Heretic (computer game)
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| Heretic<tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: center;">Image:Heretic.jpg</td></tr> | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Raven Software
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)</th><td>id Software, GT Interactive</td></tr><tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Engine</th><td>Doom engine</td></tr> |
| Release date(s) | December 23 1994 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer 2-4 player deathmatch or cooperative
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)</th><td>BBFC: PG |
| Platform(s) | PC (MS-DOS), Mac. RISC OS
<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Input</th><td>Keyboard, Mouse</td></tr> |
Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter computer game created by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive in 1994.
Using a modified 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 spawned when a character suffered a death by extreme force or heat. Previously, the character would simply crumple into a heap. It's notable that besides background music, the game also used randomized ambient sounds and noises to further enhance the atmosphere, such as evil laughter, chains rattling and water dripping. All music in the game was composed by Kevin Schilder.
Contents |
[edit] Versions
The original version of Heretic has three unlinked episodes - the City of the Damned, where the player must go through an abandoned ancient city overrun by monsters, Hell's Maw, which is set in Hell, and the Dome of D'Sparil, which is set in a city at the bottom of the ocean, protected by gigantic crystal domes. A stand-alone retail edition, Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders, was also made available and features two additional episodes - the Ossuary, which takes the player to the shattered remains of a world conquered by the Serpent Riders centuries ago, and the Stagnant Demesne, where the player enters D'Sparil's home stronghold (which was designed to be the hardest episode of the game). A patch was freely downloadable to enhance the original Heretic up to Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders and add the missing episodes. A shareware version was also released which contains the first episode of the game.
The first sequel, Hexen, which also uses a modified Doom engine, was released about a year after Heretic in 1995. The next game in the Hexen/Heretic universe, Hexen II, was released in 1997 and was based on a modified Quake engine. Later in 1998, Heretic II was released, using a modified Quake II engine.
In early 1999, the source code of Heretic was published by Raven Software. This resulted in ports to Linux and other operating systems, and updates to the Heretic engine to utilize 3D acceleration.
[edit] Enemies
The game features numerous enemies, all of which are supernatural in origins.
- Gargoyle - A small, red flying creature with only a claw attack. This is the first creature encountered in the game.
- Fire Gargoyle - Indistinguishable from a gargoyle at first, these can throw small fireballs. When killed they will occasionally drop wand crystals.
- Golem - These humanoid rock creatures have only a melee punch attack. They will sometimes drop wand crystals upon death.
- Nitro Golem - Resembling normal golems, they can erupt in flame and fire homing skulls at the player. Like normal golems, they will sometimes drop wand crystals upon death.
- Undead Warrior - Skeletons clad in armor, they throw green ethereal axes at the player. Occasionally, they will throw a red, homing axe instead. They sometimes drop ethereal arrows or wand crystals.
- Disciple of D'Sparil - These appear to be shrouded humanoids, though underneath their black robes is only shadow. They can fly and attack with a spell that shoots purple rings in a spread of three. They will occasionally drop claw orbs, and rarely drop Tomes of Power.
- Sabreclaw - These vaguely humanoid armored figures have scorpion tails and iron claws. While they don't have a ranged attack, their melee attacks are rather formidable. They occasionally drop lesser runes.
- Weredragon - These large beasts have draconic features and shoot large fireballs.
- Ophidian - Appearing starting in the third episode, these creatures have the lower body of a rattlesnake while the head is humanoid with serpentine features. They wield tridents from which they fire shots of magic in bursts. They will occasionally drop flame orbs.
- Iron Lich - First appearing as the boss of the first episode, these rather deadly creatures are found in many levels in later episodes. They appear as large metal skulls with glowing eyes. They have a few attacks including a whirlwind which chases the player and tosses them into the air. Occasionally, they will drop a Morph Ovum.
- Maulotaur - Appearing first as the boss of the second episode, theses minotaur-like creatures can shoot volleys of fireballs and can charge the player, knocking them back.
- D'Sparil - This is the final villain the player encounters, one of the Serpent Riders. He initially appears riding a chaos serpent, wearing red and gold robes. When the player deals him enough damage, his mount dies and he becomes even more formidable. He can summon disciples, teleport, and hurl electrical charges at the player. In the game, he appears only in the final level of the third episode. It is interesting to note that his chanting, when played backwards, says "surrender to D'Sparil".
