Comments on: Is It Really That Bad? – Hexen 64

By: Zach Spoonamore

Zach Spoonamore — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:45:00 +0000

hexen is a good but confusing game

By: Seanobi777

Seanobi777 — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:01:00 +0000

I’ve played this game both on the Nintendo 64, and the PC. I have it on PC. It’s actually a pretty good game, along with Heretic and Hexen 2! And yes, the controls are WAY better on PC. Especially when using Zdaemon or ZDoom, and GZDoom with free-look and those sorts of programs. But I’ve heard the story is where it’s at… and I favor the Cleric myself, b/c he is half-fighter half-mage type of guy I think.

By: Francis Coulombe

Francis Coulombe — Tue, 29 May 2012 21:13:00 +0000

The game has coop multiplayer, that is where it shines! The whole choosing your class thing really comes together in coop. In single player, you are meant to compensate by relying on your items more.

Hexen is a pretty flawed game. The original had a lot of problems already and the N64 port accentuated many of them (it even has some game breaking bugs! Like a door randomly not opening when it should, a magic platform not appearing, getting you stuck forever… eep!), but if you approach the game with the right mindset, you will appreciate it a lot more.
You have to realize that Hexen, unlike its predecessor Heretic, was not quite meant to be like Doom in its level design and approach. Playing it like doom is a good way to get frustrated and stuck! The idea behind it was to have a first person shooter with a much slower pace than usual, where you take your time and be careful, with all the traps and puzzles and secrets. In a way, it was trying to have an old dungeon crawler approach to its design (think of games like Eye of the beholder). It is full of secrets and rewards exploration, it creates a good sense of tension with its sudden deathtraps. The relatively weak weapons force you to take the battles one at a time and tread carefully, using your items wisely when things get too rough. Speaking of those items, the wide array of them that you accumulate is really cool. Discs of repulsion that push enemies away, statuettes that summon a giant minotaur to fight enemies for you, an item that make you fly or make you invincible… a golden pig statue that transforms nearby enemies into little piglets…It was pretty cool that you could hold on to them and use them whenever you wanted during the adventure, I don’t think FPS games had done that yet back then.

But yes, as I said earlier. it IS very flawed, but I think one can appreciate it a lot more if playing it with the right minset. And especially, if playing it in coop multiplayer! Figuring out them’ puzzles is a lot more fun as a team, and the different classes really complete one another. The deathmatches are also a lot of fun, because unlike in single player, you can find all of the games’ weapons when you play, and there are many items to collect to mix things up.

Also, the n64 version had really good music. Gotta love that mellotron.

By: Pedro SIlva

Pedro SIlva — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:32:00 +0000

First, this show was awesome, im on with this gameplay-discussion format without moving tottally to jokes, analysis all the way and some jokes since we are among friends. Second, i think what they did wrong was the rush to release the game as fast as possible. Anyone in the company would say the 2d sprites of trees and enemies and all this blurryness as a problem that could be solved, we know it, but the deadline is there, when that goldeneye game arrives no one will play our game.

By: Mike Anthony

Mike Anthony — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:34:00 +0000

I have Hexen for the Sega Saturn… It’s BAAAAD. Super awkward controls and blurry awkward graphics

By: Chichok

Chichok — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Didn’t like the format. I’d rather have the format where you comment as you play.

By: Damian Wielk

Damian Wielk — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:09:00 +0000

“what’s in the box? -I was laughing” – that’s hilarious

By: Iamghost44

Iamghost44 — Sat, 19 May 2012 01:05:00 +0000

I love the format of this episode. Very entertaining. I would love to see u do more episodes like this with other people, or Eric again.

By: Fuzzyfireball

Fuzzyfireball — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:46:00 +0000

Hexen 64 is not the most common way to play it.

Either get Dosbox or grab a source port. Go to the /doomworld archives and grab some custom content. That’s the way to play it!

By: Tom White

Tom White — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:40:00 +0000

Really, most of what’s bad about the N64 version comes down to control. I think Hexen for PC was a really great game. There are some gripes I have. Like, you guys mentioned the flechettes (the green potions). Those are useful for the fighter as they’re a ranged attack that you can toss down stairs or just fling at bad guys so you can kill them from afar. For mages they’re almost completely useless. I think they’re most useful for Clerics. They plant them like mages, but instead of exploding, they release a poison gas that slowly drains monsters’ health. Slow-moving monsters who pass over them can be really easily killed.

The N64 version’s music sounds terrible compared to the PC version. The Guardian of Ice music sounds amazing for the PC, and AWFUL for N64.

The one thing I like about the N64 version is deathmatch. At least there, the bad control makes everyone evenly-matched and it’s easy to just pick up and play, whereas for PC you have to find an engine that will let you play online and find a friend who also owns the same game. The assortment of weapons and items that you can use in deathmatch makes it a ton of fun. I love summoning the Maulotaur on my friends and watch them try to fight it off. You also have these repulsor disc things that repel anything that comes close to you. You can use it to fling your enemies off of cliffs and into traps.