Heretic 2
| Heretic 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Raven software | ||
| Publisher | Activision | ||
| Senior Developer | Brian Raffel, Eric C. Biessman | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1998 | ||
| platform | Windows , Linux , Mac OS , Amiga | ||
| Game engine | id Tech 2 | ||
| genre | Third person shooter | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| medium | CD-ROM | ||
| language | English | ||
| Current version | 1.06 | ||
| Age rating |
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Heretic 2 is a third-person shooter in a dark fantasy scenario developed by Raven Software and released for Windows in 1998 via Activision . It is the fourth installment in the Heretic and Witches series and takes place after the end of the original Serpent Rider trilogy in Witches 2 . It continues the story about Corvus, the main character from Heretic .
The game uses the further developed Quake 2 engine and replaced the first-person view that was common in its predecessors with a pursuer's perspective , which led to criticism. Apart from the licensing of the Quake engine, the game was no longer created in direct collaboration with id Software . The music was composed by Kevin Schilder, Gerald Brom contributed concept art to the characters and creatures of the game.
action
When Corvus, the protagonist of the first title, returned to Parthoris from his exile, it had been ravaged by an epidemic for some time that either kills those affected or drives them crazy. Corvus is forced to flee by an attack by the infected on his hometown Silverspring and is infected himself in the process. However, since he has a tome of power, the effects of the disease on him are mitigated. Still, he must find a cure before succumbing to the disease.
His search takes him through the city and a swamp into a jungle palace, then through a desert canyon and an insect stick, followed by a dark network of mines, and finally to a castle on a high mountain, where he comes across an ancient seraphim named Morcalavin. Morcalavin tried to achieve immortality with the help of the seven tomes of power. However, since one of them was owned by Corvus, one of them turned out to be a fake. This led to Morcalavin's madness and created the plague. During the final battle between Corvus and Morcalavin, Corvus exchanges the wrong tome for the correct one, healing Morcalavin's madness and ending the plague.
Gameplay
Unlike the previous three titles ( Heretic , Hexen , Hexen 2 ), which were all first-person shooters, the player controls Corvus from a third-person perspective, in which the camera is fixed behind the character. The scenario is a medieval fantasy world. Corvus masters a combination of close and long-range combat, similar to its predecessor. While there are still three weapons, the player can choose their ammunition. In addition, he can use various offensive and defensive spells, each of which is fed by its own mana pools (green and blue). The tome of power is no longer an object that is hidden in the levels, but a defensive spell that, like in its predecessors, increases damage and gives weapons or offensive spells new abilities for a short time. Close combat with Corvus 'staff blade is more varied, with the option of cutting off opponents' limbs and making them harmless. Magic shrines distributed throughout the game offer a variety of bonus effects when used, such as silver or gold armor, temporary health boosts, permanent improvements to the staff blade, etc.
The changed game perspective and the three-dimensional game environment enabled the developers to introduce a wider range of movement options, such as B. pulling up edges, jumping off walls and pole vault, in a much more dynamic environment than the Doom engine of the first two games was possible. Both games invite comparison with their respective game-engine namesake: the original Heretic was built on the Doom engine , and Heretic II was built using the Quake II engine, later known as id Tech 2. Heretic II was favorably received at release because it took a different approach to its design.
development
Inspired by the Tomb Raider series , Raven Software decided to use the Quake 2 engine for a third person action game. During the early development phase, Gerald Brom made a significant contribution to the visual design of the game world with his concept drawings. The studio then designed and tested the implementation of a third-person camera perspective. With an early demonstration of the game, Raven Software received Activision clearance and targeted the 1998 Christmas sales season. One challenge was the need for a software renderer to make the game playable for (mainly European) 16-bit users.
For realistic animations, the main character Corvus was created with a backbone and consisted of a total of 1600 frames. Most of the animations were created with Softimage . The static objects of the game world and the simplified animations were created with 3D Studio Max . The engine could display up to 4,000 polygons on the screen.
