Heretic II Revisited

Heretic II is a fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998.Corvus is our hero here, the main character from its predecessor, Heretic. Using a modified id Tech 2 engine, the game features a third-person camera view unlike its first version which had a first-person shooter view built on the Doom engine. The score was composed by Kevin Schilder. The art design and some of the artwork itself were created by Gerald Brom.

Plot:

A mysterious plague has swept the land of Parthoris, taking the sanity of those it does not kill. Corvus, the protagonist of the first game, is forced to flee his hometown of Silverspring after the infected attack him, but not before he is infected himself. The effects of the disease are held at bay in Corvus’ case because he holds one of the Tomes of Power, but he still must find a cure before he succumbs.

His search leads him to an ancient Seraph named Morcalavin. Morcalavin is trying to reach immortality using the seven Tomes of Power, but he uses a false tome, as Corvus has one of them. This has caused Morcalavin to go insane and create the plague. During a battle between Corvus and Morcalavin, Corvus switches the false tome for his real one, curing Morcalavin’s insanity and ending the plague.

My Impressions:

I have been a very great fan of this game.I can still remember the first time I got a taste of this game. Way back in the year 2000, when my systems person installed this game, I really enjoyed it. But it was a demo version. Later as years went, I simply forgot this treasure and I went for Cricket, tennis, and other high definition games. Again six months back, when I decided to upgrade my system, I was again reminded of this Heretic II game.

I always longed for this game. I went to all the game CD shops around my locality. All had the modern games but none of them had this. Later I found a full game in one of the websites and I started playing it.Yesterday I finished this game. Wow!!!!!!!! What a game. Excellent graphics. Excellent one for a game designed in 1998 and absolutely there was no hiccups with installation and gameplay. But a few times the game crashed throwing an error message. Rest of all, it was a great experience playing this game.

Right from Silverspring Docks to meeting the immortal Morcalavin, it was a great gaming experience with lots of challenges ranging from rats, infected zombie like people,little dinosaurs to the mighty Serpah.

The game boasts of excellent sound effects and some great music giving it a eerie gloomy atmosphere. Infact the final stages of the game Morcalavin Dungeon is a tough nut to crack as one wanders through the same path again and again always looking lost.
The graphics were done to great detail and almost all the stunts look real and the range of both offensive and defensive weapons/spells make this game both colourful and visually appealing.Whenever Corvus takes a Mana Shrine, its a colorful visual treat.Corvus becomes very powerful once he acquires all the Golden and Silver Armours and all weapons as the damage caused to him are limited by the protective shields.

Its been a great game I will recommend this game to everyone but this game is not without its pitfalls.

Pros:
1) Excellent graphics considering it was designed way back in 1998.Particularly meeting the bosses of each level. Most fantastic is the Mighty immortal Serpah.

2) Interesting game play.

3) Neat storyline, great sound effects and great Background music.

4) Great weapons and mana shrines.

5) Easy game controls.

Cons:
1) The game is a little bit confusing. Sometimes I used to wander around searching for a lever or a lift that could transport me to a different area or even too a next level.

2) Lack of proper maps like a GPS. The map provided has only a "X" mark and it doesn't help at all.

3) Some levels were too tough and unable to crack that I resorted to using cheatcodes. The ones I used were:

~SUCKITDOWN ALL

~KIWI

I also used ~MAP for two levels that I completely got fed up with the game unable to find a way.

These were the drawbacks otherwise a great game to play.

Highly recommended..............