore also dangerous to stay in and too much radiation is of course not good. But now there are also radioactive bears, adding extra excitement.

There are two different game modes on offer, one being a five-player co-op to protect their base from incoming computer-controlled troops and the other being a 20-player mode with four teams (five players in each). Both have their strengths and weaknesses. The smaller co-op mode is organised in different phases. It starts with a few minutes where you collect various items. You can then reinforce the base, build things like a bench to produce new weapons, or automatic machine guns that can be deployed for defence. Then comes a round of defence where you have to survive and kill the invaders. Then you can go out and capture packages dropped from aeroplanes for more weapon parts, building plans, or food for your health. And back to defend. It's a loop that's fun if you play with those who have good communication, but can get a bit repetitive after a while.

Communication, yes. There was never any question about what kind of game I was playing when, two milliseconds after loading, I was greeted in my very first game by a teammate shouting things that cannot be written here. Less child-friendly things so to speak. And of course another one jumped on too. That's when you know people are running around with guns in their hands. Well, the type of game I threw myself into is called transmit and is meant to be for 20 players. Four teams have the same goal, to collect four electron tubes from boxes dropped by aeroplanes. These electron tubes are used to repair a transmitter (all teams have one in their base). If you manage to fix it and reach 15,000 points, the helicopter will arrive to take you all away. But a signal goes out to let other teams know that it is time to stop your escape.

Striden has a lot of great ideas that could make this a very good game, but I have to mention the absolute biggest elephant in the room. The player base. It was already small on the first day of Early Access and has since steadily declined. Trying to play a game any time other than late at night is impossible. Log in during the day on a weekday and you can be the only player online. It is currently a total impossibility to join a match that has not yet started and wait for 19 other players. So there are only two choices. One is to start matches with a handful of players. The other is to jump into a match that is already in progress and where you don't know how close to the end it is. And this kind of game requires people to be online. Striden has obvious problems, but the game actually deserves a bigger player base than this. Sure, it's still Early Access, but if 5 Fortress is going to learn from feedback, it needs some people to give feedback.

Before the full launch, it needs a polish. There are bugs here and there with shots going straight through barricaded doors and crashing games. The way the characters move doesn't feel quite right either. Things I wish the developers would also take a look at, which are my own personal preferences, are adding support for controllers, balancing what weapons can be created (weapons are unlocked after you reach a specific level, so as a new player you will only be able to create half-assed weapons while veterans have access to the nice buffers. Which leads to you having no chance in strength to begin with), and to add some type of training mode. The only instructions given in the game are via video clips and if you don't feel interested in that, just jump straight into a match and learn via trial and error. Regarding the controller, of course I understand that mouse and keyboard is the dominant mode of play in this type of game, but there are many who prefer to play with a controller. Unfortunately, this is not even an option. There are plans to add it later, but as I said, I can only judge what is in front of me and not what is promised for the future.

But Striden also has a lot of positives. Gameplay is pretty good, but needs a little polishing as I said, with five different character classes (assault, engineer, medic, spotter, and support) all having their own strengths, class-specific items, and traits. The base building is a fun idea, but can sometimes feel like an afterthought when people would rather be running around shooting their rifles.

Striden has a lot of potential, and I look forward to seeing what the game is at full launch, but the developers need to do something to attract players. It doesn't matter if it would be the most fun game in the world if there are no others to play with.