Hexen: Beyond Heretic

aka: Heretic 2, Hexen, Hexen 95
Moby ID: 1938
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

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)

An RPG-Style First-Person Shooter

The Good
Hexen is a very underrated game, in a way it finally enabled the Doom engine to have features it was originally planned to have (like hub level structure). Pretty much every Hexen feature was a major advance for a shooter at the time: real usable inventory with artefacts, health items that could be carried (quartz flasks and mystic urns), three different player classes (mainstay for RPGs, unheard-of in shooters: fighter, mage, cleric), a serious variety of weapons (4 weapons for each class+flechettes), a cartoonish taunting master villain, and just the "spooky-yet-cartoonish saving-the-world ambience". The music is great, though the original had only MIDI scores and a rather low-quality Sound Canvas audio CD. Obviously how great the MIDI files will play depends on the instrument bank for the GM synth the soundcard can drive. The big plus is, with the right instruments the soundtrack is haunting and fits the game beautifully.

The Bad
Nothing really. It could have a bit more detail, like NPCs (there are none). Hexen II introduced NPC-leftover "bait" (like corpses and notes and dead NPCs' diaries, etc.). The Tome of Power was missing (again, Hexen II remedies this).

The Bottom Line
Hexen is one of those games that can baffle people if they have no RPG experience, even repel them. The game is a masterpiece, and plays like a light, fun hack'n'slash adventure. If you're used to D&D and similar roleplaying games, that is. To folks who have never played an AD&D RPG (or anything similar), the puzzles might be frustrating, and of course the game requires the player to actually think, unlike point-and-shoot games where the most difficulty would be gathering ammo or unlocking a door/switch/lift/elevator with a key that has to be wrestled from an enemy (or mob).

Hexen is really more complex, but not by much. There're many items (such as the Chaos Device - emergency teleport; Discs of Repulsion - pushing wave generators; Quartz Flasks - 25 health point restorers) which transform the game from a simple shooter into a strategic delight, both for co-op and deathmatch. Deathmatch simply isn't anywhere as simple or stupid in Hexen, where you can turn an opponent into a pig or teleport out of trouble when nearly mortally wounded. Oh, and of course any player character can fly once the Wings of Wrath are found. Different classes have different weapons and different Flechette styles, too. Flechette is the local grenade. The cleric's Flechette is a gas poison trap, the mage's is a simple timebomb, and the fighter's is a glass grenade. Some of the greatest weapons ever in a shooter are also to be found in Hexen: the Arc of Death, the Serpent Staff, and the Wraithverge.

Puzzles might seem daunting, but really they're all straightforward and there's no set way to completing them - a player is free to travel among several levels at once in a hub. Puzzles though are mostly simple "flick a switch, something happens" or "pick a key, amass a collection of keys" type, except for a few deathtraps (hint: if you fall into a chasm or well, either fly out or use the Chaos Device).

The inventory and playerclasses' unique abilities make Hexen stand out among shooters. Really it's a masterpiece, the game never gets boring, even almost 20 years after its release.

DOS · by Aenn Seidhe Priest (9) · 2013

A descent Medieval shooter that just tries to be too many games at once

The Good
Although two years have gone past since the release of Doom, Hexen doesn't look old for 1995, and in fact, does add something new that hasn't been possible before - this is in fact the ability to jump. Therefore like Heretic, Hexen drives the Doom engine forward 1 big step. I would also like to note that weapons look more detailed than in Heretic and Doom, but that's pretty much it. The levels, monsters and other items don't stand out with art beauty in Hexen.

The sound in Hexen does what it is supposed to, and that is building a quite creepy atmosphere. Hostile growls of monsters, creepy and fitting music combined with other game sound effects makes Hexen probably the scariest game ever released with the Doom engine (although, calling it a scary game by itself isn't quite correct, to be honest). Although like in Heretic, the composers were able to write a couple of memorable tunes in the game, most soundtracks are in fact so quiet that you might not even notice them, what's to say about memorising them after...

As for the gameplay, this is what makes Hexen the most unique - for the first time in a Doom engined shooter we are able to pick up from 3 different characters to complete the single player campaign, each having unique weapons and a unique storyline (which doesn't really change anything) and we can also play as these guys in deathmatch and co-op! Like in Heretic, we still have the inventory, where we can collect usable items. These items can heal us, make us stronger or can be used as a separate weapon against the enemies. Unlike in Heretic, this time if you for example have 2 Porkalators and go to a next level, you will still have 2 Porkalators in there. In Heretic, you would always end up with 1 of each item, which is a good improvement in Hexen. The collectible items are quite interesting in Hexen, although some of them may seem completely new and not like those you've seen in Heretic, many of these are actually the same from Heretic, just remade and with a new name. Even some weapons bare a resemblance to the ones from Heretic, the same goes to the enemies in the game, however, yet again, there are some completely new foes which are nothing like those you've seen in Heretic or even in Doom.

