You’ve got some pretty cool enemies like Undead Warriors, Ghosts, Gargoyles, and other fantasy-type enemies. The last two chapters get a little stingy with ammo which becomes annoying and being forced to use the Elven Staff on more powerful enemies is almost a death sentence. There are plenty of standard health pickups and I usually died after getting cornered. Being a fast-paced shooter, trying to do all of that when you’re in a bind just may get you killed. There are others like a Quartz Flask which grants more health, Wings of Wrath giving you the ability to fly, Sadly, the inventory has one problem and that is the fact that you need to cycle through the items to find the one you want, select it, then activate it. Another one of my favorites is the Morph Ovum which turns enemies into chickens. The Tome of Power is probably my favorite since it makes all your weapons extremely more powerful. Things like the Mystic Urn which, when activated, grants the player full health. Yes, you can automatically pick up ammo and health to but there are special items that you can store in your inventory. The item system in Heretic was revolutionary for the FPS genre at the time. Each level usually contains a handful of secret areas containing weapons or items and discovering these is usually worthwhile so you’ll want to press the “Use” button on the walls hoping to find that secret entrance. If you didn’t realize you need to shoot the door to open it rather than find a switch you’ll be pulling your hair out trying to figure it out unless you look at a walkthrough. This is back when games didn’t hold your hand and you had to figure everything out for yourself. Not only that the levels in the last two episodes are much more complex and I found myself getting lost all of the time. The first three episodes are not particularly hard on the standard difficulty but the final two episodes definitely bring the pain. ![]() Yeah, you’ll be hunting down keys, activating switches, trying to find what the switch did, running back and forth, opening doors, and trying to find all of the secrets. You’ll be dodging enemy fire and circle strafing all while holding down the fire button and trying not to miss a shot. It may play like Doom but the weapons, environments, and music make it feel like a unique experience making you feel like a badass elf rather than a badass space marine. You’ll also get a staff, gauntlets, a Firemace, a pretty cool looking Phoenix Rod, and a Hellstaff. The Elven Wand feels like the pistol but shoots crystals, the Ethereal Crossbow is clearly a remodeled shotgun and shoots green bolts, the Dragon Claw fires claw orbs and feels very similar to the chaingun. From the moment you start playing you’ll be able to tell what weapon corresponds with what Doom weapon. Heretic is a dark fantasy game and doesn’t contain any weapons of modern times. Heretic runs on the Doom engine and it definitely feels like Doom. Obviously there’s no cinematic cutscenes but there is plenty of shit to shoot. You play as the elf, Corvus, on a quest to slay D’Sparil, one of the serpent riders. Three brothers, known as Serpent Riders have apparently used their magic for evil and some Sidhe elves resist their magic and now their considered Heretics. Like many games back in the day, the story in Heretic was only a backdrop for the gameplay and I’m guessing most people didn’t pay attention to it. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders is the full retail version containing the original three episodes plus two additional episodes. Similar to Doom, Heretic was released in 1994 as shareware. It had great level design and fantastic visuals for it’s time as well. Heretic is a gem of a game and introduced the item management system that many games take advantage of today. Even though that’s true for the most part, it’s hardly a Doom rip-off. ![]() It ran on the same engine and had the same style of gameplay but with a different coat of paint. Heretic is one of those games that you may consider a Doom clone. ![]() Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, GoldenEye, and Duke Nukem 3D are some of the most popular. The 90s were a pretty great decade for first-person shooters. Tweet This was played using the GZDoom source port.
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