Some enemies, namely golems and undead warriors, sometimes appear as translucent ghosts that can only be hit with certain weapons. A few of the enemies reappear in Hexen: chaos serpents are separate and fairly common creatures, maulotaurs can be summoned by the player to attack enemies, and the dark bishops and the Heresiarch appear similar to the disciples.
[edit] Weapons
Despite the difference in setting and design, Heretic is very similar to Doom, especially in regards to its weapons which are (for the most part) equivalents.
The game has 8 weapons in all, each of which has an alternate powered up mode activated by the Tome of Power item. The weapons are;
1 - Staff/Gauntlets of the Necromancer; the staff is made of wood and is used to "poke" enemies, doing a very small amount of damage. The staff is a non-magical weapon, and cannot hit non-corporeal enemies (ghosts). It is like the fist in Doom. Gauntlets cause a green electricity-like discharge to emit from their fingers when the player attacks. The gauntlets will freeze an enemy in place and do continuous damage to an enemy. They cause slightly more damage than the Staff and at increased range. They are analogous to Doom's famous chainsaw. Neither requires any ammunition.
- Powered: when under the influence of a Tome of Power artifact, the Staff is electrified, does more damage, and has knockback. The Gauntlets' electrical charge changes its colour to red and does more damage with a much greater range, and drains health points from the enemy transferring them to the player. This powerful ability renders the player near-invincible in most conditions.
2 - Elven Wand; a staff topped with a magical crystal that shoots weak projectiles at slow rate, manifested by a gold-coloured "spark" at the point of impact. This is one of two hitscan weapons in the game. Analogous to Doom's pistol.
- Powered: shoots out several yellow crystal-like projectiles that do more damage.
- Ammo: wand crystal (small), crystal geode (large)
3 - Ethereal Crossbow; more powerful weapon, shooting green "ethereal" arrows travelling in clusters of three. The centre arrow is more powerful than the two on either side, can hit ghosts, and is not blown around by the wind. Analogous to Doom's shotgun, except for its not being hitscan.
- Powered: shoots multiple (4 or 5) heavy ethereal arrows for a wider coverage and more damage.
- Ammo: ethereal arrow (small), quiver of ethereal arrows (large)
4 - Dragon Claw; a helmet-like weapon worn over the fist with claws mounted on its top; it shoots projectiles at high rate manifested by a blue-colored "spark" at the point of impact. This is a hitscan weapon, and is mostly analogous to Doom's chaingun, except in using its own ammo rather than the same ammo as the Elven Wand.
- Powered: shoots out more powerful blue projectiles which, on impact, release multiple spiked metal orbs, dealing considerable damage.
- Ammo: claw orb (small), energy orb (large)
5 - Hellstaff; a staff topped with a horned skull that shoots red projectiles at a high rate, doing more damage than the Dragon Claw and, unlike the Dragon Claw, possessing some stopping power. Analogous to Doom's plasma rifle.
- Powered: releases a single projectile. Upon impact, it unleashes a "rain" of red sparks, which do heavy damage to anything standing underneath (exception: Maulotaurs and D'Sparil).
- Ammo: lesser runes (small), greater runes (large)
6 - Phoenix Rod; a golden staff topped with a phoenix-like design, shooting a fiery, smoking, moderately fast projectile that explodes upon impact into a phoenix-like shape. Pushes player back when used and explosion may do damage to the player when too close to impact point. Analogous to Doom's rocket launcher.
- Powered: turns into a "flamethrower". Launches a steady stream of flame that causes tremendous damage.
- Ammo: flame orb (small), inferno orb (large)
7 - Firemace; a mace-like staff that shoots exploding cannonball-like projectiles at high rate. The spheres, powered or not, cannot hit ghostly enemies and will disappear into any liquid at their impact points. Has no Doom analog; the BFG-9000 operates completely differently.
- Powered: shoots out large metallic spheres, which are slower, but slowly (very slowly) home on their targets and will instantly kill any standard enemy. They can travel through teleporters and can even telefrag the player. A single "ToP-enhanced" Firemace ball also destroys a human player with a single hit.
