Heretic + Hexen
In the spirit of Black Fridays, I also got "Heretic + Hexen." It was discounted, and I wanted to try the cleric with his shield, and I always felt that I have never played "Hexen" the proper way: always with the god mode on, etc. I was too young to munch through it like a pro.
Note: As an experiment, I am rewriting posts from this thread to more resemeble a normal text, compared to other threads in this section. I am, however, keeping it in threads because it still follows the order my notes were gathered in, i.e., the thread.
Heretic
2025-12-02
"Heretic" was my introduction into FPS-es, it was my first Doom clone, and it was the game that imprinted heavily in my memory. And while I was mainly planning to play Hexen's "Vestiges of Grandeur" (a very heavy metal name, by the way), I decided to feel out episode 1 of "Heretic" first, for the old time's sake. And to my surprise, what I remembered the most were the first two levels, which stretched in my memory into something more. Now, I did play full "Heretic" later, when I got it running on GZDoom (rest in pieces), at least the basic game; I only started the first of two additional episodes from "Shadow of the Serpent Rider."
After this point, the text is unprocessed, and simply copied. It will be finished sometime in the future.
In 1995, I quickly switched to "Doom 2," and "Heretic" went onto a virtual shelf. But even then I liked the lively palette of "Heretic," compared to rather brownish and washed-out "Doom 2" (something I came to cherish later, but initially, it felt like a downgrade). Playing it now, years later, I can see all the improvements in craft that "Heretic" offered. John Romero was the producer and he closely oversaw the game, so it's more than a clone: a spiritual successor.
Though, I might remember things differently because they were different: the remaster has (optional yet enabled by default) enhancement to enemies and weapons (rebalanced) and levels as well, and that varies from small touches with textures to complete reimagining. Civvie complaint about it, but I'm no purist and I decided to play the enhanced game. I don't remember intricacies so well to be bothered by it.
Level design is really good and plays very well and is visually well done, with some mid-texture tricks that made me wonder if they were so smart back then or was it improved just now. But it doesn't matter.
What surprised me was how short levels are: they're mostly two- to three-floor high, which is in line w "Doom."
Unlike "Doom," "Heretic" has fully drawn sprites which gives them more consistency and visual coherency to the world.
Upon revisiting the world of "Heretic," I really sink deep into it. That is something that I struggle with "Rise of the Triad," which feels too limited and too gimmicky compared to "Heretic," even if funny as hell. And it's not only because I play them side-by-side now; they were competitors back in 1995.
Kudos for fitting all the necessary controls on a gamepad. With spells, or: power-ups usable at player's convenience, it must have been a bit tough nut to crack. There is also jumping, though that is not used until "Hexen."
The game had looking up and down enabled by default, but that is not kosher for me, so I turned it off. The way it was implemented in vanilla Doom distorts angles and is a no-go for me. It was the same with "Rise of the Triad," actually (enabled and distorting angles). Luckily, both games can be played without looking up and down and with Y axis on the right stick inactive. Even in 1995 it was more of a curiosity than a useful thing: we would look up and down at first, then forget about it.
"Heretic" has also an extended automap that shows the keys, but even before we see them, which was a bit too much for me. Too far on the holding-hand side. Luckily, it can be deactivated. I understand, however, that it might be helpful for younger people who can be confused with layouts and the player journey through the map. After all, I use "ROTT" map a lot myself.
Pro tip. "Heretic" has three keys: yellow, green, and blue, and they are supposed to be used in that exact order on every map (not sure about the new one but no reason to think they disregarded this classic rule of "Heretic"). I didn't notice it as a kid and it feels weirdly artificial but speeds things up.
This remaster, like many others before it, sports a remixed soundtrack from Andrew Hulshult. I don't have the sentiment for "Heretic's" soundtrack the way I have with "Doom's," where I can whistle any melody any time of the day, but it fits very well. It's guitar based and it gives the game a heavy-metal vibe, as if it was a table-top RPG played somewhere with friends. So, in one word, very 1990ish.
I found the soundtrack on TIDAL and I am listening to it now and it's not guitar based at all, but that's how it feels in the game :D which is why I wrote it. I still stand by its powerful sound, compared to MIDIs*. It makes "Heretic" a power fantasy. Or powerful.
