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)

(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

Hexen is an excellent shooter that's just not for everyone.

The Good
Hexen begins it long list of innovations by introducing the character to 3 player classes, each drastically different, that they can play. Each class responds differently to enemy projectiles, has a different set of 4 weapons, and use subweapons called flechettes in different ways. Even for a game created in 1995, the graphics are convincing. Though playing the game in DOS is probably not an option for most players, Hexen lives on today mostly through several high quality sourceports/graphical enhancements, namely involving the Doomsday engine. The first thing you'll notice about Hexen is that the environment rocks. Few things are more pleasing than pulling out your big spiked gauntlet and smashing through a stained glass window - except perhaps pounding it through the skull of some of Hexen's more obnoxious beasts. Playing through Hexen is downright challenging. Modern gamers will want to play the game on the maximum difficulty setting to adjust for their ability to use mouselook. Despite only having 4 weapons per character, Hexen involves a good amount of strategy in choosing which weapons for which battle and how to best conserve ammo for them. Especially pleasing about Hexen are some of the more frightening monsters. Once you get to the second hub, you'll be wary to step in water, and for good reason. In that sludge water are some of the nastiest villains to grace a computer screen, Stalkers. You probably have nerves of steel if these suckers don't make you jump out of your chair at least once. Other creative entries into the (limited) bestiary are Centaurs, which are perhaps my favorite FPS baddie to date. Centaurs are pretty much just bad guys with swords. The catch is, they also have a shield that can block your melee attacks and reflect your ranged attacks right back at you! Hexen's network play is quite fun in cooperative. If you can find a friend with voice comm, then you'll really have a blast. Sometimes, putting two heads together is the most satisfying way to finish some of Hexen's "remember that switch 10 levels back) puzzles.

The Bad
The monster variety in Hexen is small. As you slowly chip away at Hexen you'll be fighting most of the same enemies over and over again. The first encounters with a new monster are generally interesting and fun, however, fighting their rehashed comrade for the 1000th may be entertaining, but it certainly isn't fresh. The puzzles in Hexen generally serve more to tick off the player than reward them for careful thought. Most people will want to bring a strategy guide into the mix. Those that don't should keep very, very careful progress of their map if they don't want to spend hours (yes, that's right, hours) hunting the one hidden switch that got away. Unless romping through empty hallways looking for switches is your favorite thing in the world, you're undoubtedly going to find some frustrating points in Hexen. The size of the game, oddly enough, doesn't work to it's advantage. I would guesstimate that 1 out of every 50 gamers who buy Hexen will actually manage to finish it - the fact is, Hexen is just too darned long for how tedious and repetitive it can become. Multiplayer matches are also very difficult to set up, even with the new source ports. The only way a friend and myself could set up a multiplayer match was through ZDoom and Doom Connector.

The Bottom Line
Hexen is comparable to Halo in terms of play. You move around with a limited arsenal in repetitive environments fighting the same old bad guys over and over - some people love the core gameplay so much that they'd give their souls for another hour of Halo. Some hate it. Download the demo of Hexen, and if you manage to want more after you finish it, treat yourself to the full version. If the demo doesn't suit your fancy, you won't find anything else for you in the full version.

DOS · by WJAndrews (32) · 2004

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

[ 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. 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.