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| Official Homepage : http://www.ravensoft.com | ||||||
Game Introduction:
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse lurk in the shadows before your.
They are Death, Pestilence, Famine, and War. They are the root of all that is evil. They are the least of your worries.
The last known Serpent Riders, Eidolon, lives. As the Necromancer, the Assassin, the Crusader, or the Paladin, you must defeat the dark generals and their Hell-spawned legions before you can face the Archfiend and attempt to end his ravenous onslaught.
Go in peace and you will surely die.
The Manual:
Hexen II's manual is a real piece of artwork. It's written in a fantastic gloomy way and the sketches that are included when you read the story that you are about to save are simply briljant.
Never before I saw a manual that really got your full attention to read more and more of it. Background info on your four characters, the Necromancer, the Assassin, the Crusader and the Paladin are included and there is also a detailed description of all the weapons and inventory items.
Still, it does not have any 'console' commands or other more specific information but if you have played Quake before (and I know you have), there isn't more to know.
The Game:
A long time ago, Raven sofware brought us Herectic and Hexen. A new 3d-fantasy game that uses the modified Doom-engine and gave the player more realism. They were Hexen II's precursors and you may wonder what is really different then those older versions? Well first of all and if you haven't live in a cave for over 10 years you should know that most of today games use the 3DFX Chip.
It is all 3DFX that hits the computer world. The next generation of 3D-accerelated cards. Hexen II use this feature at 100% of its capabilities. You can also play in normal Vga or Svga mode but I must say, even on my system the Svga Mode sucks bigtime. It ain't smooth at all.
Your task in Hexen II is to save the world from evil and its Hell-spawned legions. Originality in storyline isn't Raven's big quality but that is all forgiven as soon as you enter the world of a new fantastic game.
New in this sequel is that you have the choice who you play. Either as the Paladin, the Necromancer, the Assassin or the Crusader you set your steps into Hexen's evil world.
Each character has different weapons and that makes it even more interesting when you take a look at other single-player Doom clones. Characters also have their own statistics that will enchance its actions. The more you kill, the faster your attacks will be and the more damage that they can do towards the enemy. Each character has 4 Weapons which is not much at all. I agree completely. Raven Software would better but 2 or 3 weapons more to every character. Still, when you use the Tome of Magic it will augmente the weapon that you are using. Basicly you will get 8 weapons instead of 4 when you are using that Tome. Heretic fans will remember that the Tome Of Magic is making a comeback into Hexen II which was not available in Hexen. A good thing about the weapons is of course that every character has different weapons. So 4 x 4 is about 16 weapons (and 32 weapons if you included Tome Of Magic) but you are still limited to 8 (Tome Of Magic included) becaue you can only play with 1 character at the time.
Some abilitys that the characters have are very neat. For example: the Crusader can heal himself with the souls of others and the Assassin can make herself invisible if she stands long enough in a dark place.
The most amazing thing in Hexen II is that it is the first game that uses the higly developed Quake Engine. The Graphics and the Level Designs are absolutely a feast for the eye. My jaw was wideopen when I played this game for the first time. Everything is so detailed that sometimes you would say to the monsters: 'Hey, just a minute. Let me watch that architectural statue first.' :)
There are Four different Hubs which all have a specific theme. Sometimes you may have to return to several levels in that Hub in order to complete a puzzle. Moving back and forward in levels is becoming after a while complex and you won't remember the place where you started or where that artifact is. Some puzzles aren't obtained easely. Searching for the artifact that is needed can be sometimes stressfull when you have been walking around for about 20 minutes without finding it. There are some monsters that come-back in certain levels in a particular Hub but some are more sophisticated then others. They are more difficult to kill and have more strenght and AI. The AI in Hexen II is good but not that excellent. Monsters behave intelligent and when you fire at them some of them will not directly try to avoid the flying bullet.
Walking in empty rooms like other Doom-clones is not Hexen II's style. You can break furniture, shelves and windows. Something that we already have seen in Duke Nukem 3D which was quite fun.
The transparent effects like the water is absolutely briljant. Even when you are underwater it gives blurry effects on walls and etc. like in GLQuake and it will amaze you without slowing down the game.
The music that is featured in Hexen II is excellent. Dark and gloomy. It is not Hard Metal Rock like in Quake II but it does bring the game into a higher play-atmosphere. When you change of Hub, the music takes you to a new style. Sounds are just to good to be true. The sound that the scorpions make is really cool. There are a lot of nice sounds in this game which can't be said of every Doom-a-like game.
There are some Multiplayer levels included and also some deatmatch levels. Ofcourse Hexen II offers the usual network connections and the tcp/ip thing for playing on the net. I haven't tested this feature because my connection to the net is just a 28k8 which prevents me to get any good and fast connections and doesn't give me the opportunity to have a decent frame rate. I want cable! ;)
This game does absolutely require a 3DFX card! I strongly suggest when you do not own one that after you read this, log off and go to the cheapest computerstore and buy yourself a 3DFX card. If you put my advise near you I can guarantee that playing Hexen II won't be fun at all. Even with fast computersystems Svga still looks very choppy to me. Not that, but the graphics ain't that good as in the 3DFX mode.
Eventually disappointed you will become after your hard disc has been accessed on every move you do and especially when there is alot of action. You might think that some virus is erasing all your files instead of playing Hexen II.
So 3DFX is certainly needed here. Vga is outdated and so is Svga if you want fun above everything. Please note that if you want to play the 3D-accelerated version of Hexen II, GLHexen that is, that you must need at least 24 MB Ram. Some people still think that 16 MB Ram is still enough for newer games. They are definitely wrong.
Also, Raven Software has released a patch for Hexen II which fix some bugs and gives the game more stability. So check their homepage (look top of this page) and download it.
Conclusion:
Hexen II is a real piece of dedicated artwork with excellent graphics and gameplay from Raven Software. It is definitely a Winner to me and does give the player the opportunity to choose what character he will play. The weapons are a bit limited and the developer could have included 2 or 3 more. With a 3DFX card this game is a masterpiece in graphics and smooth frame rates. Without, it is hardly playable in Svga and Vga is very much outdated.
However, once finished completely it will take some time before you decide to re-install this game again, except if you have the needs to turn on the multiplayer feature.
Raven Software did an amazing job in modifying the Quake-engine and not produce 'another' Quake-clone. An excellent fantasy 3d game in every aspect.
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Nothing of this Review, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form (electronic, written or otherwise) without the prior permission of the PlayDevil's PC Game Review Creator.
Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners.