Oh, man. So, we’re talking about 1994’s “Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders” and its ’95 partner-in-crime, “Hexen: Beyond Heretic”. You know those games? They basically cracked open the door to new worlds in FPS games. Now, there’s this Heretic + Hexen thing happening, and guess who’s behind it? Yep, id Software and Nightdive Studios. They’re basically giving these vintage classics a facelift for, well, people who might still use pagers. Kidding! Or not.
Okay, there’s this video. Don’t even know what it’s about, but it’s there on YouTube with an old-school thumbnail and everything. Reminds me of when thumbnails took forever to load. Ever happened to you? Either way, this revamped version looks epic—because nostalgia is like that comfy old hoodie you can’t throw away even if it’s falling apart.
Anyway—hang on. Right, where was I? Yeah. Back then, these games got mixed up in sci-fi and some serious dark fantasy vibes. Brian Raffel, one of the big guys from Raven Software, shares that seeing these games rise up again is… surreal. No joke, they threw in stuff like character classes and vertical aiming, which nobody expected back then. Can you imagine playing something that groundbreaking? I missed it, obviously, but it must’ve been wild.
Players get to wander through all these gnarly monster-tunnels and puzzle-filled places. It’s like mixing D&D with Doom, kinda. Got to say, FPS was on a whole different level then. Mike Rubits from id Software even says they were mostly shooters about war and sci-fi. Not maces and magic wands. Go figure! It was Romero’s brainchild to inject RPG twists into Hexen. Risky? Maybe. But dang, it made things stick, you know?
They’ve basically rolled in multiplayer modes, improved soundtracks, and some behind-the-scenes fun in this enhanced version. Oh, and all sorts of new content too. Heretic + Hexen is returning—new expansions, new episodes, the whole shebang. Xaser Acheron and Samuel “Kaiser” Villarreal from Nightdive were on it like bees on honey. These guys churned out episodes out of thin air, like some kind of creative wizards.
Whether you’ve waded through these shadowy lands before or it’s your maiden voyage, Raven, id, and Nightdive invite you in. Folks, here’s your nostalgia trip ticket! And to the fans—revered veterans and curious newbies alike—Raffel’s got a thank you for the memories and imagination. Heretic + Hexen drops today for PlayStation 5 and 4. So, there’s that.
Catch you later, maybe in the depths of some digital dungeon.
