Hexen II

Last updated
Hexen II
HexenIIbox.jpg
Developer(s) Raven Software
Publisher(s) id Software
Director(s) Brian Raffel
Producer(s) Steve Stringer
Designer(s) Eric C. Biessman
Programmer(s) Rick Johnson
Ben Gokey
Artist(s) Brian Pelletier
Composer(s) Kevin Schilder
Engine Modified Quake engine
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
  • NA: September 11, 1997 [1]
  • EU: September 19, 1997 [2]
Portal of Praevus
  • NA: March 20, 1998
  • EU: 1998
Macintosh
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Hexen II is a dark fantasy first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software in 1997. It is the third game in the Hexen / Heretic series, and the last in the Serpent Riders trilogy. Using a modified Quake engine, it features single-player and multiplayer game modes, as well as four character classes to choose from, each with different abilities. These include the "offensive" Paladin, the "defensive" Crusader, the spell-casting Necromancer, and the stealthy Assassin.

Contents

Improvements from Hexen: Beyond Heretic and Quake include destructible environments, mounted weapons, and unique level up abilities. Like its predecessor, Hexen II also uses a hub system. These hubs are a number of interconnected levels; changes made in one level have effects in another. Furthermore, the Tome of Power artifact makes a return from Heretic .

Gameplay

The gameplay of Hexen II is very similar to that of the original Hexen. Instead of three classes, Hexen II features four: Paladin, Crusader, Assassin, and Necromancer, each with their own unique weapons and play style. [4]

Hexen II also adds certain role-playing video game elements to the mix. Each character has a series of statistics which increase as they gain experience. [5] This then causes the player character to grow in power as his or her HP and mana increases.

Plot

Thyrion is a world that was enslaved by the Serpent Riders. The two previous games in the series documented the liberation of two other worlds, along with the death of their Serpent Rider overlords. Now, the oldest and most powerful of the three Serpent Rider brothers, Eidolon, must be defeated to free Thyrion. Eidolon is supported by his four generals, themselves a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. To confront each general, the player has to travel to four different continents, each possessing a distinct theme (Medieval European for Blackmarsh, Mesoamerican for Mazaera, Ancient Egyptian for Thysis, and Greco-Roman for Septimus). Then, finally, the player returns to Blackmarsh in order to confront Eidolon himself inside of his own dominion Cathedral.

Development

What was originally supposed to be the final game in a trilogy, the sequel to Hexen was originally titled Hecatomb but was abandoned after John Romero left id Software in 1996. Activision, the distributor at the time, pressured Raven Software to split development of Hecatomb into two different games, Hexen II and Heretic II . Activision felt that the previous entries in the series, Heretic and Hexen, were different enough from one another that they should treat them as separate entities going forward, instead of just one final game to complete a trilogy. Only a select few ideas of Romero's from Hecatomb would ultimately make their way into what became Hexen II and Heretic II. [6]

Hexen II was based on an enhanced version of the Quake engine. [4] Hexen II, by way of the Quake engine, uses OpenGL for 3D acceleration. However, due to the prevalence of 3dfx hardware at the time of release, the Windows version of the game installs an OpenGL ICD (opengl32.dll) designed specifically for 3dfx's hardware. This driver acts as a wrapper for the proprietary Glide API, and thus is only compatible with 3dfx hardware. Custom OpenGL drivers were also released by PowerVR and Rendition for running Hexen II with their respective (and also now defunct) products. Removal of the ICD allows the game to use the default OpenGL system library. Much of the music in this game is remixed versions of the soundtracks of Hexen and Heretic to match the hub themes.

Activision acquired the rights to publish versions of the game for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. [4] [7] [8] Neither port was released.

Hexen II was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007. [9]

Siege

A modification titled Siege was created and released by Raven Software in 1998 using updated QuakeWorld architecture, aptly dubbed "HexenWorld". The production concept was to eliminate a normal deathmatch environment in favor of a teamplay castle siege. The basic premise was to divide the players into two teams—attackers and defenders—with each side either assaulting or protecting the castle respectively. At the end of the time limit, whichever team controlled the crown was declared victorious. The mod featured appropriate objects used in the single-player portion of the game, namely catapults and ballistae. The classes were drastically altered with new weapons and abilities, reflecting the departure from the normal deathmatch experience presented in HexenWorld. [10]

Source release

Following the tradition from Heretic and Hexen, Raven released the source code of the Hexen II engine on November 10, 2000. This time the source was released under the GNU GPL-2.0-only, allowing source ports to be made to different platforms like Linux and the Dreamcast. [11]

Portal of Praevus

An expansion pack called Hexen II Mission Pack: Portal of Praevus was released on April 1, 1998. [12] It features new levels, new enemies and a new playable character class, The Demoness. It focuses on the attempted resurrection of the three Serpent Riders by the evil wizard Praevus, and takes place in a fifth continent, Tulku, featuring a Sino-Tibetan setting. Unlike the original game, the expansion was not published by id Software, and as such is not currently available via digital re-releases.

