Review of Heretic and Hexen

Oh man, where do I even start? So, like, after what feels like forever—three decades to be exact—Heretic finally lands on consoles. And guess what, Hexen tags along too, making a comeback since its last home console appearance. Can you believe the last time we got to play Hexen on consoles was on the PlayStation, Saturn, or Nintendo 64? Time flies, right? This version, Heretic + Hexen, is now chilling on the Switch, thanks to Nightdive Studios. Those guys have a knack for bringing these old-school gems back to life. There are a bunch of extras here, but we’ll dive into the bits and bobs soon enough.

First off, there’s Heretic, the OG game in this saga. Picture Doom but swap guns for spells and throw in some medieval vibes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this as a put-down. Despite the tech handcuffs shared with Doom’s earlier titles, Heretic pulls off some slick tricks with its level designs. Sure, you’ll notice some dejà vu with the weapon and enemy line-up when compared to Doom. But that’s what gives it charm, right?

And then, bam, there’s Hexen. It’s like Doom’s wild cousin or something—a whole reinvention of the shooting scene for its time. You can pick one of three classes, each with their own unique arsenal and skills. Throw in some non-linear level designs and a hefty dose of exploration and puzzles. At times, it’s like Zelda and Metroid crashed into this first-person realm. Wild stuff, honestly.

Now, let’s talk expansions. Heretic got one, Hexen snagged two. The first Hexen expansion dropped in ‘96, but the other two are new for this release. Heretic’s new chapter, Faith Renewed, pushes the old limits and does it well. Hexen’s fresh content, Vestiges and Grandeur, are solid too, but somehow, they don’t quite have the original game’s magic for me. Still ace, just not quite the same spark, you know?

Oh, right—random gripe time. Every single game here shares the same save system. Like, really? Not just that, there’s only one quicksave slot. Ugh. Picture me merrily bouncing between games and then poof! The realization hits—I had quicksaved in Hexen but then, oops, did the same in Heretic. Sorting through these saves gets messy since they’re all jumbled up, regardless of the game you’ve launched. Facepalm moment, if you ask me.

Visually, Nightdive keeps it simple. It runs in high def, but hey, this is the Switch we’re talking about, so don’t expect more than 1080p. There’s this nifty option to go all retro with the original resolution, different scaling factors, aspect ratios, HUD choices, crosshair customization, and soundtrack toggles. But here’s a fun quirk—using the full-screen HUD option, a nod to the old Nintendo 64 style, makes the skyboxes loop awkwardly. Like, one moment you’re looking up, and suddenly it tiles down below again. Not a thing in the N64 days or maybe it was, but I never noticed.

Anyway, speaking of the N64 edition, it held the crown for best console version of Hexen for a hot minute. It’s based on the original floppy so no fancy cutscenes, but overall, it’s less janky compared to the PlayStation and Saturn. Going back and forth, I’m amazed at how well the N64 version holds up. But, confession time: I wish we could tinker with textures more in this new version. The sprites pop unfiltered, sure, but in HD, the unfiltered textures are, like, a bit much visually. A CRT filter would be a life-saver here.

So, wrapping it all up, Heretic + Hexen is this rad bundle—one game’s stellar and the other’s out-of-this-world epic. The extra content just beefs it up more. But yeah, the save system and somewhat vanilla display options do throw a minor wrench in the works. Heck, a CRT filter would jazz up the visuals nicely. But hey, considering your alternative was dusting off an N64 or dealing with watered-down PlayStation or Saturn versions, this here is hands down a step up. Fingers crossed, maybe the rest of the series pops up later too. That’d be ace.