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Alright, let’s see. So, I was just thinking about this—three whole decades, right? That long, and boom, Heretic pops up on consoles. Heck, it brought its buddy Hexen too, which hasn’t chilled out on a home console since those old-school days of PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo 64. I mean, weird times, huh? Now they’re all wrapped up in a neat package called Heretic + Hexen wrangled together by Nightdive Studios. They seem to have a knack for dusting off these golden oldies. So, what’s included here? Well, the original games, some Hexen expansion—Deathkings of the Dark Citadel, a couple of fresh expansions for both games, plus a stash of bonus goodies. It’s like a nostalgic buffet or something.
Okay, let’s chat Heretic for a sec. This game, in a nutshell, is basically Doom but with this whole swords and sorcery vibe going on. Not knocking it or anything! Sure, it’s got some technical stuff that reminds you of those old Doom days, but man, the level designs just take the engine and run with it. Though, let’s be real, it’s hard not to see the Doom DNA in Heretic’s enemies and weapons. Like, they’re practically cousins.
Now, Hexen, oh boy, that’s a different beast. It flips the script on those early first-person shooters. You’re picking from three classes, each with its own thing going on with weapons and abilities. You end up with this mash-up of exploring and puzzle-solving and all of a sudden, you’re thinking, is this Doom or did I wander into a Zelda or Metroid game?
Sprinkled on top are these three expansions—one for Heretic and two for Hexen. The first Hexen one dropped back in ’96 while the others are newbies. The Heretic addition, Faith Renewed, does some cool tricks with the engine. The Hexen expansions? Solid work. But if I’m playing favorites, Vestiges and Grandeur take the cake over Deathkings of the Dark Citadel from ’96. Not sure if they’ve got that original game’s magic, but hey, solid is solid.
And then, what throws a wrench in all this fun? Doctor-save-system here. Five different games but one quicksave slot? Really? More than a few times, I’d save in Hexen, jump to Heretic, save again, then bang my head when, surprise! I needed an earlier Hexen save. Juggling those saves is like sorting laundry, except more annoying. You’d think they’d separate them by game, right?
Nightdive kept it real simple with the visuals—1080p on the Switch, toggle between old-school resolution and scaled versions, tweak the HUD, swap between soundtracks, all that jazz. I did notice something odd with the skyboxes tiling back on themselves with the full-screen HUD. Tried to figure if it’s a relic from the past or a fresh glitch, but the N64 version seemed immune.
Speaking of N64, that version was the gold standard console-wise for Hexen, even without the cutscenes. Comparing the old with the new, the N64 version impressively holds its ground. Yet, I can’t lie, the raw textures on the updated version can be a bit much. Maybe filtering those might make it less noisy. Call me crazy, but a CRT filter wouldn’t hurt either.
Heretic + Hexen is one great, one phenomenal game wrapped in a neat bow. New stuff just makes them heftier. If only the save system and display quirks could be sorted out. But hey, it sure beats dusting off a Nintendo 64 or fiddling with the old PlayStation or Saturn versions. Maybe, someday, we’ll see more of the Heretic/Hexen saga. Who’s up for that ride?
