Heretic (PC) Review

Ok, first things first: Heretic is Doom. The only difference? Instead of pistols, shotguns, rifles, and rocket launchers, there are spell-spitting/throwing/shooting staffs, bows, and gauntlets, and instead of a space marine that fights demons, the protagonist is an elf that fights gargoyles, golems, undead knights, and… well, even more demons. It’s Doom in a medieval fantasy setting. As for the plot? Well, what about it?! It’s Doom in a medieval fantasy setting, what is it that you don’t get? Yes, there’s plenty of story to be found within the manual, which explains about an evil brotherhood called the Serpent Riders, who want to do evil brotherhood staff, but in the end this is just a 'shoot everything that isn’t you' experience.

It’s obvious that this uses the same exact engine as its source of inspiration, therefore, those who can’t stand those pseudo-3D, 256-coloured, and low-resolution-fuelled visuals… better stay put, because, while definitely old, Heretic looks great. The bestiary is quite varied, with crimson red flying demons, giant beasts, and cool and metal robed mages, the death animations are awesome, and, finally, the levels range from simple crypts and catacombs, to water-themed “temples” filled with mosaic murals, and all are vibrantly coloured and look beautiful. If there is a “flaw” that would be the not as imaginative use of lighting, which was what made Doom look so good.

Moving on to the sound section, not only every single effect is - pleasantly - loud, but also of insane quality. Furthermore, Heretic is one of the first amongst those Doom-clones that had environmental ambient sounds, whether that’s water drops, or distant screams from some unknown horror. The cherry on top? A neat, almost hard rock-esque assortment of medieval symphonic tunes. Of course, all this talk about the audio-visuals is nonsense, because it’s the battlefield where this is at its best.

Those who loved Doom will simply love this one as well. The “gunplay” feels good, and is fittingly fast, and the enemies have a pretty decent variety, ranging from the cannon fodder flying gargoyles, and punching golems, to multi-skilled boss enemies like the Maulotaur. Somehow, though, it feels somewhat inferior to Doom, and that’s probably because enemies can take more hits, so don’t expect any one-hit kills or group-blasting fun here, which, as a result, makes the pace marginally slower.

Thankfully, this isn’t just a blatant copy, as it introduces a mechanic of its own. Apart from the standard weaponry, the elf hero of this adventure can also pick and use all sorts of items, which greatly enhance the gameplay, and add a pleasant layer of strategy. These range from simple healing potions, bombs, and trinkets that make you invisible, to major game-changers like the Tome of Power, which briefly enables your weapon’s vastly more powerful secondary mode. Using it during an arena filled with monsters shows how important this can be, as it can decimate the opposition in less than 10 seconds.

The mechanics are great, the controls, perfect, and so on and forth, but once again it’s the level design that actually makes these old-school first-person shooters great, and, luckily, Heretic delivers in that aspect. It manages to provide a nice balanced diet of pure shooting to do, plenty of secrets to find, traps and hazards to avoid, and all sorts of labyrinthine levels to brave. Compared to id Software’s masterpiece it’s not as good, to be honest, as the maps never get as… sinister, if that makes any sense. There aren’t as many surprises like in the Doom series.

If there’s one big flaw here (aside from the fact that this definitely doesn’t reinvent the wheel, that would be the fact that many will find this to be a bit too easy. While it might seem like an exaggeration, the only way to have fun with Heretic seems to be the last two difficulty settings… and even them won’t really suffice - but, hey, that’s why Shadow of the Serpent Riders is here for! Approach only if you have experience in BDSM.