A big change in Hexen's gameplay over Heretic's are the levels - in this case Hexen is more similar to Half Life, because like there, if you enter a new level, you can sometimes go back, which is a good way to pick up some health or ammo from the previous level if you really need it. But going from one level to the next and back is not just for that, but it is the key to solve a puzzle in one big central level of an... umm... we'll call them episodes :). Thus Hexen is a game made up off puzzles and mystery. Still, like in Doom and Heretic, you're gonna face lots of monsters so you won't get bored... or will you? Now let me talk about what really pissed me off of this game...

The Bad
First of all - the feel of the game. Almost every level has a dark theme and uses mostly these colours - black, grey and brown, thus building (or tries to build) a Medieval scenery. But the repetitive scenery only makes this game boring as hell. Sure, you will see different areas like forests, swamps, castles, graveyards and caves, but because all of them look almost the same, it's completely impossible to navigate through them and it's very easy to get lost.

Also, almost all "puzzles" involve themselves in searching for a stupid switch, hidden somewhere in the level, or a key that must open the door, which hides yet another switch behind it!

Another complaint is the monsters - not the fact that they are stupid, but the variety is so small. In Doom and Heretic there are about 10-15 different monsters you can see in a level. But in Hexen? Let's actually start counting, how many different types of monsters are there: 2 headed guys with morning stars, flying demons, serpents, centaurs, evil priests, plus some levels have exclusive ice monsters or swamp beasts... and that's it! So, the maximum amount of different monsters you can see in a level is about 5-7, with some episodes having a boss in the end, add to that the fact that your character has basically only 4 weapons (every new weapon can be found only in the next episode, which makes it even worse) makes running through some small, repetitive corridors in search of a stupid switch rather doll quickly. And by the fact that the game has 3 different characters, it is possible that it has some replay value? I doubt that.

The Bottom Line
It is unsure for whom was Hexen developed for. I can say as a Doom fan that it's definitely not for a fan of Doom, as it lacks all of the awesomeness Doom has. As for those whose first shooter that they played was Heretic, this sequel might be worth trying out if your deep into running around Medieval castles and searching for puzzles, but if you're more of a fan of action and killing huge amounts of monsters with different weapons, Hexen is not the game for you. It might be that the reason why Hexen is not a good game like Doom or Heretic is the fact that it was probably meant to be acceptable for fans of RPG as well, as it has many similarities to RPG games (Medieval scenery, different selectable characters, puzzles to solve in big levels), however, i doubt that even they can find it a good combination of the two genres.

Good or bad, Hexen is definitely not the sequel to Heretic which i wanted it to be, which is probably my biggest complaint about this game. It's hard to tell for what kind of gamer was Hexen made, i can say only one thing: if you've never played FPS-s before, make sure Hexen is not your first FPS game. Better start out with games like Doom and Heretic.

DOS · by Medicine Man (328) · 2010

Pushing the limits of id Tech 1, one sector at a time.

The Good
The game itself was pretty good, but the additions that Raven made to id Tech 1 for this game are what really makes the game shine, compared to all the other games based on the DOOM code.

Level design, and the ability to teleport between levels, helped make the world of Hexen feel much more realistic and immersive, compared to its predecessor Heretic. While every so often you reach a point where you can't go back again (something shared even with the most modern 3D shooters), this was new at the time.

Another modification that made this game special in its class were doors that could move side to side or swing. While the original DOOM code offered "sectors" with ceilings and floors that could rise or fall, Hexen introduced true door motion to the id Tech 1 engine, allowing for doors in-game that can swing or slide.

Last, and certainly not least, was the ability to script level and game events. Pretty much every game allows for some level of scripting in game content these days. At the time, it was a revelation.

The Bad
Monsters could have been a lot smarter. And those flaming birds were a real pain, especially in flocks. You could quickly waste all your ammo on killing those things.

The Bottom Line
It's a classic first person shooter, and while great in its original version, these days it would be better to play through one of the many available source ports.

DOS · by coldacid (550) · 2008

[ 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. SEGA Saturn, Macintosh added by Kabushi. PlayStation, Nintendo 64 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.