*Actually, it was MUS but that's a technical detail that would be only confusing to the discourse.
I realised I didn't write anything about the plot, which is a bit richer than "Doom's," but you have to understand that back in 1995 we didn't care for that. You were thrown into dungeon like maps where you had to fight fantasy monsters and survive. Then, at the end, you could read a single wall of text telling you what you did and to whom.
But, and that's again comparing to "ROTT," this game feels way more fun than "ROTT." It's dynamic and the maps are varied. I didn't expect that much, but perhaps I didn't take teenage nostalgia seriously. Big mistake.
2025-12-05
I finished episode 1, on a normal difficulty level. I died literally in one place where there is a crusher, other than that the game gave me no headaches. I might be a season player or the rebalancing was done really well. Either way, it was fun. From level 3 onwards, before smashing that exit button (or stepping into the exit teleport), I would take a moment to uncover all the secrets. Some got away and some were useless spells, but I found a secret level. Might be the first time in "Heretic."
I haven't played "Heretic" in a decade during which I played a lot of Doom and I was able to see the improved parts here. I mentioned the sprites, but I completely forgot about water current: it's possible to get carried away by water. Later, there is also wind (and I think it functions as a conveyor belt in the Boom format). But generally the game feels much more polished, which makes sense given John Romero being the producer. The team didn't start from the scratch.
In the meantime I saw a couple of videos on monsters and weapons and while it's true to a degree that they are somewhat close to be expies of Doom monsters, "Hexen" much less, they have their own behaviour and their characteristics. And for instance, the invisibility works a tad different here: it makes you spectral, so conventional weapons cannot hurt you, only the magical ones. I might use it more, especially in crowded encounters.
But now I wanna see the next episode of "ROTT."
2026-12-06
"ROTT" I did not see. I realised that I have way more fun with "Heretic," while the other game would be more like an obligation, personal but still, and games should be about having fun, so I stayed with "Heretic."
The second episode has more changes to maps, starting with the very first one, which welcomes us with a small lake of half-cold lava, unlike a simple wall in the original map. Then I don't remember, so I cannot say.
Episode 2 introduces a new mechanic compared to Doom, a slippery surface that is used for ice. Ice on top of lava. But hey, it's a fantasy setting. On keyboard and mouse it was a bit irritating, but I realised that playing with a gamepad I'm intuitively countering the sliding and never ending where I did not want. An interesting development; I guess it was ahead of its time.
What gives me pleasure is discovering all the secrets before hitting the exit. I never had it with Doom. I found the secret level again. It's titled "Glacier," so more ice is in order. Exactly what one could expect in a hellish-vulcanic dimension.
One thing about the weapons. While they're close to 1:1 with Doom (weapon number 3 is projectile based and weapon 7 is not a BFG), they each have their own ammunitions. And that means that the wand (pistol) is not using the Dragon Claw's ammo. Thus, I use it to take down many low-tier enemies from the distance when they cannot reach me. It takes longer of course, but it leaves stronger weapons for more heated moments. Yesterday I was short on ammo at one point, for instance.
2025-12-26
I finished episodes 2 and 3, which constitute the base game. I tried playing The Ossuary from "The Shadow of the Serpent Rider," but the difficulty is spiked by 11, just like Civvie said, so after a couple of failed attempts I went for the new episode, "Faith Renewed." I might try those two additional episodes later; I fared a bit better than a decade ago or so, but still.
D'Sparil turned out to be easy: I basically circle-strafed him with the horned staff while shooting. It helps that this weapon's projectiles are kind of homing ones, as long as the target is generally in front of you, they will follow. But I'm not gonna complain because 10 years ago, with keyboard and mouse and on the difficulty level 4, I just couldn't kill the bastard. Now it took, like, a couple of minutes. Good riddance.
But "Faith Renewed." There is a new enemy straight from the start, a slim mummy-like fella reminding me of golems. He shoots purple skulls, luckily not homing ones. He also dies quickly.
The first level is short and sweet, but the second one goes hard with over 160 monsters and a really elaborate map of a fantasy town. I liked the geometry; you can see that we have over 3 decades of know-how here.
