Hexen II

The Good
Hexen 2 carries the torch from Hexen 1 by allowing the player to choose from different classes. Unlike the original, that had three, Hexen 2 has four (five with the expansion pack, or the New Hexen source port). The four classes, Paladin, Crusader, Assassin, and Necromancer, all play different enough to add some replay value. Chances are, however, that you won't be going through the game all four times. For starters, the actual beating down of monsters is fun. The core gameplay of Hexen 2 is great - run, shoot, kill. The flavor of the game is impossible to describe here - you'll have to try it for yourself. The puzzles in Hexen 2 are much more cohesive than the puzzles in Hexen 1. The game does supply hints in the form of readable tablets found at the walls of the beginning of a level. Hexen 2 does a much better job of giving you new and interesting things to kill than it's predecessor. Each new Hub presents you with new types of enemies, totally different level design, and a new weapon for the first three. Unlike the original, the hubs don't tend to have a center level from which all smaller levels are connected. You'll spend a lot of time running about in Hexen 2, but you'll almost never find yourself going back to the same area to get to the next level, much unlike Hexen 1. Hexen 2 ends each of its hubs with a boss fight. The bosses themselves all look very much alike, with the main differences between them being the weapons they use and the arena you fight them in. The boss fights do seem a little bit rehashed, but rest assured they're all fun as can be, especially the final boss of the game, which gets my credit for one of the coolest bosses ever. Setting up multiplayer games in Hexen 2 was very easy. Playing through the game with a friend will double your enjoyment of the game, especially with voice communication involved. Tomes of Power make a return in Hexen 2, giving your weapons a massive boost of power and a totally new effect.

The Bad
Hexen 2 has some very, very annoying puzzles. Even moreso than in Hexen 1, you can and will get stuck frequently in Hexen 2, looking for the next switch. What's especially boring about these portions is that monsters don't respawn. You could be wandering about with nothing to kill and nothing to do for a very long time. This is the critical downfall of Hexen 2. Unless you like reading guides, or you have a friend to play it with you, you'll spend a lot of time feeling awfully lonely in the game.

The Bottom Line
Hexen 2 is an improvement from the original Hexen, but at it's heart, it's still the original game. If you liked Hexen, you'll love Hexen 2. If you didn't like Hexen, you'll hate Hexen 2. It's as simple as that. This game is best enjoyed with the New Hexen source port.