The expansion features new quest items, new enemies, and new weapons for the Demoness. She is the only player class to have a ranged starting weapon (similar to the Mage class in the original Hexen), whereas all other characters start with melee weapons. It also introduced minor enhancements to the game engine, mostly related to user interface, level scripts, particle effects (rain or snow), and 3D objects. Portal of Praevus also features a secret (easter egg) skill level, with respawning monsters. The only released patch for the expansion added respawning of certain items (such as health and ammo) in Nightmare mode, so that it would be slightly easier for playing.

Reception

Upon its release, Hexen II received mixed to positive reviews. Edge praised the game for being different from other Quake engine-based games, highlighting its inventive and interactive levels, enemy variety, and artificial intelligence. The magazine also credited the game's diversity of weapons and spells for offering different combat strategies. [15] GameSpot summarized, "Hexen II is a game with many strengths - its design is superior to the original Hexen, it has a significant payoff for single players winding through its twisted corridors, and visually it is without equal in the action genre. But the game's attempt to break from the standard first-person shooter mold has some nasty side effects, and the end result is a confusing and often frustratingly difficult experience." The reviewer elaborated that while the lush, detailed environments and astoundingly animated bosses make Hexen II "one of the most beautiful games ever made", the actions needed to progress are so obscure that they are comparable to what is required to find optional secret areas in most games, forcing the player to undertake frustrating, exhaustive searches of the game's environments. [16] GamePro praised the high speed of the multiplayer sessions, the selection of character classes, and the high detail present when graphical acceleration is used. They concluded, "For replay value and sheer fun, Hexen II is going to be hard to beat; you could spend days playing through all four characters in single-player mode without even entering multiplayer battles." [18]

According to Erik Bethke, Hexen II was commercially unsuccessful, with sales slightly above 30,000 units. [19]

Spiritual successor

3D Realms announced Graven in September 2020 as a spiritual successor to Hexen II, to launch on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. The game will support both offline and online multiplayer. [20]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Heretic</i> (video game) 1994 dark fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software

Heretic is a dark fantasy first-person shooter video game released in December 1994. It was developed by Raven Software and published by id Software through GT Interactive.

<i>Hexen: Beyond Heretic</i> 1995 video game

Hexen: Beyond Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software distributed through GT Interactive on October 30, 1995. It is the sequel to 1994's Heretic, and the second game in Raven Software's "Serpent Riders" trilogy, which culminated with Hexen II. The title comes from the German noun Hexen, which means "witches", and/or the verb hexen, which means "to cast a spell". Game producer John Romero stated that a third, unreleased game in this series was to be called Hecatomb.

<i>Heretic II</i> 1998 video game

Heretic II is a dark fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in November 1998 continuing the story of Corvus, the main character from its predecessor, Heretic. It is the fourth game in the Hexen: Beyond Heretic series and comes after the "Serpent Rider" trilogy. Although Id Software owns the publishing rights to the previous titles, Heretic 2 is owned by Activision since they own Raven Software and its IPs.

<i>Quake III Arena</i> 1999 video game

Quake III Arena is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the Quake series, Arena differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing primarily on multiplayer gameplay. The single-player mode is played against computer-controlled bots. It features music composed by Sonic Mayhem and Front Line Assembly founder Bill Leeb.

<i>Quake II</i> 1997 video game

Quake II is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the Quake series, following Quake. The game's storyline is continued in its expansions, including one tying in Quake II and the first game, and Quake 4.

<i>Quake</i> (video game) 1996 video game

Quake is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by GT Interactive. The first game in the Quake series, it was originally released for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux in 1996, followed by Mac OS and Sega Saturn in 1997 and Nintendo 64 in 1998. In the game, players must find their way through various maze-like, medieval environments while battling monsters using an array of weaponry. Quake takes inspiration from gothic fiction and the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raven Software</span> American video game development company

Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them. After the acquisition, many of the studio's original developers, largely responsible for creating the Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic games, left to form Human Head Studios.

<i>Rise of the Triad</i> 1995 first-person shooter video game

Rise of the Triad: Dark War is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Apogee Software in 1995. The player can choose one of five different characters to play as, each bearing unique attributes such as height, speed, and endurance. The game's story follows these five characters who have been sent to investigate a deadly cult, and soon become aware of a deadly plot to destroy a nearby city. Its remake was designed by Interceptor Entertainment and released by Apogee Games in 2013. The shareware version of the game is titled Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins.

<i>Unreal</i> (1998 video game) 1998 first-person shooter video game

Unreal is a first-person shooter video game developed by Epic MegaGames and Digital Extremes and published by GT Interactive for Microsoft Windows in May 1998. It was powered by Unreal Engine, an original game engine. The game reached sales of 1.5 million units by 2002.