So far, it feels balanced when it comes to difficulty. But I think I'll play one at a time, due to their size.
I have finished map 3, and the monster count is the same but it took me shorter to finish it. I thought that there was an exit to the secret level, but no.
But I have to say that I really dig the soundtrack. The arrangements from Andrew Hulshult are amazing.
Heretic: Faith Renewed
2026-01-11
I finished the 2025 episode.
I really liked the 2 penultimate levels. "Foundry," due to textures I guess, reminds me of "Dark Forces," which would be the first Heretic map to bring Star Wars on my mind. The visuals are superb. "Eye of D'Sparil," on the other hand, is of epic proportions and takes time to familiarise with the layout, while navigating projectiles, before figuring out where to go. As the next-to-the-last, it was just perfect.
The last map is an arena where we have to kill D'Sparil; again, but I don't mind. There is also a Maulataur, who is not necessary to kill, but he might get in the way. Because I still remember the failed attempt at D'Sparil years ago, I played it safe: I used 2 rings of invulnerability (I had one from the previous level) and used Hellstaff which follows enemies. It almost felt like cheating, but if you win, you win. Game offered that.
There are 3 new enemies: draugr, the mummy which was mentioned earlier; chaos serpent, a creature that D'Sparil was riding (hence, the serpent rider), which was a regular monster in "Hexen" and acts as a bridge between the two; and a troll, a melee-only enemy that can rush at you quickly. They are not overused and not underused (with the serpent being most absent, but that's fine as it "saves" it for the sequel).
Draugr's projectile is very fast and the usual reaction time that allowed me to dodge any other projectiles was not sufficient in case of him. He's also fast, so it's difficult to hit him at times, even with the wand, my mighty ammo saver.
Speaking of levels, I did all my best to find the secret level, "Pocket Plane," but failed to do so, which also means that I deprived myself of the new weapon, which is a variant of the basic wand. Due to that I assume I will replay this episode at some time in the future, and maybe even on a higher level of difficulty because I barely died on the medium one.
Some closing remarks now.
I really dig the refreshed soundtrack by Andrew Hulshult, which was mentioned earlier but you cannot overdo the praise on that one. I didn't remember any melodies from my young-age experience, and they are catchy!
It is a bit funny in hindsight that you have to play 8-9 levels with no hint nor clue, and then only read the story at the end.
What "Hexen" showed me, which I did not realised through the entire playthrough, was that the gameplay and structuring was still close to Doom and to clearing areas and finding secrets and acing the stats like Donald Trump is acing his cognitive tests. And it was fun, but it felt a bit fragmented in the end.
Anyway, "Heretic" is a solid boomer shooter with good gameplay and nice ideas and a very consistent visual style, and I can only recommend it if you're into ancient FPSes.
Hexen: Beyond Heretic
2026-01-11
And now, let's get into "Hexen." This 1996's sequel to "Heretic" abandoned the episodic and levellic structure and decided to build a huge world. Now, that's not entirely true because the game is still split into 6 sections (as 5 hubs; where the first hub has a sort of tutorial/introductory level), but they are huge, and there would be no benefit of having them accessible at all times. As is, this is, next to "Strife," the most ambitious project build with Doom engine. Kudos.
So far, I finished the starting area, with 2 keys and 1 puzzle, and moved to the proper hub. It's all just like I remember visually.
"Doom" was much more bare-bones and as such, had only the sounds originating from weapons, monsters, and doors or platforms (a reminder that Doom, in fact, didn't have elevators). What "Hexen" did was introducing an ambience, and now there were sounds of animals, for instance, or leaves being blown by the wind, and all that built a little more complex but also complete world. This is a great example that if you have more time with the tool, you're gonna come up with improvements like that.
"Hexen" introduced classes and you can choose a kind of a character that you wanna play; there is a fighter, a cleric, and a mage. Now, in the original game it was a very crucial decision because you'd be stuck with it for the whole game. As such, the cleric was the most advised. But the remaster introduces a book in the centre of each hub that allows changing the class. I am not sure if I'm gonna use it, but it takes a lot of pressure off.
