Heretic + Hexen – Review

Heretic + Hexen: Modern Witchcraft for Old Heretics

I once knew a kid who knew every map in Heretic like the back of his hand, and the location of all the secrets hidden among the corridors haunted by satanic beasts. This boy never got lost in Hexen's hubs and navigated the dark fantasy labyrinth as if he were at home.

The kid spent part of his holiday evenings with the window wide open, letting the cool summer nights refresh his CRT monitor and his forehead, flushed from too much gaming. The smell of hot capacitors covered the Night Queen flower. MIDI music vibrated from the A4Tech speakers and blended with the crickets' song – sometimes with the thunder of a distant storm, stretching its windy tentacles to touch new territories to conquer. The ideal atmosphere for epic adventures, impossible to ever forget.

I knew him very well, because it was me. I was that kid enchanted by Heretic and Hexen, after DOOM and DOOM II had nothing left to offer me. Since then, many things have changed. The world I lived in back then no longer exists, after an unforeseen sunset. But Heretic and Hexen have remained the same – in fact, they've gotten better. This is the destiny of outstanding games: to break the barrier of the time in which they were born, to transcend the limits of the space in which they exist, and to remain eternally attached to the axis mundi per artem ludendi – the line that traverses the art of games, from top to bottom and bottom to top.

Exercises in Nostalgic Tightrope Walking

The nostalgic exercises Nightdive performs are increasingly dangerous, ever closer to the edge of the abyss. That's because it takes a lot of courage to stick your hands up to your elbows into some of the most beloved games of all time and consistently churn out a product that hardcore fans adore. One small mistake, one wrong decision, and you've alienated the entire mob of grey-bearded retro gamers. Tough crowd, great crowd, we made a deal with this crowd, the best crowd I ever dealt with, as the Orange Clown would say if he were remastering games instead of the map of Europe.

But the geniuses at Nightdive aren't clowns, they're acrobats. When they join the show directed by id Software, they start to fly without wings. Quake and Quake II are monumental after their re-release. DOOM and DOOM II equally so. Not only do they fit with modern hardware platforms, but they come with technical improvements and additional content, delicately balanced and subtly spiced, so as not to affect the essence of the originals in any way. This is evident in every project they sign. On top of that, they offered the games for free to those who already owned the old versions on Steam or GOG.

Heretic + Hexen is the latest exercise in nostalgic tightrope walking. It's not the best so far, as they've all maintained the same exemplary standard, but it's certainly the boldest. It allows itself to bring together two fantastic titles, their expansions, and then add fresh episodes. With mod support and new gameplay mechanics. Exactly what they did for DOOM or Quake, but a little quicker, spicier. With a considerably more flexible spine in the execution of the act and a surprise launch at QuakeCon 2025.

I preferred it on PlayStation 5, where I also played the others. My Windows XP computer still runs WADs wonderfully in ZDOOM, that legacy version for 32-bit systems. The originals are installed on the 9X one. It somehow feels natural to want modern witchcraft on a current machine, where the kid, now a little older, can savour the playful melancholy stretched out on the sofa, far from neck and back pain.

Pixelus Perfectum!

I find myself increasingly caught up in various retro-gaming activities, seemingly meaningless. For example, I'm fascinated by the SETUP programs where we configured sound and other options for MS-DOS games. You know what I mean, if you've played Duke, Blood, DOOM, Heretic, or Hexen. The sound card address, Interrupt, 8-bit DMA, 16-bit DMA, all that stuff. Ugh, I love sitting in front of the blue-dominated screen, especially on a CRT monitor!

In the Heretic + Hexen remaster, setup is no longer necessary, because Nightdive has "convinced" the games to run in 4K on modern systems, at 120 FPS, with widescreen resolutions and properly scaled UI. Is some of the authentic experience lost? Very little, because the benefits compensate, and I had the feeling – no, the conviction – that this is how I should have played them from the beginning. They simply feel right. If Raven Software had seen them like this in 1994 and 1995, I'm sure they would have been left speechless with amazement. Romero, who contributed directly to the development of the originals, then published by id Software, would have liked it too. At least that's what Masters of DOOM tells us, mandatory reading if you're a fan of classic FPS games.

Of course, the remaster isn't limited to graphics, as both games have received gameplay improvements – and when I say improvements, I really felt them as such. They're not just features thrown into a marketing description, but elements that, when combined, exceed the sum of their parts. From the control scheme to subtle visual indicators on the Hexen maps, where you risked easily missing a button or a door. Or the ability to change the hero's class at any time and equip the Cleric with a beautiful shield, an exponent of the block mechanic. Almost all of them are optional, for purists who don't want to deviate from the '90s recipe. Chill out, the pixels are still there.

I'm not going to start describing WHAT happens in Heretic and Hexen, because I'd be a little embarrassed by the ridiculousness of the situation, but I want to tell you HOW it happens in Heretic + Hexen, where, in addition to the original episodes, the expansions Shadow of the Serpent Riders and Deathkings of the Dark Citadel have also been included. The titles sound like illustrations by Frank Frazetta and are just as cool in that specific dark fantasy way from 30 years ago. Dozens and dozens of levels with medieval weapons and magic, all in the id Tech 1 engine. It makes you want to lick the screen in front of your eyes, put on your Metallica T-shirt and exclaim: "Fuck yeah, dude, this is bodacious!"

The gameplay has another depth in Heretic + Hexen, where, in addition to the arsenal, you also have an inventory with potions and spells, among which the coolest remains Morph Ovum (yes, it turns monsters into chickens, because... cluck cluck muddafuggas). Did I tell you that in Hexen you can break stained glass windows? I'm telling you now, because that left me perplexed when I was a kid. Level design? You'd be hard-pressed to find a modern game that comes close to the vision of these two masterpieces. That memorable MIDI music? Preserved in the remaster, but reinterpreted by Andrew Hulshult and can be activated anytime your ears want to feel a tympanic orgasm. I don't know which Prince of Hell these Nightdive guys sold their souls to, but they thought of absolutely every imaginable detail and delivered in spades. Cheers to them!

The True Dark Ages

Of course, there's brand new content too, in the form of the episodes Heretic: Faith Renewed and Hexen: Vestiges of Grandeur. Both milk everything the remaster's udder can give that's milky and nourishing: colossal, exaggerated, complex, more vertical and with puzzles that appeal to three-dimensional thinking. You can't take your lips off Mother Nightdive's maternal nipple until they're finished, and I tell you with annoyance that I felt bothered by interrupting my play sessions to write this review. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, even though it has cross-platform and I would have quickly found partners for fantasy carnage. Maybe another time, after Leo recovers from the trauma of editing GRIND V magazine.

They say respect must be earned, and in almost 30 years of gaming, I haven't met a team more deserving of respect than Nightdive. It's clear from space that this studio knows no other interest than the satisfaction of gamers – new or old. Outlaws is next, which I talked about on my YouTube channel. They just announced it. I'd like to see a Blood or an Unreal passed through their little hands. Maybe even other genres. Who knows how an OG Dungeon Keeper would turn out? All I know now is that Heretic + Hexen transcends the definition of a simple remaster. It is the rejuvenation of the old-school FPS spirit, without compromise and without half-measures.

▶ Play video (YouTube)Open on YouTube

Played on: PlayStation 5
Release date: 7 August 2025
Developer: id Software, Nightdive Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks