Heretic (computer game)

Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game created by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive in 1994.

Related Topics:
Fantasy - First-person shooter - Video game - Raven Software - Id Software - GT Interactive - 1994

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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 simply crumpled into a heap of jumbled body parts.

Related Topics:
Doom - Gib

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The original version of Heretic had three unlinked episodes, but a stand-alone special edition, Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders, was also available, featuring two additional episodes.

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The Episodes in the orginal are the City of the Damned, where the player has to 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. The two extra episodes are the Ossuary and the Stagnant Demesne.

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The Ossuary takes the player to the shattered remains of a world conquered by the Serpent Riders centuries ago. The Stagnan Demesne is the final episode where the player enters D'Sparil's home stronghold - the very pit he was spawned. The heretic seeks to find a way out, yet D'Sparil's personal guard are out to kill him. That 5th episode is the hardest episode of the game.

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The first sequel, HeXen, which also used 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 1998 and was based on a modified Quake engine. Later in 1998, Heretic II was released, it used a modified Quake II engine.

Related Topics:
HeXen - 1995 - HeXen II - 1998 - Quake - Heretic II - Quake II

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In early 1999, the source code of Heretic was published by Raven Software. This resulted in ports of Heretic to Linux and other operating systems, and updates to the Heretic engine which utilized 3D acceleration.

Related Topics:
1999 - Source code - Linux

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