Another change is that the cleric got a shield and can parry attacks, and this is such a wonderful addition because parried attack sets monsters into a state when a single attack kills them. In theory it also allows deflecting projectiles, but so far I only managed to parry melee attacks. The timing is crucial; you cannot simply stand with you shield up (the shield will act like an additional armour). I have an ambitious plan to master that skill. It's a great mana saver.
One thing I did not remember, or perhaps it's a part of rebalancing the weapons, is that my melee range is wider than the enemies'. Anyway, fighting in close encounters brings such a refreshment to the Doom formula. Whereas "Heretic" was still Doom in disguise, not that it was a bad thing, mind you, "Hexen" just plays differently. I already found my second weapon, which shoots for the cleric, but so far I've been switching between the first two.
The automap doesn't show neither the monster count nor the secrets; I don't even know if there are secrets in a classical meaning, which I get notified about (which is always a nice dopamine shot). Gone is this one-off character of the gameplay: I no longer clean the levels but traverse much larger areas of connected parts to solve a much greater puzzle. There are keys, but they are no longer the sole goal.
As a side-note, this is very much on spot with the progression of Doom-based games. When id Software was creating Doom, they decided to get rid of lives and points and hi-scores, which were a thing in "Wolfenstein 3D." The goal was now to survive and leave the level. Then the stats kind of broke it and made it into a UV-max competition. "Hexen" removes the stats altogether and makes it about the journey of the hero and the progress in the story.
And speaking of the story, the original PC version probably had it buried in the manual, which is lost to sands of time, but the PlayStation port and an intro. How cool these PSX-ers had it back then. The remaster dug that intro up, upscaled it (or redone from the scratch), and added it to the game, so we're starting knowing the basic plot and the big boss name, as well as all the three dragons to take care of first.
It resembles "Lord of the Ring," just like "Heretic's" story did. ;)
"Hexen," along with "Strife," introduced jumping to Doom engine, and it was not only a gimmick but an action that you need to use to progress; it also allowed for more varied architecture (but still, "Strife" had more realistic world, whereas "Hexen" is fantasy abstract). Due to maps being taller, I had to activate looking up and down, which I don't like because it distorts angles but I'll get used it; and anyway, I mostly look straight, which is simpler with gyroaiming.
Due to classes of characters, each character has only 4 weapons: non-ammo, blue mana, green mana, and combined mana. This is fine because in every boomer shooter, you usually end up with using your favourite weapon, unless you're experiencing heavy resources shortage. Now, with the ability of shapeshifting into other classes, it means there is access to all 12 weapons.
While the world is more connected and there is an intro, the plot is being mostly revealed through Korax's mocking at the beginning of each new hub (I think; I might review that part as I progress). This stands in a stark opposition to "Strife," which had dialogues and all. That is not a complaint. "Hexen" just leans heavier on environmental storytelling. And the setting is different: we're travelling through a rather doomed and ruined world.
I keep mentioning "Strife" because both games were based on Doom engine and released in 1996 and both tried to innovate heavily, and I think both managed to achieve that, though through different means, so comparing them gives more context. But by no means I want to say that "Strife" was better. It was different and explored a large world in a different way, which is why it makes it so interesting, to see how the engine use forked at some point.
Nightdive Studios' remaster also brought level changes. I saw on Doomwiki that there are even additional puzzles, but my main point of interest is making the existing puzzles more friendly. You see, "Hexen" had this very cryptic and byzantine at the same time quests, where you would have to, for instance, switch 6 different switches somewhere to open the final exit. And to many people that was off-putting, so I'm glad they looked into that. The progression should be clearer with adjustments.
And this, next to improved controls, is the best thing that a remaster can provide in my opinion. Visually, it should be as close as possible. Musically, Andrew Hulshult is advised. But quality of life is what I expect. And that I can run it without low-level sorcery.
2026-01-17
The action of "Hexen" is set in the same universe as "Heretic," and they were done in the same visual style, yet they are very exclusive in their monsters, items, or even textures. The only things that repeat are health-related vials and flasks, a couple of other items, and one monster (chaos serpent, which was D'Sparil's "horse"). And afrits look like black gargoyles from "Heretic." Other than that, it's all different.
Though, speaking of monsters, I went through the vault which was included in the remaster, and to my surprise, not all were drawn from the scratch: at least afrit and centaur started as 3D models that were later drawn over.
