id Software (Raven/Lion) Macintosh Quadra 605 (25MHz 68LC040) Hexen Reviewed by: Jon Ostenson Hexen is the sequel to the popular PC game Heretic (never released for the Mac). Hexen builds on the DOOM gaming engine, but instead of placing you in the role of space marine, you are launched into a fantasy realm populated with evil creatures after your blood. There's a nice background story to go along the game in the manual, but it all boils down to you against the vile forces of evil. You've got to hack and slash your way to a triumphant end. Before your quest begins, though, you'll need to decide what character to assume: Fighter, Cleric, or Mage. Each class, naturally, has advantages; the fighter is exceptional at heavy-hitting hand-to-hand combat; the mage does much better at long range attacks, but does less damage than the fighter; the cleric is somewhere in between the other two. Choose your class well, as you may not change during the game and it will influence new weapons that you'll receive along the way. Once you've set up your character, you're ready to enter the fantastical world of Hexen. Gameplay & Interface Hexen does build on the DOOM engine, offering 3D graphics and textures, and interesting weapons and creatures. But Hexen does a lot more than DOOM ever could. Forget the linear, level-by-level progression of DOOM; in Hexen you will travel the same realms time and time again, searching for the solutions to the game's puzzles. Switches you pull in one area (or "level") will influence things in another level, possibly helping to solve a puzzle. And the puzzles feature a special programmable scripting system that allowed Raven level designers to introduce more complex puzzles. Because of its non-linear storyline, challenging puzzles, and excellent implementation of textures and superb level design, Hexen has an undeniable feel. As you play, you really feel that you're in a castle, or a cathedral, or wherever you're supposed to be. Little effects, like dead blowing leaves, lightning flashes, fog, and other atmospheric effects add a lot to the game's overall feel. There is nothing difficult about Hexen's interface; in fact, if you've played DOOM or any other similar first-person games, you'll have no problem. If you don't like the default keyboard layout, it's easily changed; a mouse is also supported for movement. Hexen also has a simple and effective way of dealing with the inventory objects that you'll gather as you move towards the game's end. Graphics & Sound I've already mentioned Hexen's nice ambient effects. The game's textures, too, are realistic and well-designed; even at low graphic detail they are superb. One of the best things about Hexen's graphics is that they don't seem to slow down gameplay, even on a 68040 processor. I found gameplay to be quite smooth, in spite of the realistic level of detail. Hexen has a nice accompanying soundtrack with haunting music that adds a lot to the play. Again, as with the graphics, playing the background music doesn't seem to slow the game's speed much at all. Every blow dealt by your weapon elicits some nice sound effects, and the ambient sounds (mostly from evil beasts) now and then are very effective, too. Difficulty & Replayability Even on the easiest level, Hexen is a challenging game, but there are plenty of healing potions along the way to ensure that you can make it through the levels. As you increase the difficulty, you'll face more monsters in each area and find fewer healing potions and spell mana. The level design for Hexen is excellent, though, and things are well-balanced in accordance with the difficulty level setting. Since Hexen allows you to choose one of the character classes, you could play Hexen three times over, trying to master the nuances of each fighting class. That would most likely get tiring, though, pretty quickly. Fortunately, like many first-person games out there, Hexen supports custom maps (WADs). Many of these WAD files are available over the internet. Hexen also supports a pretty reliable (although not bulletproof) system for network play against other human opponents--definitely something to check out. Conclusion Hexen, in short, is a great game. I'm very impressed with it's flexible gameplay and challenging, non-linear puzzles. And its speed (even on the '040) is an added bonus. You'll not see many first-person shoot-em-up games that are so thoughtfully and excellently planned out and executed.