@~Two review for Hexen this issue, the first from Richard, the @~second from JJ. Hexen - Beyond Heretic IBM PC - Floppy & CD-ROM (Between œ29 and œ45!) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Review by Richard Hewison This is just a quickie review. "Hexen" is the follow up to "Heretic" which is a 3D game using a refined version of I.D. Software's "Doom" engine. "Hexen" is essentially a fantasy version of "Doom". The game only runs on 486 processors or above and has all the features found in "Doom" (save at any point, adjust the size of the 3D window, adjust volume for sound effects and music, two player via null-modem/modem or up to eight players over a network). "Hexen" differs in a few ways though. It offers you a choice of three character classes - Fighter, Cleric or Mage - and each one gives access to four different weapons. As in "Heretic" there are also items to be picked up, including keys and special items like the Porculator - which allegedly turns monsters into flying pigs! (In "Heretic" the Morph Ovum could be fired at monsters and would turn them into chickens!). The design of the game is now a little different as well. In all the previous games ("Doom", "Doom II" and "Heretic") you moved through each level and reached the exit. "Hexen" is the same, but this time you also have to go back to previous levels and make extensive use of teleporters that move you around some of the larger levels. Sound effects are almost identical to "Heretic". There are a few new graphical touches to the 3D engine though. For starters, you can go around and break windows, pots etc. This does admittedly feel quite satisfying and it's also a good sign in a multi-player 'deathmatch' game that your opponent has been in the location! Other touches include trees that shed leaves and the wind then blows them around. It doesn't change the gameplay, but it does look nice! Some people might say that "Hexen" is now milking the "Doom" engine dry. If you've already registered and bought the full version of "Heretic" then you might think twice about buying this game, but I'm sure not many people in Europe bought "Heretic" so now's your chance! There is a feeling of 'been here before', but what makes these I.D. and Raven games so great is the two player option. By linking two PCs together with a null-modem lead, this game will last much longer than the usual solo games. People with more patience and programming experience than me have already created some extra levels for "Hexen" so you needn't tire of the in-game levels either. When you link together, you get the option to choose your character class before you enter the game properly. To conclude, this game is worth getting if you liked "Doom", missed out on the full version of "Heretic" and have two 486s or a friend with a modem. If you shop around you can also buy it for less than œ30, when the R.R.P. is œ44! ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Review by James Judge It must end somewhere, mustn't it? First there was Wolfenstein, then Doom, then Doom 2, then Dark Forces, then Descent, then Heretic, there's Quake and Descent 2 coming up. Oh, and let's not forget Rise Of The Triad, Blake's Stone, Corridor 7 and the two games with you in a Taxi. The 100,000,000,000,001 Doom and Doom 2 add-on levels and a whole multitude of other first person shoot-em-ups. Well, it seems as if the need for more 3D shoot-'em-ups is yet to be satisfied as there is yet another coming to our screens sometime in the near future. You all know the story by now - it's you, a small weapon and a few pieces of food against the rest of the world who have just been turned into zombies / aliens / politicians (delete where appropriate). You've got to plough through X amount of levels, killing everything that moves and keeping yourself alive in the process. The action's frantic and you can't really go too wrong with a game like this (apart from in a few miserable occasions, which we won't mention to save some companies a bit of embarrassment). Well, what's different about this one? Well, the only different thing about this game is that, like its predecessor (Heretic) it doesn't put you in a Nazi jail or in a space station on Mars. Instead you're back in the good old dungeon, being a wizard or warrior showing a few goblins just which end of a sword is the business end. That's what attracted me to the game and that's what influenced me to get the Shareware demo (which was residing on the cover of a mag a month or two back). So, feeling I was in for a treat I rushed home, loaded up the CD and installed the demo onto my HDD. Reset the computer, did away with the AUTOEXEC and CONFIG files and loaded the game. Regular readers will know my propensity to violence and gore - especially games of this genre, which seem to revel in it. So, there I was; little finger shaking in anticipation of donning my rock-hard wizard's cap and the adrenalin being prepared to be pumped through my system as I entered a world of magic and mystique where the only thing between me and death was a rapidly-twitching little finger hitting the button. I was looking forward to the experience. How I was disappointed. The game looked very good and sounded even better. It was dark, depressive and moody and really had the 'oh dear I need a new pair of undies' feel. But it just wasn't very good. Maybe I've had Doom overkill (having rediscovered the game last week and completed all of the levels on the hardest setting within a few seconds of the par time), or maybe the game just isn't very good. I'd go for the latter. The problems start with fighting and, as this IS a shoot-'em-up, this is a large part of the game. Unless you play the mage you don't get a long-range weapon. That means you have to get into the thick of fighting and it just doesn't feel right. You just walk up to a monster, trade a few blows and hope you survive the encounter. There's no strategy to it (you can't strafe body-blows, after all) and it often boils down to a boring, repetitive formula. At least with the chainsaw in Doom there wasn't huge pauses while you readied your weapon for another strike, and you did have the option of switching to a funky long-range weapon to blow the head off a near-by imp. Unfortunately in this game there are huge, embarrassing silences, with you and your enemies greeting each other in Eskimo (rubbing noses for the slow ones), while you both wait for your weapon arm to be ready again. How tedious. Then there's a plethora of potions which you can quaff - but they're no fun either. Also the puzzles you come across are poor - pull a chain, run quickly and open a door to get a key. Wow! A few new things include the ability to look up and down as well as the ability to fly. This will be new to anyone who hasn't played Heretic or Dark Forces, that is. If you really are a Doom fanatic, you may get on with this game but I had quite a few problems (and I do class myself as something of a Doom fan). Maybe I just haven't got far enough into the game, but the action just isn't frantic enough, the fighting isn't executed all that well and the 'puzzles' that have now made an entrance are very poor. The graphics are good, though, and the whole feel to the game is top-notch. This is by far iD's crowning glory. The game's no longer innovative and with Quake just around the corner this can be seen only as the briefest of brief stop-gaps for the total addict. Get it if you want to see Doom with warriors and wizards but at a much slower pace. If you're not all that particular don't bother - just get a few new Doom levels, or get Descent! - o -