"Hexen" has less colourful palette, which is something I always liked "Heretic" for. Hard to say is it because they went darker or needed more shades, like "Quake," and went with browns; but it's noticeable.
I was playing the first hub still and I switched to "The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna," and something hit me: in both games, we're not merely solving puzzles but we are in the puzzles. Unlike in "Strife," which was much more plot-driven, in "Hexen," our primary goal is to solve puzzles, usually by switching particular switches in particular places. But the levels themselves are parts of it.
I have finished the first hub, and it took me roughly an hour and a half, including the tutorial map. It was a bit of a surprise because as a young man, I remembered it took whole eternity to go from one hub to another, but it could have been because I have never saw through the puzzles, and now I did. In any case, it was not as half confusing as I was expecting it.
Then, I found the secret level. Each hub has one, and although I knew from Civvie's video that "Hexen" secret map are under-delivering in the sense that they are not really providing much reward, I was still let down because it was small, short, and generally meh. What I liked, however, was that it introduced textures and monsters from the next hub (infamous stalker and the brown variant of chaos serpent).
So, now up to hub 2.
But before that, and before I log off, let's discuss one more aspect. So, how is it that we went from a classic boomer shooter (whether it's "Doom" or "Heretic" in this case) to a more regular if not RPG, then at least an action-adventure game? Well, interesting you ask.
A while back, a friend told me they did a thought experiment and asked a question: what genre "Doom" was when it was released? And before someone says that it was FPS, let me point out that there were no FPS-es at the time. The games that followed were dubbed "Doom-clones," which further shows that there was no proper name for it. To not keep anyone guessing, "Doom" was categorised as an RPG [sic!].
My friend was amused, but it was surprisingly unsurprising for me, and that is because I remember a similar analysis in a 1990s game magazine (my money would be on Polish "Gambler").
The rationale goes like this: you go through maze-like environments, collect items (keys to progress, various pick-ups to improve your character, and weapons to sort of level up; levelling-up with items is not unusual, e.g., "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild"), and fight monsters. Which is bare-bones RPG.
From that point of view, "Hexen" was not a deviation or not even anything strange, but rather going back to its roots. I like this approach to RPG where you don't get better because you played long enough to add 5 points every level to a number of stats. That, by the way, is a leftover from tabletop RPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons. No, you get better because you get better as a player. Which video games should be about.
Therefore, "Hexen" being this more action-driven RPG forking from a lineage of boomer shooters is not surprising in the least.
And now, without any further ado, hub 2.
2026-01-18
Hub 2 introduces new sceneries: swamp and desert-like canyons (called Wasteland).
An interesting thing about the swamps is that they introduce fog to the game. This was "Hexen's" new addition to Doom engine, although as far as I understand, it is done through a palette that greys out instead of getting dark. Works smart, not hard.
Wasteland has very neatly prepared textures for rocks, which look more like rocks, unlike the ones in "Doom." Three years made them improve their tool-use skills.
Another addition to engine, and there doesn't seem to be a naturally occurring good moment to bring that up, are scripts. Scripts allow for more complex events to happen and/or base them on more conditions. "Doom" had triggers, but they were simple: either crossing a line or pressing the button (which, under the hood, was actually pressing space in front of a line, which had its own drawbacks). This is not visible with a naked eye, but it was a huge thing.
As far as my understanding goes, the legendary ZDoom, continued as GZDoom and now UZDoom, was primarily based off "Hexen," and that makes the game even more important evolution-wise. To throw my favourite comparison in, "Strife" was only reverse-engineered and at much later time. Technically, Doom scene owes a lot to "Hexen."
Hub 2 (with remaster adjustments) allowed me to find weapon number 3 for the fighter and for the mage, but not for my class; this, or I'm being very bad at finding it. This creates a scenario where I run out of blue mana and cannot switch to green-mana-based spell. Obviously, I don't remember if that was the case back then. I recall that I played as the fighter (and with god mode on), so might not know.
But the cleric, being jack of all trades, is not entirely hopeless. I decided to not switch to another class but take it as a challenge, and I am switching between weapon 1 and 2. Most of the monsters, count wise, are still melee, and then there is the shield, which I am getting better with; I even started deflecting brown chaos serpent projectiles; two kill one serpent. So, overall, not bad.
