RTTP: Heretic 2 - Uncharted 0

Guilty_AI

Member
Heretic 2 is such a weird game. It came out in 1998 after the two pseudo-sequels to Heretic 1 (Hexen 1&2) and follows the original protagonist.

The first thing that stands out in this game is that, unlike the previous 3, this has a third person camera.

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Then as you play around with the controls, it becomes obvious they were trying to incorporate Tomb Raider elements into the game

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So the end result is this weird mix of shooter, action game and platforming that is oddly reminiscent of - as the title suggested - Uncharted. Minus the larger focus on story and scripted events at least (altough there is more of a narrative to follow here).

The game ran very well in modern systems (using fan patches), at higher resolutions, support to widescreen and 60 fps. That said there's still some jank here and there, like an specific small area the game would crash as soon as i tried to enter (easily solvable using kiwi/no-clip, or by going to another connected level first for some reason), the aim aligning above where the shots would actually land - though there is some auto-aim at place here so it wasn't too bothersome - the typical stiff controls you'd see on the original Tomb Raider games, or the lack of some QoL features like how to change weapons i needed to cycle through them one-by-one (probably the worst offender imo).




Currently the game is abandonware so your choices to play it are either abandonware sites or getting a used copy. Apparently the reason there isn't a modern version available to purchase like the previous three games has something to do with publishing rights not being clear between id software and Activision. If only there was a larger company that happened to own both of them and made a proper remaster of this game happen.
 
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Oh, and i found the VA of the protagonist to be quite good for the time



And fans revived it MP mode, though i've no idea if anyone plays it still

 
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Loved this one when I played it maaaaany years ago. I was surprised at it being third-person, but ended up loving the game still.

Game was developed by Raven and it shows. The melee weapon (the staff) has a lot of special moves and kinda reminds me of Jedi Outcast's lightsaber.
 
Loved this one when I played it maaaaany years ago. I was surprised at it being third-person, but ended up loving the game still.

Game was developed by Raven and it shows. The melee weapon (the staff) has a lot of special moves and kinda reminds me of Jedi Outcast's lightsaber.
Speaking of, the staff is reeeeeally op at the latter stages of the game. It's hit detection is a bit janky tho.
 
Speaking of, the staff is reeeeeally op at the latter stages of the game. It's hit detection is a bit janky tho.
Couldn't you set it up on fire or something like that? Cool stuff, I mean staff, for sure.

I never even knew this game was a thing. Pretty cool.
I miss those kind of games: linear levels with action and exploration and maybe some puzzle here and there. Heretic II, Rune, Blade of Darkness... we used to get a lot of those, but nowadays it seems that all action games want to be is a souls-like, focus on combat and that's it.
 
dont agree on it having jank
it was a great game and one of the big releases on PC when it launched
one of ravens best
i mean, the thing of having to cycle through weapons one by one is kind of annoying (if there are hotkeys, couldn't find any). The rest like the crash i mentioned or the misaligned reticle is most likely just old game+modern system+fan fixes combo.
 
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I played either Heretic 1 or 2, I can't remember. It was 25 years ago or so. I remember having a pretty good time with it.
 
Hey Guilty_AI Guilty_AI , is the stuff listed on the PCGamingWiki page enough to run the game? Or did you follow any other guide?

Nightdive, pls.
I bet their next remasters will be Thief and Thief 2. They already worked with the same engine for System Shock 2 so I guess it makes sense.

But yeah hopefully they tackle this one soon, it's a very cool game that deserves way better than being forgotten on the abandonware mines.
 
Must've been Heretic 1, then. I remember it feeling very much like Doom or Quake - first person perspective, gloomy surroundings.
yes, uses the doom engine and everything. You can actually buy it today without much complications.


Works with GZDoom too so it can run with some modern amenities.
 
I recommend running Heretic with Walpurgis mod. It's fun!

As for this, it just reminds me of how sad it is we never got a sequel to Jedi Academy. The game ended just when it started getting good. By the time you got to all the wall-kicking, wall-running platforming and flinging people to their screaming deaths, the game was like 90% over.

Raven nearly reached its creative nadir. Then just... stopped.
 
I bet their next remasters will be Thief and Thief 2. They already worked with the same engine for System Shock 2 so I guess it makes sense.

But yeah hopefully they tackle this one soon, it's a very cool game that deserves way better than being forgotten on the abandonware mines.
I hope you are right, Everything they touch is gold. They should be the ones doing the House of the Dead Remakes too, not fucking megapixel
 
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