Sure, here’s the rewritten version:
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Okay, so here’s the thing. Back in the gnarly days of 1994, this game called Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders came out. And guess what? They decided to drop a sequel in 1995 – Hexen: Beyond Heretic. Wild ride for first-person shooters, right? Fast forward to now, and boom – Heretic + Hexen is here, thanks to id Software teaming up with Nightdive Studios. It’s like a time machine for gamers wanting to relive (or discover) those epic moments.
Right, so there’s a video lurking somewhere above. A little flashy box with a play button. But anyway, back to the story I was talking about. Where was I? Ah yes, demonic sci-fi goodness.
Brian Raffel, who, by the way, helped conjure up these games back in their glory days, feels like he’s living in an alternate dimension seeing these games get resurrected. I mean, they built these on some souped-up version of the Doom engine from ’93. Doom, the game that defined a genre, somewhat. And they sprinkled in, I dunno, vertical aiming and stuff. Sounds like wizardry for its time.
They had this crew at id Software, featuring legends like Romero and Carmack. Imagine the brainstorming sessions. Must have been like being in a room full of fireworks.
Then you’ve got the gameplay – all those hallways teeming with monsters, traps everywhere, a vibe that kind of screams fantasy meets hardcore shooter. Back then, everything was aliens and whatnot. Suddenly, bam! Maces and wands are in the mix. Thanks, Mike Rubits, for pointing that out. It was John Romero’s brainwave to add character classes in Hexen. Quite unheard of, really. Now, is that cool or what?
Okay, let’s get back on track here. Heretic + Hexen isn’t just bringing back the nostalgia. We’ve got split-screen, cross-platform multiplayer – like literally playing with folks across a dimension – and so many other jazzy things. Basically, they’re making sure old fans and newbies alike are strapped in for a heck of a ride.
New bits? Ah, right! They’ve slapped on these new episodes. ‘Faith Renewed’ and ‘Vestigues of Grandeur’. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? It’s like they took the old tech and gave it superpowers. Thanks to some crazy-fast mappers too, who just… churned content out like they were on some mystical quest of their own.
Xaser, one of the devs, had this “aha” moment and mapped out tons of new stuff. And Kaiser Villarreal? Guy had nearly an entire episode done before the green light flickered on. Commitment or wizardry? Maybe both.
Anyway, long story short, this whole thing is more than just a game revival. It’s like a thank-you letter to fans, both old-school and those just landing on Cronos for the first time.
Heretic + Hexen is available for PlayStation 5 and 4 starting today. So, if you fancy a leap back into the chaotic fantasy realms, or just want to see what the fuss was all about, now’s your chance. Cheers to wicked times!
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There you have it. Hope it captures the essence you’re looking for!
