| Can you say: "Amazing?"
It was a dark rainy day when the Dark Lord (our beloved editor) came into my office and
told me he had assigned me to review Hexen II. "I know you like Mid-Evil Times and
love action games…" he said as he walked back out into the hallway. "You
will probably love this one then." There is a great deal of things my Boss is usually
right about, and this was one of them. From the opening of the box straight down to the
installation of the magical CD-ROM, I stood still, waiting, full of excitement. After all
this was Hexen II with the Quake engine under the hood!
The plot was mystical and befitting of its own book and movie.
It is a time of despair. Your world, Thyrion, was taken over by a cruel creature named
Eidolon. He came to your world and with a swift move of execution sent his Golem knights
to destroy humanity and conquer the world. The enemies that you once had are now your
allies as the world falls to Eidolons swift conquest. You are sent to try and stop him.
You are alone, only armed with a simple weapon and guts of steel. But will that be enough?
The install of the game had very good music to start you out like a movie at the theatre.
While it was installing from the CD, old scrolls introduce the characters that you can
choose to lead your campaign. I chose the Crusader to help me defeat Eidolon.
Dragons, Golems, and Skeletons "Oh My!"
In the beginning of the adventure you start out with very little in the area of weapons,
basically either your hands, or a minor weapon such as in my case a war hammer. The
puzzles begin with a chamber to your right that houses a secret panel that leads to an
underground room. Most of the time I found enemies where I was not expecting to see
anything. Archers were my favorites to fight against. Amazingly no matter how hard I tried
to avoid their shots, the Archers always managed to get a shot off, so be expecting them
whenever you enter a new room. I have to be Frank for a moment:
Frank: Man this game is just simply incredible!
Okay, lets discuss the gameplay, shall we. The movement was surreal as you walk around the
mazes. All of the movements were so real it will make you feel as if you are actually
there, battling for your world and the people there in. After choosing the Crusader to
lead my cause, I wasn't disappointed. He reminded me a lot of Thor with his big stone
hammer. As is the case in a game like this you need to pay attention to everything going
on around you. You have complete control of your visual functions, such as surveying what
is above, below, and next to you. You can also strafe when being attacked by the Archers,
who make of course make a worthy foe. The enemies vary on each level. For instance, the
first level had spiders in certain spots. The spiders were easier to kill then the Archers
or the Iron Golems (A Golem is basically an enemy automaton knight). They are very
difficult to try and kill with a simple weapon, so you will find yourself using a lot of
manna to kill them with your magic weapon. The Battling sequences were very realistic in
my opinion, as you can't kill something just by hitting it once with a good blow when
there is armor covering their bodies. It also gives your enemies a good chance to get a
blow in, and sometimes a deadly blow.
Elementary my dear Watson
For every room or small area, there is either a puzzle or an item that you need. Be very
attentive to sounds and areas that you honestly don't believe may be important. I found
myself wandering the halls at times looking for just one item, only to find it was right
in front of me at the beginning of the level. You may be looking for a key, or maybe even
an item to make something crucial to getting to the next level. Keep your eyes open, and
if you feel you are just unable to go any further, then take a small break. I felt this
helped me a lot when I would get frustrated. The game is brilliantly made to boggle your
mind, and the people that wrote the puzzles did a great job!
So is it worth it?
Yes, definitely! I was very impressed with how the whole game was put together. Right from
the beginning the game takes you right into a magical world, and doesn't give you an
opportunity to stop and think twice about leaving its fun filled arena. The enemies are
fun to battle, as they give you a good fight. This was great unlike other games that have
<Picture><Picture>wimpy characters that die after one hit. Of course, Hexen II
also supports Multiplayer. This makes it an even better buy, as more and more people are
choosing to battle with, or against each other. Hexen II also offers a GL version that
will make the graphics leap out and take on a new persona. The only complaint I had about
the game was its failure to allow me to change the resolution. I had to leave it at
300x600 (640x480 in GL mode) or sound would freak out and make play too slow. This has
never been a problem with other games, and it did the same on other PC's that we tested
on. Still, even in that mode it was still impressive! Yes I honestly believe that this is
one of the top ten for the year, and would be worth your hard-earned dollar. You will stay
excited with its mastery of plot and gameplay for hours! Hexen II's minimum requirements
are a Pentium 90 or better. 16MB of RAM is okay, but I would recommend at least 24. Hexen
II does support Joysticks, and I found that my Wingman Extreme was more than fit to handle
what I dished out considering it was more of a keyboard game.
Let me put it to you this way. If Hexen II were a tornado, it would have ripped me out my
house and set me back down in Indiana, and I would have been chasing after it for more! I
believe anyone buying this game will enjoy everything about it.
Additional information
Publisher: Activision
OS: Win95
CPU: Pentium 90mhz or better
Memory: 16mb of RAM or more
Hard Drive: 120mb free
CD-ROM: 2X or faster
Multiplayer: Yes
Rating: ****½ (out of 5)
Courtesy : GamerzEdge |
