Hexen: Beyond Heretic

aka: Heretic 2, Hexen, Hexen 95
Moby ID: 1938
DOS Specs
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Hexen is the sequel to Heretic. While the Heretic was destroying D'Sparil, the other two Serpent Riders have come to your dimension and slaughtered everyone. Or so they thought. Three humans have managed to escape with their lives and now seek vengeance against the Serpent Rider Korax who remains in their world.

Like Heretic, Hexen is a fantasy game based on an enhanced DOOM engine. All of Heretic's innovations like vertical looking, flying, and the inventory system have been carried over. The new major changes this time around are three characters for the player to choose from and the level hub system. The characters are the Fighter, the Cleric, and the Mage. Each one has four unique weapons and different levels of speed and armor.

The hub system steps away from the traditional "single levels stringed along into episodes" system which had been carried over into the FPS genre from sidescrollers and made popular by Wolfenstein 3D. In Hexen's hub system each episode is still made up of interconnected levels, but most of the levels are connected to a single "hub" level through portals. There are also portals between some of the "spoke" levels. Many of the puzzles in Hexen require travel back and forth between different levels.

Other innovations in Hexen include weather effects, jumping, earth-quakes, and destructible objects such as trees and vases. The game also includes scripted sequences created with a language called ACS, allowing for much more complex puzzles and dramatic scenes.

Spellings

  • ヘクセン - Japanese spelling (on the CD in the Japanese Sega Saturn release)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

19 People

Artists
Additional Artists
Programming
Level Design
Sound/Music
Project Director
Executive Producer
Engine Tools Programmer
3D Engine
Sound Drivers
Package Design by
  • The Richardson Group/R&D

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 74% (based on 47 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 186 ratings with 7 reviews)

Enormous switch hunt in scary castles.

The Good
It's scary game - this vibe is achieved by gripping music and level design. You will walk in old, ruined castles, marshes, caves, chapels and other places. Sounds are wonderful - they're realistic and help building the vibes. Even Quake and Duke Nukem haven't such good ambient sounds as Hexen.

Most of Heretic's features are also present in Hexen - there's inventory (there are some new items, like Dark Servant, which summons Maulotaur to help you, however Tome of Power is absent), flying and looking up and down. Hexen also introduces jumping and scripting. So, there are earthquakes, falling bridges, and . Level design is also different - there is a "hub system", as in Quake 2 or Heretic 2.

Unlike Heretic, you can select one of three characters in the game. They have not only different look, they use completely different weapons! For example, Fighter uses weapons like axe or sword, when Mage has magical staffs. Also, multiplayer allows max. 8 players during gameplay.

The Bad
Puzzles are really difficult - In Doom and Heretic you found keys and switches in passing. Not here. You sometimes have to search for switch in four enormous levels only to reveal another switch in another level. And that switch lowers platform, there's a key on the switch, the key opens a door, behind a door there is another switch... and so on, and so on. Puzzles should be the same as in Heretic 2 - much easier and more enjoyable.

The Bottom Line
Well, if you're looking for more puzzle-oriented FPS, then Hexen is for you. Its creepy atmosphere and hordes of monsters to slay will keep you entertained.

DOS · by Sir Gofermajster (485) · 2009

(Review from 1995) Hexen is more than just a "Doom Clone" and is worth trying.

The Good
Note: This is a review I wrote in 1995 for my High School newsletter, so don't go "wtf?" when I say things like "Best graphics" and whatnot

Released earlier this month, "Hexen" comes from Raven software and is a sequel to their previous effort, "Heretic." Heretic, while by no means a bad game, has the dubious honor of being called a "Doom clone" for mirroring the gameplay of Doom and merely swapping out the levels, weapons, and monsters. So it may come as a shock that Hexen, is NOT a Doom Clone. While you will still plow through monsters and mazes running on a spruced up Doom engine, various gameplay changes make Hexen unique.

