Game Description

Heretic is a first person shooter in the style of the Doom series (also by id Software) with a fantasy theme. You play a hero whose job is to remove an evil presence from your homeworld. The game is split up into three missions each of which has 9 levels with secret levels that can be found. You are provided with a variety of magical weapons and powerups throughout the game. You may also play either Deathmatch or cooperatively with up to three other players over a LAN, one other player over a Null Modem, or Modem. The game looks and plays very similar to Doom with a few enhancements... for instance, you can look up or down, and you can also fly if you aquire certain powerups. You must complete one level to move on to the next and each level may have several "door puzzles" or keys you must find to complete them. Those who have played Doom, or other First Person Shooter games should be familiar with the controls. ~ Robert Trousdale, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

This game is clearly inspired by Doom as it uses the same engine (slightly enhanced.) This game is the first in a series of games that include Hexen (Heretic 2) and Hexen 2 (Heretic 3?). At each stage of the trilogy, new software enhancements have been added so that with 1997's Hexen 2, the graphics and sounds are greatly improved from the original Heretic. ~ Robert Trousdale, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

The game is fun and intense at times, and slow and borign at others. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Heretic is a game lost in the glut of first person shooters that flooded the video game market in the early 1990s. It looks and feels like Doom, and its lack of originality probably prevented it from becoming the next big thing in video gaming.

The action in Heretic is sometimes very exciting and sometimes very boring. When groups of demons and monsters attack, your pulse will pound. When you get lost and explore the same dark cavern several times, you get bored. Although games like Heretic are classified as shooters, they are really about exploration. So, if you need constant action, Heretic may not be your game.

Visually, Heretic looks great. The developers at Raven did a good job at tweaking the Doom engine. Heretic is an enhanced version of Doom set in the distant past instead of the distant future. The 3-D graphics are excellent, and the new points of view really enhance game play.

Sound is good, but not great. The soft background music draws you into the game, but there is an aural overload during monster attacks. The sounds of the hero grunting in pain combined with the sounds of the weapon firing can be distracting and annoying. Still, this is not a big drawback.

Heretic is definitely the kind of game that you can spend many hours playing without realizing it. The enjoyment level is really high when you are doing well and drops slightly when you get lost in a maze of caverns. Heretic challenges your brain to figure out each level. If you don't, you feel like a loser. There is almost the perfect combination of intensity and inaction. The final showdown with the evil master is amazingly tough, so save your game often.

Replay value is high, because there are so many hidden passages to explore, and because few players will achieve success in one or two game sessions. The game-saving feature is one you will want to use often, unless you are a masochist.

Overall, Heretic is a simply a tweaking of Doom. If you like 3-D shooters, then you will like Heretic. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Good graphics from the Doom engine. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Sound is annoying at times, but it is usually good. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Replay value is high, because there are many hidden treasures. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Heretic comes with a good manual and online help. ~ Anthony Baize, All Game Guide