IBM PC and compatibles

Minimum: 486, 4 MB RAM, 5 MB free hard disk

Peripheral support: Virtual I.O.

Sound support: All popular sound cards

Let all pretenders to the throne scatter! id Software, the company that started the current rage of first-person action games is back, once again removing all doubt that they are not only the first, but the best around. They have resumed their collaboration with Raven Software for the sequel to last year's fantasy-based hit, Heretic. HEXEN -- Beyond Heretic is not just a set of new levels with a few new things to kill and a new weapon or two. It is a genuine restyling of the basic elements that went into the original game.

At the end of Heretic, the player faced off against the bad guy causing all the trouble, D'Sparil the Serpent Rider, thereby saving the world. But there are more Serpent Riders where that one came from, and at the start of HEXEN the whole human race is under the power of Korax, an even more corrupt and powerful magician than D'Sparil. Only three people have managed to hold out against Korax's vicious spell: the Warrior, The Mage and the Cleric!

If this sounds familiar to the pen-and-paper role-players out there, yes, we are talking about distinctly different character classes. The Warrior is, as one would expect, a majorly tough cookie, expert in martial arts and a whiz in hand-to-hand combat. Then there's the Mage, frail of body, but possessing powerful magicks to destroy any that dare oppose him. The Cleric walks the line between these abilities - he's no slouch in either spellcasting or spinecracking. As a single player, you can choose between any of these characters, and encounter different monsters and items depending on your choice, thereby tripling the replay possibilities. In cooperative network play, players can set marching orders to take advantage of the specific powers of the heroes.

Each different hero class has access to a specific arsenal of weapons, some magical, some mundane. The former are all fueled by the eldritch energy known as Mana, so instead of trying to track down weapon specific ammunition, the player will only have to collect two different kinds of mana globes.

The items in Heretic were interesting enough, but in HEXEN, many of them have been given intriguing twists. For example, the "chaos device" of the original game (a teleporter that zapped the player back to where he entered the level) has been replaced by the "displacement missile", which teleports your enemy out of your face instead. Your magical arsenal also includes statuettes that let you summon a monster to fight on your side for about a minute. But the most popular Heretic items will also be available without any alteration. After all, how can you improve on the Morph Ovum, a mystic golden egg which turns your adversaries into chickens?

HEXEN is based on the ever-popular DOOM engine, and the id-meisters promise that this will be the last gasp for the venerable system. Every stop has been pulled out in this game's creation. The scenarios are not just static locations: dead leaves blow across the landscape, lightning flashes, fog thickens, bridges crumble and earthquakes Quake! The action ranges through wastelands, sewers, castles and ancient temples, all teeming with hostile and magical creatures. The usual dark and dreary corridors are also filled up with new elements like swinging doors and secret revolving bookcases.

Heretic was already highly acclaimed for its use of dramatic sound, but HEXEN takes things at least three steps further. In order to create the ultimate menacing atmosphere, the original game did not just depend on an enemy's placement to generate noises in the right places. The chants of the menacing monks were audible on a particular step of a staircase, still far from the real action, just to give the player a case of the shakes. This same technique is being used in HEXEN, but the sounds themselves are far more frightening and realistic. Thunder crashes, waves splash, monsters shriek and players quiver with anticipation.

This powerful use of suspense is also at work in some of the monster design. Large expanses of water are teeming with the scaly evidence of sea monsters, their fins popping above the surface just long enough to make your heart drop into your stomach. If you actually venture into the waves, it won't be long before you'll meet one of these happy campers face to ugly face, and find that they have more than a little in common with the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

I could give examples all day long, but the upshot is this: HEXEN -- Beyond Heretic is set to be yet another fantastic game in id's amazing history. The release will be marked with the world's largest on-line Deathmatch tournament on October 30th, Devil's Night.

DOOM series
Heretic
Witchaven