I did switch to the fighter once, though, because I noticed that the difference in speed is noticeable, and I wanted to run through a corridor with walls shooting fireballs. I also switched once to the mage to see his weapons sprites. In general, however, I want to continue as the cleric. This is where my heart is.
The speed of movement doesn't affect the height of the jump. It might, however, affect how far I can jump because it gives me a higher momentum at the jump time.
I am trying to use spells more, but the console version suffers the same what the original game had: you have to select an item with arrows and then use it. The remaster allows binding items to specific keys, but the gamepad just doesn't have enough of them. 😅 So, I have to decide which spell to use in advance. This makes them useless most of the time. Usually, I have the healing flask selected, for when the situation suddenly goes South. A selector, like for weapons in "Quake," could be nice.
One more change that "Hexen" introduces is damage from falling too high, something that "Doom" was devoid of, although it was able to recognise that situation and play a special sound for that occasion ("Oh, my knees!"). Here, you will get hurt or even die. The first hub has this at the very end, but the second hub uses this as an recurring world-building element.
2026-01-22
Hub 2 finished. This one has a boss, called wyvern, who very much looks like a dragon. What's interesting about him is that he flies around, following a specified route, and shoots fireballs at me. Attacking him doesn't make him abandoned that route. I had a couple of attempts because those fireballs are really damaging. A series of them makes the whole screen red and it's basically a game over. Luckily, they gives us flying spell, which I grabbed and followed him and killed him.
I also used the chaos device, which allowed me to grab the flying spell, which is in the cave with the boss, and teleported myself out, to return immediately and kill him while flying myself. Dogfight of epic proportions. Despite dealing a lot of damage, he didn't seem to have much HP, and I was able to kill him well before the flying wore off.
Ever since I spent a lot of time with D'Sparil years ago and had to eventually abandon it, I don't complain about easish bosses.
I also found the cleric's weapon number 3, which was in a completely different place than the other two. I don't think I ever played all the classes before, not fully at least, and I always just assumed that the weapons were all in the same place, just different. But it looks like their placement is adjusted to the hero's class. Nice.
Secret level was short and underwhelming this time, as it was filled only with a bunch of ettins, which I killed with weapon number 1 (oh, the shield). The level was visually nicer than the hub 1's secret level, though, with a double layer of vines.
After killing the ettins, I found a button, which opened a forgotten/forsaken outpost, and I couldn't find it, so I read up on it, and it turned out it's in hub 4. Interesting. Very long-game.
Without anything else to do, I stepped into a portal to hub 3, the Seminary of the Heresiarch, who is probably more known than the final boss, Korax. Or, at least, that's what I saw in various ZDoom levels over the years. But let's not reveal too much too early.
Unlike in "Heretic," the spells don't reset to 1 of each after changing the scenery, so I can accumulate them.
In hub 3, I accidentally used the boots, which give higher speed, and oh boy, it was hard to follow up what was I doing. I guess I might use it if there ever is a sequence where I have to quickly escape something like a collapsing ceiling; with all the scripting, it does not sound too crazy.
Till next time.
Ah, too early. I wanted to also share an observation about flying: the height follows the crosshair, so if I look up, I fly up, and when I look down, I fly down. It probably was the same in "Heretic," but I didn't use looking up/down there because there was no need for that, so I had no chance of noticing that.
And now, till next time.
2026-01-26
I managed to assemble weapon number 4, for all the classes. The cleric's weapon is overpowered as hell, to the point of being a criticism among players: it releases a swarm of ghosts that fly around and kill everything. You shoot and you watch the show. And while it's true that mana consumption is high, you need to shoot it less. To a degree, this weapon is no fun, so I usually use it for a large group of monsters at once. Other than that, I switch between other weapons.
Hub 3 is behind me. The puzzles were split into two sections: first, I had to find 6 gems representing planets, to place them in one place; this opened 3 portals to 3 chapels where I had to flip 9 switches (the number grows with each hub); then, there was a fight with titular Heresiarch. Funnily enough, because he can activate a magical barrier, my weapon number 4 was dangerous because he would send hungry ghosts at me, and kill me. At least it wasn't "shoot and do nothing."
In the end, I killed him with a cloud of gas, to which I lured him. And again, after D'Sparil's failure years ago, I do not regret that. You kill the enemy whatever method works. But it's funny that, again, the cleric has the best use for those green flasks (the fighter throws them like grenades, while the mage has time bombs, very much like the elf from "Heretic").
Hub 3 started using silent teleports, which can throw you elsewhere without the teleportation sound effect nor animation. It also preserves the angle. So, what they did, was creating two fragments of a corridor, in distant locations, and you walk and are suddenly in a different place, which, I believe, borders on non-Euclidian geometry; which would be a very early example of such a thing.
I also noticed that the sky is more complex than in other games (sans "Strife: The Veteran Edition," but this was probably added in 2014); there are two layers now: the first are the mountains and the second are clouds behind them; the clouds additionally flow, and when you rotate, they maintain the parallax effect and move at a different pace. Nice. That being said, "Hexen" has walls around its maps quite high, and the sky is rarely observed.
After the first two hubs, I got better with puzzles, and they no longer seem to be so cryptic to me. The puzzle-related switches have a distinct design, something I did not realised back in the 1990s, and there are indicators of what the progress is; although, some of them were added as a part of the remaster. And another thing to remember is that if there is a door requiring a key, then the key is in another map of the hub. Armed with that, I feel ready for more to come.
2026-02-25
Hub 4 starts off with high-octane action. Like hub 3, its puzzle is split into two sections, but this time, before we even get to it, we need to clear the castle of monsters. Well, maybe we don't need, but navigating it would bear unnecessary risks, so I preferred to do that. It took a while, which made it memorable; it's not a simple kill off some monsters in the room; no, I had to walk the whole complex a couple of times.
Then, the puzzle. First, we need to collect clock cogs, to activate a clock; then, an elevator opens to a new section. At the top of the elevator, there was a switch which acted like a portal; and that's something they don't use all too often in "Hexen;" I recall only one other instance, in hub 1.
The second part of hub 4 has a statue that we could see earlier in the game, but this time it's not grey but gold, and has a missing head, which we have to find somewhere to place it back on the statue; which is a puzzle, but that's why I mention it. The statue's name is Yorrick, which, I believe, means that "Hexen" might be placed in the same universe as William Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
Because I have pulled a switch in the hub 2's secret level, I could have accessed the secret level here. It was fun. I applaud the idea of linking secret levels like that. Kind of cool, and not so common back in the mid-1990s.
The boss is again the heresiarch, which led me to wondering if it's the heresiarch or merely a heresiarch; is there one, or are there at least two, if not more? In-universe, both explanations would make sense. Being the cleric, I again gassed the hell out of him. Those toxic clouds are boringly effective. You drop 4-5 of them, and it does the job for you. The fine art of warfare is about the weapons, among other things.
Hub 5 is the final one, and it's shorter. Not very much shorter, but it doesn't feel like solving an elaborate quest, more like killing your way through. It introduces the last regular enemy, reiver, which is basically a ghost raising from many graves around; because, after all, we're in Necropolis. They're not the toughest, but have a painful attack that paints the screen red pretty radically, and they operate in a dark area. But overall, they were quite manageable.
I blew up the secret level, though; it turns out that you have to finish it before moving to the three tombs of other kings, whom I was aware of thanks to the intro; I figured out what to do but not how, so I decided to return there later. However, later the door to the secret level portal was "barred from the inside." I could have load an old save, but I hand-waived it; secret level in "Hexen" are more of an addition, anyway.
Three fallen kings, very much like "Lord of the Ring's" Nazguls, were awaiting me in their tombs. At first, I tried to fight them normally, but after the cleric's evil counterpart wiped the floor with me, I reverted to my dirtiest trick: the gas cloud. As it takes a while for the semi-bosses to show up, I would always have time to drop 4-5 flachettes and just watch how they perish in front of me. Small pleasures of life.
Each king leaves an artifact, which basically is the weapon slot 4, and armed with this, we can open the door to the final portal, after which there's only Korax left. I'll be frank, I haven't turned around, so I don't know if I can go back from the final map. Not that there was any need for that. We start at a bridge which waves, as if moved by a wind, and it's a pretty cool visual, given they're still largely using Doom engine.
