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Do you remember? "Witches"

29.5.2018

Translation: machine translated

Double-headed monsters, demonic voices, fantasy carnage from a first-person perspective: this is "Hexen" from 1995, which kicks off our new series "Do you remember?". In it, we take you on a nostalgia trip into our gaming past. Let's start with one of my favourite games from the past.

"Greetings mortal are you ready to die?" Yes, from Augenkrebs. When I play the level today where you are greeted by an ominous voice, the first thing that strikes me is how badly "Hexen" has aged. But that's forgivable, after all the game was released in 1995 for MS-DOS (later also for Windows 95 and even for the Nintendo 64). Our computer at the time, a 486 SX33 (it wasn't enough for the DX model), certainly had its share of problems.

"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.

A deliciously beautiful mush comes out of the monsters.

A fresh twist on the "Doom" formula

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.

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Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.

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Do you remember? "Witches"

A fresh twist on the "Doom" formula

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