The game was localized for the German market and the blood representations removed from the game. Compared to the English version, the menu option for setting the level of violence is missing. Body parts cannot be separated and there is no escape animation for enemies.
Heretic 2 was later ported from Loki Software to Linux , from Hyperion Entertainment to the Amiga and from MacPlay to the Macintosh .
reception
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Heretic 2 received mostly positive reviews ( GameRankings : 81.50%).
“The strategy of using a ready-made graphics engine and devoting more time to the actual game design is working again. The wonderful, varied graphics have a less spectacular but pleasant fantasy story reminiscent of the Dragon Lance saga . My hero can be maneuvered quite easily, if not always very precisely. The unclean control does not have a negative effect on what is happening, as uneven spots remain an absolute rarity. Overall, it is the details that give Heretic 2 special charm: the winding, diverse levels, the character model divided into thorax and lower body, or the constant upgrading of the weapons that are worth seeing (and especially visible on the character). "
Edge praised the game for its mix of platforming and shoot 'em up . Heretic 2 is individual enough to stand out between first-person games (like id Software's first-person shooter) and third-person games (like Core Designs Tomb Raider ). Heretic 2 was in the selection of Computer Gaming World magazinefor the award for best action game of 1998, but lost to Battlezone . According to the editors, Heretic 2 has "proven that the Quake II engine can work in a third-person game and that a magical elf without outer clothing can actually convey great fun".
Next Generation awarded three out of five points and came to the conclusion that “ Heretic II has several points that speak for the game. It easily takes its place next to the current heavyweights, but it also serves as a reminder that all aspects of game design must be pushed forward if your project is to really stand out. "
Heretic 2 remained a commercial failure. According to PC Data, the game sold 28,994 units in the United States through April 1999. Steve Felsen, Director of Global Brand Management at Activision, saw the main reason for this in the changed game design and stated, "Fans of first-person shooters - the target group for this game - did not take advantage of the third-person perspective".
The rights to the series were split between id and Raven. Raven owned the development rights for a sequel, id held the publishing rights. Since the takeover of id by ZeniMax and Raven by Activision , a continuation of the series is therefore not possible, according to id Software's Tim Willits, as long as the two parent companies do not come to an agreement.
Web links
- Official website ( Memento of April 27, 1999 in the Internet Archive )
- Heretic 2 at MobyGames (English)
Individual proof
- ↑ a b Tal Blevins: Heretic II - IGN . November 25, 1998. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ Raven Staff: Official Heretic II FAQ . Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ A b Greg Kasavin: Heretic II Review - GameSpot . December 1, 1998. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ↑ a b Jake Simpson: Postmortem: Raven Software's Heretic II . In: Gamasutra . UBM . May 21, 1999. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ Dan Simpson: Out of Body Experiences - Gaming in Third Person . In: Maximum PC . March 1999, p. 84.
- ↑ a b Test report PC Joker
- ↑ Gerald Wurm: Heretic II - Schnittbericht: USK 18 (German) (Schnittberichte.com). Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Macplay . Macplay.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
- ↑ a b Test report PC Player
- ↑ Test report PC Games
- ↑ Test report Power Play
- ↑ a b Heretic II . In: Future Publishing (Ed.): Edge . No. 67, January 1999, p. 92.
- ↑ a b Heretic II for PC - GameRankings . GameRankings . Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ↑ Finals . In: Imagine Media (ed.): Next Generation . No. 51, March 1999, p. 91.
- ↑ Editor: Computer Gaming World's 1999 Premier Awards; CGW Presents the Best Games of 1998 . In: Computer Gaming World . No. 177, April 1999, pp. 90, 93, 96-105.
- ^ Marc Saltzman: The Top 10 Games That No One Bought . In: CNET Gamecenter . June 4, 1999. Archived from the original on June 16, 2000.