Hexen: Beyond Heretic

Game: Hexen: Beyond Heretic
Platform Played: PC 
Developer: Raven Software
Release Year: 1995
Stephen's Rank: 7/10

It's been a long time since I last posted! Having a baby plus a lot on at work has meant I've not had the time, but I fully intend to finish my blog and report on every game I've ever played.

Hexen is a first person shooter / role playing game developed by Raven Software.

Basic Plot

Following the events of Heretic the player travels to the realm of Cronos as part of a team of three heroes who seek to defeat the second Serpent Rider, Korax.

Gameplay

Hexen used the Doom engine and so by default was a first person shooter with additional functionality layered over top. The gameplay was similar to Heretic in most respects with some additional features:

• Player character classes to choose from (fighter, cleric, or mage). Each character class had their own array of weapons and different physical characteristics; the fighter being the strongest and fastest but with little long range abilities, the mage being fragile but having powerful long ranged attacks, and the cleric being a blend of the two. The same item held by different classes could also produce different effects.
• Unlike Heretic the game used a series of hub levels which the player would used to access other "side" levels but return to after. This allowed for large scale puzzles which involved interaction with multiple playable areas.

All in all the game was a first person shooter but with the addition of role playing mechanics such as items, abilities, and puzzles.

Comparisons

Of course, being the sequel to Heretic they are very similar to each other. For me, Hexen felt more epic. It took the game engine and twisted it enough so that it didn't feel like a generic first person shooter any more.

I can see some comparisons with Half-Life in the way they took the first person shooter genre but layered story and complex interactions that most other FPS games don't include.

It *almost* reminded me of Ultima Underworld... but had no-where near the depth of story or game mechanics.

Positives

Great music, fun to play, one of the most exciting games to be released at that time.

Negatives

I didn't play enough to find any for myself.

Memorable Moments

None.