I'll let you guess how I killed Korax. Well, in the end at least. There are two parts of the final fight, and sometimes mid-fight, Korax feels week enough to teleport himself away and let a horde of monsters on us; quite successfully, the killed me the first time it happened. It's as if he felt he can teach us a lesson, but after taking some beating, he reconsidered his stance.
The cleric's weapon 4, the most BFG of all official Doom-engine-fuelled games (and that extends to the "Strife's" final Sigil), came in handy. I used all the mana on the first round, then I tried to repeat it in the second room, but there are traps and monsters, and it was to tedious, so, for the first time, I used invincibility spell, ran up to Korax, DROPPED 4-5 FLACHETTES, because why the hell not, and let him die like that. If you're the big bad, no rules apply.
However, be careful with those flachettes in case of Korax because his fight is scripted, and if you kill him before he teleports to the second room, which is doable with toxic clouds, then you're cooked because the second room will not open, and that's where the final portal is. "Hexen" was novel this way, and they didn't cover all the corner cases. But thanks to gamers before us, we're aware of those traps.
So, final words on "Hexen." I had so much fun with it, as it expanded the Doom formula, which I could see especially after playing "Heretic" just before it, which was literally Doom total conversion with a couple of improvements, like inventory; but "Hexen" is something new, playing by its own rulebook. And I can appreciate that. More melee rebalanced the gameplay a little.
From a game that I didn't comprehend and wasn't really sure how to play, hence god mode back then, it changed into my favourite Doom-engine game. Fresh and bringing novel ideas. If you have ever read about the original idea that id Software had for "Quake," "Hexen" kind of feels like at least halfway there. Therefore, I am very happy that it got Nightdive Studios treatment. It deserved it.
Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
2026-02-25
I decided to make a separate fork for "Deathkings of the Dark Citadel," as it's functionally a separate game. Sure, it reuses all from the basic "Hexen," but still.
Anyhow, behind this heavy-metal title, which Sandy Peteresen came up with, we have a 3-hub adventure, which, very much like "Doom II," was done with improved knowledge of tooling, hence, it's a bit more refined; where "Hexen" was already well done.
The add-on doesn't have intros, I guess that not even PlayStation players got that much luck, so I don't know the exact story here. *checks on wiki* Okay, so it starts exactly where "Hexen" ended, with our three heroes getting stuck in the Realm of the Dead, from where they have to get out. Nothing fancy, but what I like about those old games is that the story doesn't play that much role. It's there, but what counts is action.
"Story in a game is like story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not important."
-- John Carmack
What "Hexen" does instead is building its narrative through the environmental storytelling, which is the ultimate "show, not tell." And I love it for it. The best maps provided us by the ever-flourishing Doom community do just that: they build story with its maps, not words or intros. But coming back to "Hexen," we start in Ruined Village, and it looks exactly how it's named.
Similarly to Winnowing Hall from "Hexen," the very first map is isolated from the rest of the hub, so far at least, and acts as a tutorial/intro to the whole thing (I say "so far" because, apparently, we can go back there later, but I'll report on that when it happens to me).
We get weapon number 2 from the very first moment, and fight wise, it gets a bit hectic from the get go. I started with the cleric, of course, but after leaving the first map, I struggled a little with all the enemies there, especially the dreaded stalkers, which didn't bother me in the basic game, but were horrible here; so, on a whim, I switched to the fighter, and it levelled the game completely. His axe cuts through stalkers like a hot knife through butter.
Though, my rationale was that he has a stronger armour. There is a different rhythm to this class, as it takes more back and forth dancing with monsters, unlike with the cleric who either parries the hits with his shield or shoots from the serpent staff. But it turned out to be more fun and more workable than I initially thought. I switched to the cleric to kill the death wyverns. I really like this option to switch classes. It makes thing more workable. But I'm not planning to play as the mage.
Currently, I'm stuck with the puzzle in Brackenwood. I have a vague idea what could be it, but it's very cryptic. I only hope that no script got broken due to some misdemeanour on my side; at which point, I would have to restart the game. Alas, "Hexen" has those situations. But well, we'll see.