Classic boomer shooters, Heretic and Hexen, have recently undergone a significant transformation thanks to Nightdive Studios, which has made these iconic titles from the 2.5D FPS era more accessible for PC gamers. However, the journey to experience their sequels is not as straightforward. While Hexen 2 is readily available for purchase on Steam in its original form, accessing Heretic 2 requires a more arcane approach—namely, acquiring a boxed copy, which feels akin to summoning an evil demon and trading one’s soul.
This situation is particularly unfortunate, as Heretic 2 stands out as the most unconventional entry in the Heretic/Hexen series. Departing from the first-person shooter format, this sequel, released in 1998, embraces a third-person action-adventure style. At the time of its launch, it garnered favorable reviews, with critics praising its intricate level design and engaging 3D action.
Reviving a Classic
In a stroke of ingenuity, MaxEd on GitHub has developed a “reverse-engineered sourceport” for Raven’s fantasy shooter, effectively serving as a remaster in all but name. Dubbed Heretic2R, this sourceport introduces a suite of new technical features to the adventures of the elf wizard Corvus. Among its enhancements are:
- Widescreen support with automatic HUD scaling
- Unlocked framerate with a theoretical maximum of 1,000 FPS
- In-game special effects that update at the appropriate rendering framerate
- Improved map loading times
- A plethora of cosmetic improvements, ensuring the game plays as players remember it, rather than how it originally functioned
To utilize the Heretic2R sourceport, players must possess the original Heretic 2 game data, specifically a version updated to 1.06. While locating a copy of the base game may pose a challenge, the necessary patch can be found on PCGamingWiki. Once the correct version is secured, players can either overwrite the original binaries with those from Heretic2R or transfer the Heretic2base folder to the Heretic2R directory, excluding the .dll files.
The pressing question remains: will Heretic 2 see a rerelease in the future? At the time of their respective launches, Heretic 2 and Hexen 2 were published by different companies—Activision for the former and id Software for the latter. However, with both entities now under the Microsoft umbrella, the possibility of a follow-up to Nightdive’s successful remaster of the original games is certainly plausible. Should such a development occur, it is likely to be unveiled at QuakeCon, where Nightdive has previously announced other remasters related to id Software, including Quake, Quake 2, and the initial two Doom titles.
