History Videogame / Hexen

''Hexen: Beyond Heretic'' (stylized as ''[=HeXen=]'') is a FirstPersonShooter released in 1995 by Raven Software as a sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}''. It, like ''Heretic'', takes place in a fantasy setting and utilizes the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' engine[[note]]id Tech 1[[/note]], incorporating the features of its predecessor (an inventory system, ambient sounds, translucency, freelook, etc.), as well as adding further improvements such as the ability to move sections of the level horizontally (as opposed to the strictly vertical movement of ''Doom'' and ''Heretic''), as well as a HubLevel system, allowing the player to move between levels.

* FakeBalance:
** This is very noticable with the Cleric's Wraithverge. It's supposedly balanced by costing the most mana to fire of the three weapons in ''Hexen I'', but it's not prohibitively expensive because of how the game showers you with mana ammo anyway. Ammo pickups are boosted 150% in HarderThanHard, making things even more unbalanced, and largely making the added difficulty irrelevant. The Wraithverge is also very destructive, allowing you to slaughter a group of enemies with barely any aiming required thanks to the ghosts' homing ability.
** The Cleric also has a magical SerpentStaff, which is supposedly balanced by its modest damage capability and low mana consumption, but the LifeDrain ability it also provides means that the player's health becomes virtually infinite in capable hands. Combined with the Wraithverge allowing you to hide from enemies while the ghosts tear them apart, the Cleric not being as durable as the Fighter is rendered largely moot.
** {{Averted}} in ''Hexen II'' with the Raven Staff, the Wraithverge's SpiritualSuccessor. You now require a Tome of Power to access the classic Wraithverge's destructive mode, and ammo is much more scarce than before so you can't spam {{BFG}} attacks like before.

* DropTheHammer: Baratus the Fighter in ''I'' and the unnamed Crusader in ''II''. The first has a [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon war hammer that launches other hammers that explode, and hits as hard in melee as the powered axe]], the second has a melee-only war hammer that, with the Tome of Power, can be launched as a boomerang and strikes anything it hits with lightning.

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* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: To a lesser degree than standard, as the game lacks [[LevelUp Leveling Up]] and has more in common with a standard FPS. The main issues with the Fighter (warrior) is his limited long-range capability, which encourages "creativity" when facing many ranged monsters, such as herding the monsters into a close-quarters vantage-point where his weapons truly shine.

*** For the Cleric: Altar Boy, Acolyte, Priest, Cardinal, Pope.

** It also happens on its own. Occasionally the player will return from the Guardian of Ice/Fire/Steel and notice the lights around him are off and the portal is closed. The repeated "greetings, mortal" message confirms this, and the only way to reopen the portals is a switch on the other side of the one you're facing. The game has just become unwinnable.

* TacticalSuicideBoss: The Heresiarch has an invulnerability spell he can cast as often and as he wants, and it works like the fighter's icon of the defender i.e any projectiles are ''reflected back'' at the attacker, meaning such attacks are worse than useless. If he just kept this spell on all the time he'd be impossible to beat. And indeed, sometimes the AIRoulette doesn't go your way and you end up with him casting the spell (which lasts for about 30 seconds) several times in a row, meaning you can't do anything except wait until he decides to cast something different.