Review by Ivan Cockrum
The Arrival Summer is here, and with it comes the first of yet another wave of 3D first person perspective fighting games: Mac Hexen, the latest and greatest from the boys at id software, the creators of the phenomenally popular Doom series. Hexen is the successor to the recently released Heretic, leapfrogging previous id games with an enhanced 3D engine, more complex character options, and a wider variety of environments.
The Plot Like most of id's games, Hexen comes with a backstory that really has no effect on actual gameplay, and is barely represented in the game itself. Suffice it to say that players must battle their way through a dark, evil world chock full of demonic creatures, all hell bent on putting said players out of their misery.
The Players Breaking away from the simple health/armor/ammo model, Hexen boasts a number of role playing game-style features. To battle the demons of Hexen, players can take on the role of one of three characters: a warrior, a mage, or a cleric. Each character comes with different strengths and weaknesses, and differing levels of physical and magical ability. As a result, each character will use certain objects in different ways, require different methods around certain solutions, and perform better or worse in particular environments. In addition to the usual health, armor, and ammunition, players must also collect two types of mana: blue and green, which each power different weapons and spells.
Role playing gamers will also recognize a variety of familiar-seeming magical objects, such as the Boots of Speed, Dragonskin Bracers (increases armor class), Disc of Repulsion (sends opponents running), the Dark Servant (a figurine which turns into a large menacing defender), and others.
The Arms Of course, a variety of lethal weapons is also available, though different weapons are available to different characters. Most of the weapons are either magical or melee in nature, but I found myself missing the good ol' double barreled shotgun. In early levels, the warrior and cleric are limited exclusively to melee weapons, which means a lot of close quarters fist fighting, something I find rather tedious.