Heretic (computer Game)

''Heretic'' is a dark fantasy first-person shooter video game released in December 1994. It was developed by Raven Software and published by id Software through GT Interactive.

Using a modified version of the ''Doom'' engine, ''Heretic'' was one of the first first-person games to feature inventory manipulation and the ability to look up and down. It also introduced multiple gib objects that spawned when a character suffered a death by extreme force or heat. Previously, the character would simply crumple into a heap. The game used randomised ambient sounds and noises, such as evil laughter, chains rattling, distantly ringing bells, and water dripping in addition to the background music to further enhance the atmosphere. The music in the game was composed by Kevin Schilder. An indirect sequel, '' Hexen: Beyond Heretic'', was released the following year. '' Heretic II'' was released in 1998, which served as a direct sequel continuing the story.

Plot

Three brothers (D'Sparil, Korax, and Eidolon), known as the Serpent Riders, have used their powerful magic to possess seven kings of Parthoris, turning them into mindless puppets and corrupting their armies. The Sidhe elves resist the Serpent Riders' magic. The Serpent Riders thus declared the Sidhe as heretics and waged war against them. The Sidhe are forced to take a drastic measure to sever the natural power of the kings destroying them and their armies, but at the cost of weakening the elves' power, giving the Serpent Riders an advantage to slay the elders. While the Sidhe retreat, one elf (revealed to be named Corvus in ''Heretic II'') sets off on a quest of vengeance against the weakest of the three Serpent Riders, D'Sparil. He travels through the "City of the Damned", the ruined capital of the Sidhe (its real name is revealed to be Silverspring in ''Heretic II''), then past the demonic breeding grounds of Hell's Maw and finally the secret Dome of D'Sparil.

The player is the elvish protagonist Corvus and must first fight through the undead hordes infesting the location where the elders performed their ritual. At its end is the gateway to Hell's Maw, guarded by the Iron Liches. After defeating them, the player must seal the portal and so prevent further infestation, but after he enters the portal guarded by the Maulotaurs, he finds himself inside D'Sparil's dome. After killing D'Sparil, Corvus ends up on a perilous journey with little hope of returning home. However, he eventually succeeds in his endeavour, only to find that Parthoris is in disarray once again.

Gameplay

The gameplay of ''Heretic'' is heavily derived from '' Doom'', with a level-based structure, an armor system, triggers which open concealed chambers filled with enemies, and an emphasis on finding the proper keys to progress. Raven added a number of features to ''Heretic'' that differentiated it from ''Doom'', notably interactive environments, such as rushing water that pushes the player character along, and inventory items. In ''Heretic'', the player can pick up certain items to use at their discretion. These items range from health potions to the "morph ovum", which transforms enemies into chickens. The "Tome of Power" acts as a secondary firing mode for certain weapons, resulting in a much more powerful projectile from each weapon, some of which change the look of the projectile entirely. ''Heretic'' also features an improved version of the ''Doom'' engine, sporting the ability to look up and down within constraints, as well as fly. However, the rendering method for looking up and down merely uses a proportional pixel-shearing effect rather than any new rendering algorithm, which distorts the view considerably when looking at high-elevation angles.

As with ''Doom'', ''Heretic'' contains various cheat codes that allow the player to be invulnerable, obtain every weapon, be able to instantly kill every monster in a particular level, and several other abilities. If the player uses the "all weapons and keys" cheat ("IDKFA") from ''Doom'', a message appears warning the player against cheating and takes away all of their weapons, leaving them with only a quarterstaff. If the player uses the "god mode" cheat ("IDDQD") from ''Doom'', the game will display a message saying "Trying to cheat, eh? Now you die!" and kills the player character.

The original shareware release of ''Heretic'' came bundled with support for online multiplayer through the then new DWANGO service.

Development

''Heretic'' was developed by Raven Software with assistance by publisher id Software, the latter of which had recently pioneered the first-person shooter genre with ''Wolfenstein 3D'' and '' Doom''. According to Brian Raffel, the game's director and vice-president of Raven at the time, the developer first came to id's attention with the release of its debut title '' Black Crypt''. Id had provided Raven with a modified ''Wolfenstein 3D'' engine for its next project '' ShadowCaster'' and were impressed by the final result. John Romero first proposed ''Heretic'' as a medieval themed ''Doom''-like title to the wider id team around November of 1993, and Raven signed on shortly afterwards. Raffel considered himself and his colleagues as typical '' D&D'' fans and initially drafted the game with role-playing elements, but id did not want the group to vary too much from the ''Doom'' format. John Carmack is quoted as saying "do it like ''Doom'', and add the fantasy flavor." The project required significant investment on the part of id, as they also bought additional NeXTSTEP workstations for Raven so they could use the new ''Doom'' engine. Romero visited the studio in January, but the game was held up in the early stages by a new co-owner at Raven who wished to renegotiate the terms. A set of final negotiations at id in Dallas finalised the contract, and work was able to proceed.

