(Note: Playtime is inaccurate due to the new remaster, but will still review the game as it's original version.)
The second serpent rider awaits as more medieval ripping and tearing among 3 heroes, as well as a billion switch puzzles.
Hexen: Beyond Heretic is the sequel to Raven Software's previous game in the Doom Engine, Heretic, hence the beyond. After the defeat of D'sparil, the first serpent rider, now the second rider, Korax, has taken over the land of Cronos via corrupting the lands already corrupt leaders. Now it's up to 3 heroes to fight their way to the dingus and kick his face in. Unlike it's predecessor that features the average Retro FPS structure of the time, with a handful of episodes each with levels that are stuffed with monsters and secrets. Hexen goes for something a bit more unique. You got 3 separate classes with unique stats and weapons, a hub like levels system filled with puzzles and secrets, and even the simple fact you can jump now. There's certainly a ton here that really improves both on the engine itself and what Raven tried in Heretic. The issue, is the fact that the game falls into that zone of old games where it kinda just expects you to figure out things on your own without really giving the player any clue on what to do most of the time. But that's what Hexen is easily most famous for as unfortunate as it is.
Gameplay of Hexen first starts with choose a character class, Fighter, Cleric, and Mage. This will dictate what weapons and stats you'll have to work with, each class gains 4 weapons throughout their journey. Their starting weapon in slot 1, slot 2 that uses blue mana, slot 3 that uses green mana, and the final slot 4 weapon that needs to be assembled with 3 parts scatter throughout various levels and hubs and uses both mana types. You also have a bunch of inventory items, some returning from Heretic either as is or reskinned, and completely new items like the Flechettes or Disks of Repulsion
The Fighter, Baratus, is the melee class, moving like a unshackled bullet train, hitting hard with melee attacks and having the highest base armor stat. Despite what you may think, he does gain some range with his Hammer in Slot 3 and his Slot 4 super weapon Quietus so he isn't completely helpless again flying foes or ones that require distance. Otherwise his gameplay feels most like having the berserk pack in Doom and just going crazy on the enemies in melee, as his starting weapon has a 3 punch combo system and all his other weapons get powered up with mana to make up for his lack of magic. He also throws Flechettes like a grenade and either explodes on contract or after a short period.
The Cleric, Parias, is more like the middle man between the classes. He doesn't have the highest of the stats that The Fighter has but makes up for that with magic. He starts with a fairly bland mace but quickly gains access to some very interesting ranged options. Such as the Serpent staff that has the unique property of being able to sap health when up close to enemies, or the Firestorm that kinda acts like a short ranged explosion maker. But nothing compares to the power of his Slot 4 weapon, the Wraithverge. As it fires ghosts that deal rapid damage to any enemy it can find, as long as that enemy can't shield. Easily a weapon that completely eases the difficulty if you can assemble it. He places Flechettes in the air and they explode into a gas cloud. This is extremely effective at stunlock enemies, especially those who can shield. You can even launch it using a Disk of Repulsion
The Mage, Daedolon, is the ranged class and is the slowest and technically weakest class on a physical level, making up for it with most of his weapons being effective and ranged. I mean his starting weapon is a wand that fires hitscan at a decent rate that also can pierce through enemies like a "tiny little railgun". His slot 2 weapon the Frost Shards, basically is a ice shotgun with a powerful melee attack, although even as cool as the enemies freezing is they do prove to be annoying by being in the way of the player and other projectiles. The Slot 3 weapon, Arc of Death is probably the most effective weapon he has as it's able to stunlock enemies pretty well and it's nature allows it to climb up walls to reach higher up foes. It does kinda make the Bloodscourge, his Slot 4 superweapon, kinda just exists. It's effective and a good weapon but it kinda doesn't give that same "ommpf" that the Fighter gets with him finally getting a powerful ranged attack or the Cleric getting the most broken weapon in the game. He uses the Flechette basically in the same way as the Time Bomb of the Ancients item in Heretic, basically a placeable timed explosive barrel.
Now onto the levels, Hexen feature 5 main hubs that branch into a handful of levels. Typically your main goal is to figure out how to progress to the next hub by solving puzzles, collecting items, and fighting Korax's minions. This sounds good on paper but very rarely does Hexen give clarification on what generally needs to be done in order to progress. You might get a nod to check a certain spot in a level but typically it's very common to start wandering around the hubs and levels before finally hitting that thing you missed or giving up and using a guide. This is probably THE most frustrating thing about Hexen as this gameplay loop CAN work. There's a Doom TC called Hands of Necromancy that's also on Steam and uses the same hub concept as Hexen but you're also given a journal to keep track of things you need to do as you discover them so you always have some general direction on where to go without the game outright marking it for you. I feel like if Hexen had some kind of system like this all those annoying switch puzzles would be more reasonable to complete.
Enemy combat features a small handful of monsters ranging from kinda of a pushover to the most annoying enemies known to FPS games. Enemies that can shield like the Centaurs really slow the game down as they will always shield when they hit a pain state which make it almost impossible for you to damage them and any projectiles get reflected back. Or the waterbound Stalkers as they can only take in damage when attempting to attack. Even the Dark Bishops can fill a room with homing projectiles quickly and they even deal explosive damage when dying. But frankly the most annoying probably are the Ettins, not because they're particularly tough but because they'll keep respawning, forever. And since this game will, and I mean WILL have you backtracking, you can get unlucky and these annoying creatures will block you way or make you waste mana to dispatch them quickly. However it is easy to say that conquering these challenging foes in the various combat encounters you have with them is pretty satisfying.
Now style wise, this is a game from the Doom Engine from 1995, but don't let that fool you as Raven worked in a ton of improvements to the engine after their work on Heretic, which also made improvements. Levels now have the ability to support scripting for events, details like destructible glass and leaves, the entire hub system allowing you to leave a level and return to it with all your progress kept, and so much more small details that makes Hexen such a big step forward in this in engine prior to Good Build Engine games from coming out. Even just the art direction is fantastic with a constant gloomy vibe given between all 5 hubs and a ton of level themes
Overall, Hexen has flaws, but these stem from a lack of level guidance and minor quirks with the combat. Looking past that there's a really standout game here that certain goes beyond what Heretic attempted the year prior. It just needs some quality of life here and there, and thanks to Nightdive that has been done with Heretic and is the version I'd recommend as that and the old version are packaged together as it should be.
