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Hexen II is a first person shooter computer game developed by Raven Software from 1996 to 1997, published by id Software and distributed by Activision. It is the third game in the Hexen/Heretic series, and the last in the Serpent Riders trilogy. Using a modified Quake engine, it features single player and multi player game modes, as well as four character classes to choose from, each with different abilities. These include the offensive Paladin, the defensive Crusader, the spellcasting Necromancer, and the stealthy Assassin.
Plot
As in the first two games, a world has been enslaved by a powerful demon called a Serpent Rider. This time, the demon in question is Eidolon, the oldest and most powerful of the three Serpent Riders. The player must travel to four different continents, each with a distinct style (Medieval European, Mesoamerican, Ancient Egyptian, and Greco-Roman), destroy enemies, solve puzzles, defeat a horseman of the Apocalypse and continue to the next hub in pursuit of Eidolon, the final enemy.
Improvements from Hexen and Quake include destructible environments, mounted weapons, and unique level up abilities. Like its predecessor, Hexen II also uses a hub system. These hubs are a number of interconnected levels; changes made in one level may have effects in another. The Tome of Power artifact makes a return from Heretic.
Expansion pack
An expansion pack called Hexen II: Portal of Praevus was released in 1998 featuring new levels, new enemies and a new playable character class, the Demoness. It focuses on the attempted resurrection of Eidolon by the wizard Praevus, and takes place in a fifth continent featuring a Sino-Tibetan setting.
Source code release
Following the tradition from Hexen and Heretic, Raven released the source code to Hexen II in 2000. This time the source was released under the GNU General Public License, allowing ports to be made to different platforms like Linux.
External links
- Official website from Raven
- Official website from id Software
- Official website for the Portal of Praevus expansion
- Official Hexen II FAQ
- Hammer of Thyrion source port: for Linux and FreeBSD, amongst others
- NewHexen source port
- HexenWorld
- Hexen II at MobyGames
Heretic-Hexen | 1997 computer and video games | Windows games | Mac OS games | Linux games | First-person shooters | Id Software games | Raven Software games | Activision games | Computer and video games featuring cooperative gameplay
"Hexen II"