''Heretic'' began development in March 1994 with Ben Gokey as lead programmer and a rough storyline penned by Michael Raymond-Judy that was finalized by id. John Romero served as executive producer. He recalled visiting the team at Raven, bringing them several Intel-based Epson NeXT computers, and teaching them how to use id's tools and engine. Major additions to the engine for graphics and gameplay included an expendable inventory system; the ability to look up, look down, and fly; water and wind effects on the player character's movement; and improved audio for both ambient and localized sound. Assistant programmer Chris Rhinehart was responsible for adding the flight mechanic, which Raffel described as a "happy accident". The director explained, "Chris came up with the idea of moving the horizon line just up and down. It wasn't a real calculation of flying, it was a hack... That was such a big event for us, and that gave us our unique flavor." Romero visited the studio in late 1994 for finaling and to set up the DWANGO client that would allow online play.

The cover art was illustrated by Gerald Brom, who had previously produced ''Dungeons & Dragons'' material, as well as the box for the recently released ''Doom II''.

Release

''Shadow of the Serpent Riders''

The original version of ''Heretic'' was only available through shareware registration (i.e. mail order) and contained three episodes. The retail version, ''Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders'', was distributed by GT Interactive in 1996, and featured the original three episodes and two additional episodes: ''The Ossuary'', which takes the player to the shattered remains of a world conquered by the Serpent Riders several centuries ago, and ''The Stagnant Demesne'', where the player enters D'Sparil's birthplace. This version was the first official release of ''Heretic'' in Europe. A free patch was also downloadable from Raven's website to update the original ''Heretic'' with the content found in ''Shadow of the Serpent Riders''.

Along with the two full additional episodes, ''Shadow of the Serpent Riders'' contains three additional levels in a third additional episode (unofficially known as ''Fate's Path'') which is inaccessible without the use of cheat codes. The first of these three levels can be accessed by typing the cheat ("ENGAGE61"). The first two levels are fully playable, but the third level does not have an exit so the player is unable to progress further.

Source release

On January 11, 1999, the source code of the game engine used in ''Heretic'' was published by Raven Software under a license that granted rights to non-commercial use, and was re-released under the GNU GPL-2.0-only on September 4, 2008. This resulted in ports to Linux, Amiga, Atari, and other operating systems, and updates to the game engine to utilize 3D acceleration. The shareware version of a console port for the Dreamcast was also released.

Reception

''Heretic'' and ''Hexen'' shipped a combined total of roughly 1 million units by August 1997. Individually Heretic sold more than 500,000 copies.

''Heretic'' received generally positive reviews.

'' PC Zone'' remarked that ''Heretic''s weapons are stylistically unsatisfying, the ability to look up and down is useless, the level designs are poorly conceived and confusing, and the flying ability lacks depth and a sense of true flight, more closely resembling "sitting on the front of a forklift truck". While they regarded the inventory mechanic as genuinely innovative, they felt that overall ''Heretic'' failed to differentiate itself from ''Doom'' to the extent of contemporaries such as '' Descent'' and '' Star Wars: Dark Forces'', and concluded, "Not as good as ''Doom 1'' or ''2''. Still fun, but I'd rather wait for '' Quake'', thanks."

'' Next Generation'' stated that "If you're only going to get one action game in the next couple of months, this is the one."

While remarking that ''Heretic'' is a thinly-veiled clone of '' Doom'', and that its being released in Europe after its sequel and with '' Quake'' due out shortly makes it somewhat outdated, ''Maximum'' nonetheless regarded it as an extremely polished and worthwhile purchase. They particularly highlighted the two additional episodes of the retail version, saying they offer a satisfying challenge even to first person shooter veterans and are largely what make the game worth buying.

In 1996, ''Computer Gaming World'' listed being turned into a chicken as #3 on its list of "the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming".

Legacy

''Heretic'' has received three sequels: '' Hexen: Beyond Heretic'', '' Hexen II'', and '' Heretic II''. Following ZeniMax Media's acquisition of id Software in 2009, the rights to the series have been split between id and Activision Software; Activision holds the developing rights, while id holds the publishing rights.

The game was re-released for Windows on Steam on August 3, 2007.

Further homages to the series have been made in other id Software titles; In 2009's '' Wolfenstein'', which Raven Software developed, ''Heretics Tomes of Power are collectible power-ups found throughout the game. The character Galena from '' Quake Champions'' wears armor bearing the icon of the Serpent Riders.

In 2014, Raven co-founder Brian Raffel had expressed interest in making a sequel to the ''Heretic'' series. Rather than licensing it to other developers, he wants Raven to do it themselves.

Similar to '' Freedoom'', a free content adaptation of ''Heretic'' exists called '' Blasphemer''.

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1994 video games
Acorn Archimedes games
Classic Mac OS games
Commercial video games with freely available source code
Cooperative video games
Dark fantasy video games
Doom engine games
DOS games
First-person shooters
Games commercially released with DOSBox
GT Interactive games
Heretic and Hexen
Id Software games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Raven Software games
Shareware games
Sprite-based first-person shooters
Video games about demons
Video games about magic
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with digitized sprites
Video games about elves