STRAFE

It's important to stress that STRAFE, even with all the fixes that have been made, will never be a boomer shooter. It's a roguelike, and it's a very good one. There is a way to play it as a traditional FPS, but you need to spend some in-game credits to unlock it. Those same credits can also unlock an instagib mode, rocket arena, and so on.
STRAFE pairs fast paced gunplay and movement with roguelike mechanics, and does so better than many triple A developers could ever hope to accomplish. It's honestly a shame this game did as poorly as it did, because Pixel Titans did something special here. Everything has a good weight to it, and weapons you find in the environment can be thrown when ammo is depleted. Additionally, you aren't locked into whatever you pick up, so the magical murder machine you have upgraded your starting weapon into can be swapped back to without dropping the rocket launcher you found, for example.
The music is fast, vibrant, and on par with Doom 2016. I have listened to this soundtrack since the game released. This review is being written in 2020, and I expect I will still be playing the track "Slain" to show people how dope this soundtrack is well into 2025.
If you dig roguelikes, do not let the poor early reception this game had turn you away. STRAFE recovered big time, and is easily worth your time just as much as the genre mainstays like Nuclear Throne, Risk of Rain, or even Hades.

Strafe
The FPS Roguelike that looks like Quake
How is it? It's pretty good but not perfect. I like Strafe, but it does some wrong to me personally and objectively. I'll start with what I notably enjoyed.
What I Liked
The Graphics, Aesthetic, and Atmosphere. It pulls off the old school vibe pretty well. I like the Weapons, mostly the Shotgun and Machine Gun. Shooting feels good enough, same with the Gameplay. The Bunny Hopping being executed amazingly helps with the old school feel. There's lots of little Easter Eggs and Secrets. They also kept updating the game years after release up to the Gold Edition. There's lots to appreciate here.
But What I Don't Like
I just personally feel like Strafe is partially a missed opportunity. Like it's fun when you first beat it, which took me about 4 hours. After that I Achievement Hunted for a bit and played all the other modes just once and that's it, which was overall 7 hours for me. Maybe my expectations were off, but I kinda expected more. Like there was very little motivation to keep playing, which sucks cause I like this game. I wish there were more Achievements or better in game progress to motivate me to keep playing. There can be a lot of Replayability for some people, but not me. Makes me wish this game had better, hand-made levels and a Campaign. Maybe even if this game was a RogueLite instead of RogueLike for longterm upgrades. The pros still outweigh the cons.
Overall
Strafe is more a Roguelike FPS rather than a Old School Shooter. It looks like Quake but definitely doesn't play like it, and we shouldn't expect it to. I appreciate Strafe for what it is, but it didn't hold my attention for very long. I personally really like FPS Roguelites and had to try this game. It was still pretty fun. Get this on sale. I'd mostly recommend it for Roguelike fans and Old School Shooter fans who are curious.

STRAFE is the closest thing to a roguelite quake on steam, in my opinion.
Pros:
- Fun game with high replay value thanks to mutators that change how the game behaves
- Satisfying weapons and tons of gibs and blood squirts
- interesting minigames to break up monotony somewhat
- Skill based movement (bunny hopping)
- Fun final boss fight
Cons:
- Can be tough for people unexperienced with quake like movement and weapons
- Level design is procedurally generated and is easy to get lost, minimap is borderline useless
- Perhaps a bit short, ending felt a bit rushed
- Singleplayer only, no pvp
Overall, I think this game is excellent and I would recommend this game to anyone with an interest in roguelikes and fast paced skill based movement games, especially if it's on sale.

Despite what its blurbs might tell you, it doesn't have much in common with Quake and its comtemporaries beyond the obvious.
It's janky, randomized, fast, maniacal, blood-soaked shooting with a banger soundtrack, endearingly chunky visuals, variety and self-aware attitude.
Just the way I love it. :)

This game wasn't particularly good at launch and thus didn't receive glowing reviews from critics or fans. The game has since been greatly improved but the majority of reviews are still from the launch which can drive a lot of people off. IMO the game as it is now is fun and easily worth your money at full price. The game's jam packed with secrets and has enough variety to last you a good few runs. It's not Quake but it's still pretty good.

A good FPS but it is not for everyone.
It's based on runs. What does it mean? You die, you start all over again. Yes, all over again.
Maps are generated randomly based on some layouts, people complain about this but for me it keeps the game fresh. The layouts are somewhat repeating after about 10~ runs, but the variety is fine.
There are secrets on each level so you have a little more to do on the maps.
Plus, after you beat the game there are modifiers you can unlock by playing the game more which include a consistent map design so you can get good at.
You do need some luck with RNG. Why? Each run has upgrades and enemies that make the game easier or harder. So yes, just like in life, no body asks you what cards you are dealt and you need to deal with that. (This also can be tweaked to some degree using modifier after you beat the game)
At the beginning of each run you need to select one weapon which will be the main one for the run. You can find others guns but they will have very limited ammo. This main gun can be upgraded and modified during the run itself.
There are modifiers after beating the game that allow you to play with all three main guns , though.
So is the game fun? Yes, it is.
Is it easy? No, but there is an easy mode for those who find it hard.
Is the game-replayable? Yes and modifiers make it fun.
Overall I like it.
My main issues with the game are:
1.Performance, I get frame drops on 1080TI, the game is not very well optimized.
2.The developers originally promised VR, then they decided to drop VR, It's a shame but that's what it is.

Played this since it released i was abit on the fence due to difficulty issues. but as the game progressed and updated the game turned into what the game advertises itself as gold edition, additions like mutators and better enemy fairness (and some fun difficult ones) the game is a blast to play through (litteraly and figuratively) as they updates i found the game less and less frustrating scrapping vr for a better experience is probably the best choice they could have made. i hope one day another strafe comes along or an expansion. id gladly pay 20 for a large expansion that builds off of what this game provides.