| DATA | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Raven Software |
| Genre | FPS |
| Platform(s) |  |
| Release date | 1994-12-29 |
Fans of first-person shooters in the mid 90s had two choices: either to play Doom, or one of its multiple reskins. Enter Heretic, a select clone that applies the same formula to a medieval fantasy setting, made by then little known Raven Software, a studio with a once great career (Soldier of Fortune, Elite Force, Jedi Knight, Quake 4...) that ended up as a support developer for the Call of Duty franchise (hurts me more).
The pitch was literally "Make Doom, but with fantasy", and they got to work on it with the close supervision of id Software, who shared the engine and editing tools with them. A few refinements were added in, such as a basic inventory system (later adopted as a standard in many other games), a "fly" mode, and the ability to look up and down. The latter isn't that much useful, as due to the limitations of the renderer, it's just a shearing effect that distorts the view and can make you feel dizzy. As for flying, there are no complicated physics and it feels akin to enabling the "noclip" cheat in other games.
A better addition was the presence of water and air currents that push your character around, and a phenomenal sound system, with randomized noises, that encourages you to play with the lights off to really feel the immersion. Other than this, it's pure Doom with slightly better graphics.
The game offers 5 episodes with 9 levels each. Intricate and difficult, full of secret areas and ambushes, but nothing as bad as what was seen in Rise of the Triad. You'll be delighted to explore them, exterminating the ugly-looking inhabitants and collecting items and the perennial colored keys to unlock the matching doors. Heretic didn't arrive to shake the industry to its roots, nor did it pretend it. Its main goal was to entertain.
One of the things I disliked is the available arsenal. The weapons are visually satisfactory, with flashy particle effects, but they seem to lack punch. It takes too many impacts to down even the lesser enemies, and sometimes it seems they don't even react to being shot. I can't explain it really, but I'm not fully convinced by this aspect.
And while it's not relevant anymore, another problem this game had was the timing. You see, the shareware version was released in December 1994, and the full one (mail-order) the following January. But this was only in the US, and it wasn't until early 1996 that GT Interactive sold it on retail and many people could finally get their hands on it. Thing is, Duke Nukem 3D was just around the corner, and Quake already on the horizon. Both games were superior, making Heretic look outdated by the time it shipped.
So, it this game the best in the id Software lineage? Not by far. Is it good? Yes, it's decent and enough for 10+ hours of action. In the end, we all look for a fix in one place or another.
Playing
Buy it on Steam or GoG. This version is bundled with its spiritual sequel, Hexen, and both have been enhanced with many fixes and high-resolution menus, though the original DOS version is also included. Note: if you owned the previous Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders, you'll still have it in your collection, but the bundle will have been added to your account for free. The former stopped receiving updates.
My personal recommendation is that you install either and then use a source port (an updated version of the game's executable), such as the awesome ZDoom. It will automatically find the game assets (a source port only provides a binary, not the game content itself, which is why you need to have a legit copy installed).