<i>Doom 3</i> 2004 video game

Doom 3 is a 2004 survival horror first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. Doom 3 was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and ported by Aspyr Media for Mac OS X in 2005. Developer Vicarious Visions ported the game to the Xbox, releasing it on April 3, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neversoft</span> American video game developer

Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the studio worked with Playmates Toys, where they worked on the game Skeleton Warriors, which was based on a animated television series of the same name. Throughout 1996, the studio grew, and worked on projects with Crystal Dynamics and Sony Computer Entertainment, but due to internal conflicts, they were cancelled.

Doom WAD is the default format of package files for the video game Doom and its sequel Doom II: Hell on Earth, that contain sprites, levels, and game data. WAD stands for Where's All the Data? Immediately after its release in 1993, Doom attracted a sizeable following of players who created their own mods for WAD files—packages containing new levels or graphics—and played a vital part in spawning the mod-making culture which is now commonplace for first-person shooter games. Thousands of WADs have been created for Doom, ranging from single custom levels to full original games; most of these can be freely downloaded over the Internet. Several WADs have also been released commercially, and for some people the WAD-making hobby became a gateway to a professional career as a level designer.

<i>Interstate 76</i> 1997 video game

Interstate '76 is a vehicular combat video game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed and published by Activision and released on March 28, 1997.

id Tech Series of video game engines

id Tech is a series of separate game engines designed and developed by id Software. Prior to the presentation of the id Tech 5-based game Rage in 2011, the engines lacked official designation and as such were simply referred to as the Doom and Quake engines, from the name of the main game series the engines had been developed for. "id Tech" has been released as free software under the GNU General Public License. id Tech versions 0 to 3 were released under GPL-2.0-or-later. id Tech versions 3.5 to 4.5 were released under GPL-3.0-or-later. id Tech 5 to 7 are proprietary, with id Tech 7 currently being the latest utilized engine.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight is a series of first- and third-person shooter video games set in the fictional Star Wars expanded universe. The series focuses primarily on Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer who becomes a mercenary working for the Rebel Alliance, and later a Jedi and instructor at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. While the first game is set a year after the events of A New Hope, the sequels take place in the decade following Return of the Jedi.

<i>Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force</i> 2000 first-person shooter video game based on the Star Trek series

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. The game was originally released on September 15, 2000 for Windows and Mac OS. A port for Mac OS developed by Westlake Interactive and published by Aspyr Media was released on November 20, 2002. Elite Force was ported to the PlayStation 2 by Pipe Dream Interactive and published by Majesco Entertainment on December 11, 2001.

Chris Rhinehart is a programmer, game developer and co-founder of Human Head Studios. He is currently creative director at Roundhouse Studios.

References

  1. ↑ Staff (September 11, 1997). "Releases and Mastering". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on October 12, 1997. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
    "...Hexen II is out..."
  2. ↑ "PC World - Latest Games Now Available". Daily Record . September 19, 1997. p. 14. Retrieved December 11, 2023. Hexen II - Out Today
  3. ↑ "MacPlay announces Value Series lineup". Macworld. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  4. 1 2 3 "Protos: Hexen II". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 94. Ziff Davis. May 1997. p. 40.
  5. ↑ Boba Fatt (November 1997). "PC GamePro Preview: Hexen II". GamePro . No. 110. IDG. p. 110.
  6. ↑ "So Busy and Yet More Birthdays". 24 February 2003.
  7. ↑ "Hexen 2 Announced for Saturn!". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 19. Emap International Limited. May 1997. p. 8.
  8. ↑ "Hexen 2 Saturn bound?". Saturn Power . No. 1. Future Publishing. June 1997. p. 11.
  9. ↑ John Keefer. "Legendary id Software games now on Steam". GameSpy. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Siege Information Overview". Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "Hexen 2 source released". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "News for April 1, 1998". Online Gaming Review. April 1, 1998. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
    "April 1, 1998: "Several new games will be hitting stores today: ...Hexen 2 Mission Pack from Activision..."
  13. ↑ "Hexen II for PC". GameRankings . Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Hexen II Mission Pack: Portal of Praevus". GameRankings . Archived from the original on December 9, 2019.
  15. 1 2 "Hexen II". Edge . No. 51. Future Publishing. November 1997. pp. 90–91.
  16. 1 2 Dulin, Ron (1997-09-22). "Hexen II Review". GameSpot . Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  17. ↑ Hexen II Mission Pack: Portal of Praevus – GameSpot Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today
  18. ↑ Don St. John (December 1997). "PC GamePro Review (Win 95): Hexen II". GamePro . No. 111. IDG. p. 112.
  19. ↑ Bethke, Erik (January 25, 2003). Game Development and Production. Wordware Publishing. p. 16. ISBN   1556229518.
  20. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 5, 2020). "3D Realms announces Graven, the spiritual successor to Hexen 2". Eurogamer . Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Backstab Magazine (French) Issue 06".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.