Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders is the expanded version of the original Heretic retail release with the addition of two new episodes. This gives Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders a total of five episodes compared to the original Heretic’s three episodes (and a single episode for the shareware release). Owners of the original Heretic are able to download a free patch which will update the game to the Shadow of the Serpent Riders’ full five episodes.
Your world has been ravaged by the three Serpent Riders from the Abyss. Afterwards two of the Riders have left, while one, D’Sparil remains to oversee the oppression. It is your duty, as the Heretic, to destroy this demon.
Heretic is the first game in the Heretic/Hexen franchise. Here begins Raven’s tradition of taking id’s latest game engines, improving on them, and using them in a fantasy game.
For Heretic, the Doom engine was used. The Raven team enhanced the engine with the addition of an inventory system, the ability to look up and down, and the ability to fly, along with some lesser features such as powerful wind currents. Not counting the inventory, the core gameplay that made Doom such a hit remained the same.
The world has been attacked by the three Serpent Riders from the Abyss. Their mysterious power makes people obey and follow them like sheep. Only the ancient Sidhe elves are immune to the Riders’ influence, which led to them being branded heretics. With most of their work done, the two elder Riders leave, leaving only D’Sparil, the youngest and weakest Rider, behind to oversee the oppression. He sends the armies of the Seven Kings against the Sidhe, who have no choice but to extinguish the Seven Candles, vanquishing the armies. The retribution is swift and hard, and most of the elves are destroyed. Now, one of the last remaining Sidhe must take the fight to D’Sparil himself, being the only hope his world has left.
Heretic is the first game in the Heretic / Hexen franchise. It uses the engine from id Software’s DOOM and transplants that game’s first person shooter gameplay into a fantasy setting.
Like DOOM, Heretic consists of three distinct episodes, playable in any order, the first being available as shareware. The hunt for D’Sparil begins in the City of the Damned, continues in the alternate dimension of the Hell’s Maw and comes to an end in The Dome of D’Sparil. Every episode consists of nine levels, one of them a hidden one. The goal in each level is to find the exit, killing everything standing in one’s way. Keys must be found and buttons pressed to advance. Enemies include gargoyles, golems, undead knights, sorcerers, ophidian beasts and more. Most enemies exist in several varieties: some have additional range attacks, others have ghost forms and are impervious to certain weapons.
The weapon arsenal is large and varied: the basic weapons are a wooden staff and the Elvenwand that shoots low-damage magic bullets. More powerful equipment must be found: the Ethereal Crossbow dispenses a spread of arrows doing high damage, but at a low firing rate. The Dragon’s Claw and Hellstaff shoot with a higher frequency: the Claw hits enemies instantly, the Staff’s energy bullets need to travel to them first. The Phoenix Rod fires explosive charges and must be handled with care. The Firemace unleashes steel metal projectiles that bounce across the room towards the enemy. A better melee weapon than the wooden staff are the Gauntlets of the Necromancer, which dispense deadly energy.
Heretic goes beyond DOOM in certain aspects. The engine has been enhanced with the ability to look up and down and the ability to fly, and wind currents pushing the player in (often unwanted) directions have been added. Also new is an inventory system. Many different power-ups can be collected and then be used at the correct time. These include health flasks, invisibility and invincibility upgrades, time bombs, and torches to light dark rooms. The Morph Ovum transforms enemies into chickens for easier dispatching, the Wings of Wrath allow one to fly, and the Tome of Power gives all weapons a substantial upgrade: projectiles become more powerful or split up upon impact; the Phoenix Rod becomes a flamethrower and the Gauntlets remove life force from an enemy and transfer it to the player.
Heretic includes the same multiplayer options as DOOM: both cooperative team play and competitive deathmatch are included.
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