Hexen: Wanna love it, but can't

[DoomRater]

I was not planning to have different ammo types for the different attacks. THAT is an exercise in frustration. I'd rather just have different modes of attack be more effective against different things. Obviously using the wrong attack isn't meant to be disasterous either, just maybe not actually help kill the thing. And every weapon would have the different modes of attack to deal with every monster so it's not about having the right weapon.

Yeah, it worked better when there was one weapon with unlimited attacks when I look at it. I was just saying.

[SFJake]

Don't think there is a game quite like Hexen in this world. Its an absolutely amazing game to me, but its actually a lot more fun when playing with all the weapons in one-class (love you, ZDoom). I've actually gotten used to play in my own, unique ways.

I even use the Hexen weapon in Heretic and that makes Heretic fun, instead of boring. I love the Hexen weapons that much, but especially the melee ones.

There ain't a game that gets basics of first person melee combat like this does. Its fast, its simple, its effective, you feel the hits as they moan and are knocked back, its bloody, it lets you move around without constraints and makes you feel in control... yeah, it has all the little things that makes bashing people in the face fun. No game got that again in the first person genre. None.

Add to that an adventure in a mysterious world without the constraint of modern FPS-like games and its an absolutely amazing game. The only flaw of the game really, is that some switches should give more hints as to what they do. Thats about it. It was still fun to find your way around, because thats exactly what I enjoy: Non-linearity in a linear world, so to speak. Hexen is perfectly done on that regard, if only just too confusing -> but nowadays I know everything by heart, of course. But fact that it makes you look around and wonder what you're doing is part of its mystical charm. If everything was obvious, it would be much less interesting.

If playing Vanilla though, in my honest opinion, playing through the game as a Fighter is MUCH more fun than playing it with a Cleric or Mage. While they have interesting weapons, there are no proper replacement for axing monsters.

[DoomRater]

I daresay Zeno Clash got first person combat done right as well, even if ti didn't focus on melee weapons. And I definitely anjoyed Action Doom 2.

[Nash]

Sounds like someone hasn't played Zeno Clash or Dead Island.

[Zombieguy]

Sounds like someone hasn't played Zeno Clash or Dead Island.

I haven't played Dead Island. :C

[BouncyTEM]

Bah, Witchaven was so much better.

*shot repeatedly for lies and heresy*

Seriously though, Hexen was...frustrating. I liked the premise, I liked the idea of the hub system, I liked the multiple classes...I wanted to really like it.
but I always get so horribly burned out by the end of the seven portals. I've never really gone through the second hub, let alone the subsequent ones.

[Xaser]

Hexen gets much better once you get past the "WTF do I do?" stuff and are finally able to enjoy the game by itself.

The weapon choice is a bit lacking, I suppose, but it makes for great co-op.

[Zombieguy]

Hexen gets much better once you get past the "WTF do I do?" stuff

And how long does that part last? I'm still on the second map trying to figure out what to do. :\

[ChronoSeth]

You know, there are walkthoughs of all the hubs on the doom wiki.

Anyway, it gets better as soon as you get to the second hub, IMO. In the monastery there are six dark images (two for each map, besides the hub map), which will light up when you hit the switches on the corresponding maps. It's easy to get lost or sidetracked on the maps, but once you figure out where the keys and their doors are it's not very hard.

The third hub has a similar progress indication for the second half, and the first half mostly involves hunting for puzzle items instead of keys or switches.

The fourth hub requires that you explore every nook and cranny of the maps, but besides that it's not very hard to figure out what to do.

The maps of the fifth hub are all entirely self-contained, and two of them have puzzles that actually make you think. The only link between them is that you need a puzzle item from each to open the exit.

The secret maps are all kind of strange, though. The first one requires a confusing side-quest (there are two switches which say "a door has opened on the guardian of ice", but they aren't actually required to complete the hub). The second one's only purpose is to allow you to access the third and give you unnecessary loot, and it's easy to screw up if you don't know what to do. The fourth one is only accessible if you enter it before any of the tombs.

[Enjay]

The weapon choice is a bit lacking...

That's my biggest problem with Hexen. There just aren't enough weapons. OK, I know that in total there are 12 weapons but you only get 4 per game (plus some weapon-like inventory items) and it's just not enough for a game of that size IMO.

[Zombieguy]

it's just not enough for a game of that size IMO.

No, no it's not.

[Shadelight]

For me I thought Hexen got much better after the 2nd hub, it all seemed to go much faster after that.

[The Ultimate DooMer]

The weapon choice is a bit lacking...

There's not enough mobs either tbh...and copy-pasting bosses sucks hard.

That's my biggest problem with Hexen. There just aren't enough weapons. OK, I know that in total there are 12 weapons but you only get 4 per game (plus some weapon-like inventory items) and it's just not enough for a game of that size IMO.

Hence why stuff like this exists

[Matt]

But I HATE the stock mapsets in vanilla Hexen and Deathkings of the Dark Citadel. They're essentially entirely scour-and-guess switch-hunts spread over entire hubs of maps. I'm way too dumb to be able to crack them in a reasonable manner. Thankfully, there's a few truly excellent custom adventures/mapsets that fit my style much better, which make for a chance to enjoy the game a lot more.

This thread needs names and links.

Or at least a thing that replaces 7P with an empty room that gives you all the weapons you get in 7P and then exits.

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

This thread needs names and links.

http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index. ... hexen/a-c/

The idgames archives is full of some very cool single HeXen maps. In this a-c list, I recommend checking Abandoned Chapel and
The Dark Castle. They are reasonably well-detailed maps without hub bullshit.