"Hexen" was released in the 3D shooter boom years that triggered "Doom" and "Doom II". The Doom engine on which the game is based is unmistakable. It was developed by Raven Soft and produced by none other than ID Software's John Romero. "Hexen" swaps the sci-fi setting of "Doom" for fantasy, but retains the demonic element. Initially, you choose between the cleric, warrior and mage, all three of which have different weapons and running speeds. An absolute novelty for me at the time. THREE playable classes at once. At the time, I found the mixture of fighter and wizard extremely exciting, which is why I also chose the cleric in "Hexen", who initially wields a morning star as a weapon. Armed only with this, I had to face the countless, terrifying henchmen and bloodily breathe their last. The midi sound still makes me shudder happily even today and creates a creepily beautiful atmosphere. The effects for collecting potions or when you use the warrior's axe to blast annoying gargoyles out of the sky are simply awesome.
In retrospect, the gameplay is quite simple. As in "Doom", you primarily search for switches and levers that unlock locked doors and secret passages. However, there were also puzzles. A bunch of enemies usually spawn at the end of the trap-filled levels. The hellish creatures ensure that you can never really relax. One of the highlights was definitely the new weapons. Each character can find three additional weapons. The Cleric has a wand with a snake eye that fires two green projectiles, a gauntlet that triggers a firestorm and, last but not least, the all-destroying Wraithverge - also a wand that is the monster-killing equivalent of the BFG. After hours of bludgeoning with the mace, I was flooded with happy hormones when I finally had a new tool of death in my hand.
But the mage's or warrior's weapons also have a lot to offer. The powerful hammer or the lightning spells make short work of the opponents. As is so often the case in these games, the level design is somewhat confusing, which is why I often spent hours searching for the portal that would save me. Nevertheless, my brother and I enjoyed playing for several hours. Incidentally, the sentence mentioned at the beginning was the only thing I understood about the game. We translated the sentence into German using a small yellow Langenscheidt dictionary. However, we found it too laborious for the blocks of text between the levels. I didn't play "Heretic", which was actually the predecessor, until later. Maybe I'll tell you about it another time.