The first thing you will notice enter Hexen are the stunning visuals. Like in Heretic, Raven has reduced the level of pixelation in the graphics, meaning the enemies and objects retain clarity no matter how close up you are, and seeing as there is a greater focus on melee weapons in this game, especially for the fighter class and his mighty hammer, you are going to get up close and personal quite a bit with the nasties in this one. The audio is good, though I don't think the music will wow anyone. Rather than midi rock tunes, the music is more ambient and slow toned but it does lend a creepy feeling to the games bizarre landscape, as do many sounds such as leaves in the wind, creaking doors, dirt crumbling from rocky crags, etc. it all does a great job establishing a mood. The baddies sound as nasty as they look, and nothing beats smashing them about with a hammer as there are many appropriate thuds and of course bones cracking and wet splashes indicating you've successfully removed your foes brain.

The levels progress in a weird way, the game uses a "hub," an area you will often return to and contains the entrance to each level. You will often return to levels, running about from place to place finding switches and puzzles that unlock more areas inside each level, as well as unlocking other levels completely. Eventually you will unlock a boss, and the game will automatically send you to a new hub, essentially an automated way of picking the next episode. Hexen advances the Doom engine so that you can now fly with the appropriate power up, and just like in Heretic you can look all around and jump, meaning there are many more platform puzzles and high places. If you have vertigo, you might find Hexen a little frightening at time.

The Bad
Despite all the praise I've given the game for its technical prowess and unique gameplay elements, Hexen isn't without flaws. Some may not appreciate the switch hunting and often confusing design, it can also be said that many may not like the random death traps that rarely give any indication or forewarning of their existence. Sometimes monotony can set in from returning to levels and being faced with the fact that you've already killed most of the baddies, and the game isn't always so kind as to give you new ones, making levels seem empty at times. The puzzles can be fun, but they seem out of place in a game like this.

The Bottom Line
Hexen isn't perfect, it certainly won't replace Doom, but it's not trying to. Hexen feels like an experiment, and on many levels, it works. If you're a fan of Doom or it's "clones," but are looking for something different while you wait for IDs next project, "Quake," Hexen might appeal to you. A 3-level shareware demo can be acquired from a BBS if you have a modem, or you can always track me down and ask for a copy. The full game can be bought in a retail store or ordered. Just remember to keep it off the school computers.

DOS · by Kaddy B. (777) · 2009

True to its name in many ways... frustrating, somewhat fun.

The Good
I've always thought that although id can make darn good engines, they can't seem to get the gameplay right themselves. For example, while I (still) dislike playing Doom, I (still) somewhat enjoy playing Heretic. Heretic, the game's prequel, was essentially the same game as Doom-- but with a medieval fantasy theme, more interesting weapons, more cleverly designed levels, and more atmospheric artwork.

HeXen is based off of the Doom II engine, essentially a very high-quality total conversion. But it's amazing seeing what this game can do and comparing it to either of the Doom games. The levels in this game are so well designed, you'll forget that they aren't truly 3d. Bridges that cross over dark chasms grumble and shake as you walk across them. Traps spring out from all sides. Ice falls away from underneath you as you walk on it. Leaves flutter off of trees. Glass flies in all directions when windows are shattered. Bells ring when you hit them. A plethora of atmospheric sounds play, unique to the varying locations of the game. Creatures freeze and then shatter when hit if they are bombarded with enough Ice Shards. The game's atmosphere is actually on par with the some much more recent titles, and that was truly hard to do at the time.

The game offers 3 classes to play instead of Heretic's sole player option; the Warrior, the Cleric, and the Mage. Each one has different armor, speed, health and magic, and each one requires a different playing style. The downside is obvious-- each class doesn’t get a full set of weaponry, and has to make do with a considerably smaller arsenal. This is quite okay, however, because the various items you can find throughout the game are all so interesting and powerful it really does seem like you're getting a full set of weaponry with each player. Many items act differently when used by the different classes; for examples, Flechettes can be hurled at enemies by the warrior, but when used by the mage they act as a time bomb.

HeXen is indeed beyond Heretic in all these aspects.

The Bad
The level design, while atmospheric, is insane.

