Heretic 2

(Activision/Raven, 1998)

Thanks to the Quake 2 game engine, Raven was able to make this sequel to Heretic with some real flair! Magic in this game is a Technicolor special effects frenzy, thanks to Q2's colored lighting technology, and 3D acceleration galore. One intriguing game design choice was to make this game in the 3rd person perspective (not unlike Tomb Raider), which offers the player better aim for spells, as well as better animations and FX when casting them. The game also used lots of colored light effects, which for 1998 3D gaming was pretty cool. However, on the most part, snazzy FX was all this game offered. Admittedly, that was more than enough to make this game highly recommended (and fun), and yet you left the game expecting something more from the makers of Heretic and Hexen. Little more was offered to drag people away from 1998's more popular action game, Unreal, which often had even better FX. In the end, Heretic 2 was an acceptable sequel, though could have been far more than it was.

Rating : Large Crater.

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