Hexen II

🎮 Steam ⏳ 15 hours ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Ambitious Dark Fantasy #

This is a dark fantasy FPS that expands on the ideas of its predecessor while embracing early RPG mechanics in a way that was ambitious for its time. Built on a modified Quake engine by Raven Software, the game trades pure run-and-gun simplicity for a slower, more methodical experience focused on exploration, character progression, and atmosphere. And as much as it gives a lot of vibes that it’ll have a progression system, it doesn’t actually implement anything special. Your progress is more akin to other traditional shooters, you can find new weapons, upgrades and equipments, instead of traditional RPG progression using XP. Before anything, you need to choose your character, Paladin, Crusader, Assassin, or Necromancer, each with unique weapons, spells, and playstyles, giving the game strong replay value and a sense of identity.

Atmospheric World Design #

One of its greatest strengths is its world design and mood, the game is divided into themed hubs inspired by medieval Europe, ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Greco-Roman mythology, all tied together by a bleak, oppressive tone. It is very nice to see such varied and exotic environments for a shooter, especially for its era. The environments were impressively detailed, with large open spaces, vertical level design, and dynamic lighting that enhanced immersion. The hub-based structure encourages exploration and gives the world a cohesive feel, making it seem less like a series of disconnected levels and more like a continuous journey through a cursed realm. Despite all this, almost all the levels are very confusing to navigate, especially the Edypt one which, I admit that I needed to follow a guide in order to progress. Fortunately the last few levels have a very high quality design compared to the first half of the game.

Tactical Combat Focus #

Combat is deliberate rather than frantic, emphasizing positioning, resource management, and the smart use of spells and abilities. It really forces you to become more tactical in your approaches, instead of simply relying on skills and reflexes. And since your resources are very limited, you need to take advantage of the varied consumable items such as bombs, power-ups and regens. Traditional XP points allows you to level up and improve attributes, which adds a subtle sense of long-term progression. Though I got to admit that, once you find the last weapon of each class, the game becomes a breeze since they are powerful enough for all the enemies you face. One of its biggest drawbacks is the pacing, progress is uneven, and some encounters become frustrating if the you miss key upgrades or enters areas in the “wrong” order.

Frustrating Puzzles Navigation #

The most divisive aspect is its puzzle and navigation design, objectives are often vague, backtracking is frequent, and it is easy to get lost or overlook crucial switches and items. Like I said before, the Egypt level is the worst level, it is the one I got stuck quite often and for quite some time. I needed to use a guide in order to progress, and since the pacing is very bad, I had difficulty following the guide since there is a correct order in which you need to do things. Not to mention the mysterious key item hunting, there I don’t know which is worse, where they are located, or how to use them. There are even some unfixed bugs up to this day when it comes to some soft-lock people face while trying to progress.

Flawed Yet Memorable #

This game really needed some patches in order to address these QOL issues, maybe even a remake. While the high difficulty of its puzzles can be rewarding for players who enjoy methodical exploration and trial-and-error problem solving, it can also feel unintuitive and punishing, especially by modern standards. Overall, this entry is a bold, atmospheric shooter that rewards patience and curiosity, standing as a memorable but flawed classic that appeals most to players who appreciate depth and mood over constant action. I yet to fully play the first entry, but I already heard a lot of opinions about it, and I don’t think these design issues are isolated on this sequel, if anything I think the second game actually tried to address the QOL issues, and succeeded to some extent.