So after I found out what lies beyond heretic, I wanted to know more, and here I am, looking at Hexen 2, totally dumbfounded because I have very mixed feelings. Hexen 2 while seemingly improves upon the formula of Hexen, it still suffers from the overly complicated designs of the first one, offering very frustrating sessions, where you need to take a break from simply playing the game, because of how unfair it is.
Graphically, we are talking about a huge upgrade here, as the game uses the Quake 1 engine, looking very good for it's time even though Quake 2 released in the same year. The game offers wider variety too as it now features 4 classes, instead of 3, and they are more thematically diversed. The Crusader, Paladin, Necromancer and Assassin are very unique (I went with the Necromancer), and the game even offers class specific upgrades, as it features a leveling system.
What simply drags this unique game down are those damn puzzles, very bad enemy designs and uninteresting boss battles, which look and sound varied but they are basically all the same, and they go down very easily. The road to these battles are more challenging, than the bosses themselves, which is a capital error in my views.
So what remains for this forsaken franchise? Well, Heretic 2, which is unfortunately not available for purchase for some reason, and I rather wait for a more polished GOG release to be honest.
Graphically, we are talking about a huge upgrade here, as the game uses the Quake 1 engine, looking very good for it's time even though Quake 2 released in the same year. The game offers wider variety too as it now features 4 classes, instead of 3, and they are more thematically diversed. The Crusader, Paladin, Necromancer and Assassin are very unique (I went with the Necromancer), and the game even offers class specific upgrades, as it features a leveling system.
What simply drags this unique game down are those damn puzzles, very bad enemy designs and uninteresting boss battles, which look and sound varied but they are basically all the same, and they go down very easily. The road to these battles are more challenging, than the bosses themselves, which is a capital error in my views.
So what remains for this forsaken franchise? Well, Heretic 2, which is unfortunately not available for purchase for some reason, and I rather wait for a more polished GOG release to be honest.