- Ammo: mace spheres (small), pile of mace spheres (large)
Heretic also has equivalents of Doom's exploding barrels of toxic waste, which appear as large green thorny spheres. Like Doom's barrels, they can be used as weapons by shooting them when enemies are standing next to them.
[edit] Artifacts
In Heretic, many items are stored when picked up to be used later.
- Quartz Flask - Looking like a bottle of purple liquid, this item adds 25 to the player's life total and is used automatically if the player reaches low health.
- Torch - This item brightens the area around the player for a limited amount of time.
- Shadowsphere - This item appears as a greenish orb with a face on it. It gives the player partial invisibility, making the player harder to hit.
- Mystic Urn - A gray urn with a golden ankh, this gives the player full health when used. It is used automatically if the player reaches low health.
- Chaos Device - This item looks like a grey disk with a red Symbol of Chaos on it. When used, it teleports the player to the level's starting position; if used in deathmatch, it teleports the user to any of the level's spawn points.
- Morph Ovum - An egg surrounded by green electrical energy, when used it fires a volley of eggs in front of the player. Any non-boss creatures hit are turned into chickens and can be easily killed.
- Ring of Invulnerability - A gold ring with a flashing gem, when used it renders the player temporarily invincible and turns the screen a golden color.
- Time Bomb of the Ancients - This item looks like an hourglass, and when used it is dropped and explodes a few seconds later.
- Tome of Power - A black book with a silver skull on the cover, when used, it powers up the player's weapons for a limited amount of time, giving them stronger attacks which can have very different effects than normal (see the above weapons section).
- Wings of Wrath - This item looks like a golden skull with bat wings. When used, it allows the player to fly for a limited amount of time. It does not carry over from one level to the next, and so a player must use it or lose it before moving to the next level.
[edit] Other Items
Like many other first-person shooters of its time, such as Doom, Heretic had several items which were used automatically when picked up.
- Crystal Vial - This small vial filled with blue liquid restores 10 health when picked up.
- Bag of Holding - When first picked up, this item increases the player's ammunition capacity. Whenever it is picked up, it gives the player a small amount of each type of ammunition.
- Map Scroll - When acquired, this allows the player to see all areas not yet explored on their map screen.
- Shield - This small, round, silver shield grants the player 100 armor.
- Enchanted Shield - This large, black kite shield with a silver skull grants the player 200 armor.
[edit] Game Levels
| Episode 1: The City of the Damned | Episode 2: Hell's Maw | Episode 3: The Dome of D'Sparil |
| 1. The Docks | 1. The Crater | 1. The Storehouse |
| 2. The Dungeons | 2. The Lava Pits | 2. The Cesspool |
| 3. The Gatehouse | 3. The River of Flame | 3. The Confluence |
| 4. The Guard Tower | 4. The Ice Grotto (secret exit to lvl 9) | 4. The Azure Fortress (secret exit to lvl 9) |
| 5. The Citadel | 5. The Catacombs | 5. Ophidian Lair |
| 6. The Cathedral (secret exit to lvl 9) | 6. The Labyrinth | 6. The Halls of Fear |
| 7. The Crypts | 7. The Great Hall | 7. The Chasm |
| 8. Hell's Maw | 8. The Portal of Chaos | 8. D'Sparil's Keep |
| 9. (secret) The Graveyard | 9. (secret) The Glacier | 9. (secret) The Aquifer |
| Episode 4: The Ossuary | Episode 5: The Stagnant Demesne |
| 1. Catafalque | 1. Ochre Cliffs |
| 2. The Blockhouse | 2. Rapids |
| 3. Ambulatory | 3. Quay (secret exit to lvl 9) |
| 4. Sepulcher (secret exit to lvl 9) | 4. Courtyard |
| 5. Great Stair | 5. Hydratyr |
| 6. Halls of the Apostate | 6. Colonnade |
| 7. Ramparts of Perdition | 7. Foetid Masne |
| 8. Shattered Bridge | 8. Arena of Judgement |
| 9. (secret) Mausoleum | 9. (secret) Skein of D'Sparil |
There is also an episode 6 containing 3 unnamed maps that can only be accessed by the -warp command line or a cheat code.
