Heretic II

Raven Software has released the demo for Heretic II, the newest game in the long-running Heretic and Hexen series. This time, though, Raven has made a pretty major change. Heretic II is no longer a first-person shooter like the original Heretic. It is now a third-person action game powered by the Quake II engine.

That may sound like a strange move at first, but after playing the demo, it starts to make sense. Instead of just staring down a hallway with a weapon floating at the bottom of the screen, you are now watching your character move, climb, swim, creep, fight, and cast spells through large indoor and outdoor environments. It gives the game a very different feel, closer to something like Tomb Raider or Resident Evil, only with a lot more monster blasting and magic being thrown around.

The story sends players on a quest to find a cure for a deadly plague before everything completely falls apart. Simple enough, but this is Heretic, so the important part is how many twisted creatures, traps, spells, and ugly surprises Raven can throw between you and that cure.

Heretic II gives players several graphics options, including DirectX 6.0, 3dfx GL, OpenGL, D3DGL, and VerteGL. It also lets you adjust the level of detail, which is a welcome option if your machine is not exactly bleeding edge. Even in regular DirectX mode with the detail turned up, the game looks very good. The textures are sharp, the environments are detailed, and the enemies look great. Even the rats wandering around the levels look better than they probably need to. That is always a good sign. When developers bother making the rats look convincing, you know they are paying attention.

The camera angles also add a lot to the atmosphere. Third-person games can live or die by their camera, and while this demo still has a few rough spots, it already does a good job of showing off the world around you. The result is a game that feels more physical than the original Heretic. You are not just moving through corridors. You are climbing, swimming, sneaking, and actually watching your character interact with the world.

The gameplay is set up differently from most action games, and that is probably its biggest strength. You still use the mouse to look up and down and the keyboard to move and fire, so anyone who has spent time with Quake II or Unreal should feel at home pretty quickly. The difference is in the extra actions. Your character can swim, creep, climb ledges, and push buttons in ways that make the game feel less stiff than a standard shooter.

Swimming looks especially good. Instead of just gliding through water like some kind of haunted refrigerator, your character actually performs swimming strokes. Moving the mouse up or down controls the direction you swim, which feels natural after a little practice.

Creeping is another interesting addition. You can move slowly toward unaware enemies so they do not spot you right away, or use the move to handle certain jumps and ledges. It gives the game a little more thought than just running into every room and turning everything into meat. Do not worry, though. There is still plenty of that too.

The sound in the demo is strong and fits the game well. Spell effects, monster noises, and environmental audio all help sell the atmosphere. This is not just background noise dumped in because someone remembered games need sound.

Heretic II is the kind of demo that makes you annoyed when it ends, which is exactly what a demo is supposed to do. There are still a few minor bugs that need to be cleaned up before release, but the foundation is excellent. The graphics are impressive, the sound is solid, and the gameplay feels different enough to stand out without throwing away everything that made Heretic worth remembering in the first place.

Fans of Tomb Raider should definitely give it a look. Fans of the original Heretic and Hexen games should also check it out, even if the move to third-person sounds strange at first. Add Internet multiplayer to the mix, and Heretic II could easily become one of the biggest PC action games to hit in a long time.

Keep your eyes on this one. You are going to hear a lot more about it.