Apparently the designers decided they needed puzzles in their levels. However, puzzles work best with things like hints or clues, or at least some kind of pointer to tell you what you need to do. But instead, you're thrown into absolute insanity-- single ‘hub’ level branches off to 7 others, each with hordes of doors, keys, and switches, and its crazymaking trying to decide what you even need to do next. Unless you either have extreme patience or are very good with these types of puzzles, it's unlikely you'll even be able to struggle to the end of the game. Even walkthroughs couldn't save my poor Mage.

HeXen is also beyond Heretic in level design-- it goes from interesting to insane. Myst is easier to solve!

The Bottom Line
HeXen proved 3 things, in my opinion:

1- The creators of all of the Doom games did not tax the engine(s) to its/their full potential, and if they had it could have been far better. 2- Action and RPG can merge quite well. 3- Poorly integrated puzzles can ruin even a very well made game.

I recommend buying this game if you can deal with the puzzles. Otherwise it's really not even worth the $5 you'd find it for in a bargain bin.

As a side-note to those who still play this game: Playing it with the Doomsday engine adds a whole 'nother level of enjoyability. Highly recommended if you enjoyed HeXen the first time.

DOS · by ShadowShrike (277) · 2003

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

Controversy

The Steam download version of the game is listed as Windows platform because the executables are modified to use a DOSBox variant (v 0.70); additionally the traditional setup.exe is missing.

It is confirmed that neither Valve or id Software contacted the DOSBox project staff and initially the game didn't includes the TXT files that must be present under the GPL license (so they failed to fulfill 2 points of the GPL license).

Two days after the launch, there was an update that includes COPYING, AUTHORS and THANKS.txt of the DOSBox 0.71.

References

  • In the Necropolis, you can find graves that have the names of some of the authors written on them.
  • In the first HUB, "The Seven Portals" there is a secret level hidden. Once you're in it, you can find D'Sparil's (from the original Heretic) heart in there.
  • The villain's name, Korax, is derived from the scientific name of the common raven: corvus corax. This is an intentional joke as the game was developed by Raven Software.
  • The first place in the game where the Porkalator artifact can be found is on Hub 2: "Caves of Circe". Circe was a character in Greek mythology, who transformed Odysseus' crew into pigs.

References to the game

The final boss of Serious Sam: The Second Encounter, Mordekai The Summoner, carries a staff very similar to the Bloodscourge, the last weapon of the Mage class in Hexen: Beyond Heretic. It should also be noted that the enemy as a whole looks very similar to D'Sparil, the final boss of Heretic.

Speech

One of the demonic sounds that the enemy Dark Bishop sometimes utters, when played backwards, actually sounds like his name.

Title

In German, "hexen" means "witches", or "casting a spell" when used as a verb. Moreover, the game has a Warlock skill level - a warlock (or "hexenmeister") is the male version of a witch.

Version differences

The PlayStation version can be called notoriously evil for being one of the few games on the system to require one ENTIRE Memory Card (yes, all 15 blocks worth) to save just ONE save game!

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1998 Buyer's Guide - Games that Should've Stayed on the PC

Information also contributed by Dark Dante, Emepol, Macintrash, Medicine Man, Maw and Satoshi Kunsai

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Related Sites +

  • Doomsday HQ
    Home of jDoom, jHeretic, and jHexen. These are hardware accelerated ports of those games ( require original DOS versions to work). Useful to make the games prettier, extended multiplayer support, and to work perfectly on Windows Xp!
  • Raven-Games
    This site is dedicated to older Raven Software games. Here you can get maps and mods for Heretic, including JHexen and Koka's GLHexen, the two best hardware accelerated Hexen upgrades in existence!
  • This is not your world, mortal.
    official game pages at GT Interactive's website, preserved by the Wayback Machine
  • Wikipedia: Hexen: Beyond Heretic
    Information about Hexen: Beyond Heretic at Wikipedia

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1938
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kalirion.

Windows Apps added by Plok. Windows added by Xantheous. Macintosh, SEGA Saturn added by Kabushi. Nintendo 64, PlayStation added by Grant McLellan.

Additional contributors: Xantheous, Emepol, Corn Popper, Alaka, Havoc Crow, Matthew Melbourne, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger, Verm --, MrFlibble.

Game added July 14, 2000. Last modified March 14, 2024.