Heretic is the best pixel shooter

[Unseen]

Just imo, the atmosphere, music, weapons, enemies just appeal to me more than any other pixel shooter. Can't make a judgment on hexen since I'm still going through heretic. Up to the I think 5th episode and I heard there's still more to this, including a hidden episode.

Now compared to doom heretic still isn't as big combined with all the master levels and doom 2. But as a singular game in comparison to doom1 I think its a bigger game. Maybe, I'm not entirely sure of that but it seems longer than doom to me.

Reason I pick this over doom, I'am not saying either ones better than the other, but imo as my personal preference this is a lot better than doom. Doom has some really cool enemies, and good weapons. But heretics weapons just seem cooler to me, they got better animations, flashier, not just, lobbing rockets everywhere. Dooms shotguns are awesome especially for their time, and if you like firearms more than sword and sorcery I can see how you'd like doom more.

I also own duke, and blood, and those pixels are fun games, system shock also. But heretic just something about it. Love the music, the way its so ahead of the time it was released, the graphics which are retro but still colorful and amazing.

Blood I'm up or close to the last episode and I will say Blood is probably the upper evolution of how stable and structured a pixel could get back then. And yet I still like heretic more, same with duke. Heretic just really appeals to me, and the weapons for the time are amazing. They actually feel like powerful sorcerer weapons. I really wish this game and its follow ups would get a remaster and renewed attention just like doom and quake got, cause this game is a gaming masterpiece of its era and more people should know about it.

Hexen also seems good, just, how could it not be with a starter this amazing? Huge heretic fan was not expecting to get this sucked into an 8mb 1994 shooter. So its my pick for best pixel shooter I've played. Not counting new boomer shooters.

[Lord Voxtron]

Heretic is amazing, it's just not so popular nowadays.

[flarefan]

I have started playing it (at the end of E1M5: The Citadel) and am fairly impressed so far. The levels are well-paced, full of bursts of action and just the right about of wandering and exploration. Everything is colorful and stands out to the eye.

The inventory system is just as satisfying as I had hoped it would be, and more. Even playing Doom back in the early 1990s, I always wished you could carry the supercharge and light amplification goggles around and use them when you wanted to use them rather than when the designers decided to allow you to use them. Now I can finally do that, just not in the same game. Plus, the Tome of Power is cooler than any item you got in Doom. I love using it with the Gauntlets; few things are as fun as standing next to a golem and sucking the life out of him faster than he can tear it out of you, all the while laughing like the mad wizard you're playing as.

I like most of the weapons thus far. Those have to be some of the coolest looking gauntlets I've ever seen, and between the limited ammo in the early levels and their effectiveness with the Tome of Power, you get a good amount of use out of them. The wand is a satisfying starter weapon and still fun for picking off distant enemies in later levels. The ethereal crossbow is my favorite for sheer utility; the triple projectiles let you frequently one-shot enemies at close range, hit multiple targets at mid-range and long range, and make it much less likely that you miss entirely. The only one I'm not so keen on is the Dragon Claw. A chaingun-like weapon just doesn't suit Heretic's setting.

The music is very Bobby Prince-esqe but with its own particular twists. The Guardtower, for instance; there's a sudden tone change in there which made me think for a minute that the game actually has a situation-sensitive soundtrack.

[Unseen]

Hexen is also really good, except hexen is a lot harder and more enemies got defenses. Some centaur enemy with a shield will actually block your attacks, and then you gotta use different magics. And there's 3 characters so each ones got different tactics. Hexen 2 also looks amazing, but i have not played to far into that one yet..

And heretic, all this off 8 mbs its pretty impressive. Hope they get the doom1/2 remaster treatment soon.

[flarefan]

Originally posted by Unseen:

Hexen is also really good, except hexen is a lot harder and more enemies got defenses. Some centaur enemy with a shield will actually block your attacks, and then you gotta use different magics. And there's 3 characters so each ones got different tactics.

Yeah, Hexen is actually what drew me to Heretic. Long story so feel free to skip:

I was exploring the first-person shooters for one of my two favorite consoles, the Saturn. Having already played Robotica (an appalling bore), PowerSlave (a masterpiece, one of the deepest and most gorgeous FPSs I've played), Doom (not the best version of the game but great fun nonetheless), Quake (rather a slog thanks to dry level design and muddy, drab graphics), and Ghen War (cool and satisfyingly complex, but the limited continues make it too frustratingly difficult for me to persist to the end), I decided the most logical next stop was Hexen, since I have no familiarity with the Alien franchise and Duke Nukem 3D's controversial-for-the-sake-of-controversial doesn't appeal to me. After playing it for three hours, I reached two conclusions: One, Hexen is a very interesting game that I would like to play more of. Two, the Saturn version wasn't going to cut it.

There are two big problems with Saturn Hexen. One is that the frame rate is absolutely atrocious on some levels. Those who say Saturn Doom has it worst are clearly giving Saturn Hexen a free pass due to Hexen being more technically demanding than Doom. Two, while Hexen has both a save feature and password feature for saving progress, both are crippled. The save file is so huge that it can't be saved to the Saturn's internal memory, only to a cartridge which supports direct save, and I use an Action Replay 4-in-1, which doesn't. Passwords only save between episodes, and finishing a whole episode in one sitting is not practical, at least not for a first-time player.

So I looked up Hexen on Steam, and saw that it comes in a cost-saving bundle with Heretic and Hexen II. The screenshots for Heretic looked very cool, and I had read a rave review for Heretic in Maximum a few years before, so I figured why not grab the bundle. I'm very glad that I did.

[Unseen]

See the thing is I've actually noticed quite a few people saying lately that quake looks bad, or they don't like the gameplay for quake. That's fine and all, everyones welcome to their opinion. But for me anyway quake is probably the best 3d shooter pre 2000 and the reason I say that. Well I logged over 100 hours in quake1 on steam and that's not counting previous playthroughs on the original pc version, and n64. And quake isn't my nostalgia game either, that'd be turok or goldeneye. The reason I think quakes the best non pixel shooter of the 90s is for the same reason I think mario 64 is the best 3d platformer of the 90s. Because if I was just counting graphics it'd be shadowman or banjo. But the reason being is cause of how revolutionary and influential quake 1 was. I mean it came out 96 or 97, there was no half life, or unreal back then. Just quake and pixel shooters. Yea it looks a little drab but that I think was intentional, they were trying to channel an archaic old industrial or castle feel. Something that felt ancient. Heretic does the exact same thing except in reverse. It creates a moody and ancient world, with similar themes minus the techno freaks. But colors the hell out of it and makes it very vibrant and stunning especially for 8 mbs. Quake tho, I would honestly suggest new players skip quake 1 and go right for scourge or dissolution. The reason I say that, the original quake is a great game, and I beat that one first. But the level progression and the last boss, really are kind of a slog. Trent Reznors soundtrack, honestly wasn't to impressive for me. The soundtrack for the expansions were far more exciting. I like what trent was doing with atmosphere, but it just doesn't translate much to exciting shooter. While the soundtracks in the expansions are way more paced and exciting. Even to the point I actually customed my quake soundtrack to include the expansion themes. Mainly cause trents original soundtrack, just isn't my thing and I love NIN especially hurt, and march of pigs, but... Just wasn't feeling the original quake soundtrack.

Scourge of Armageddon is one of my all time fav shooter expansions and I loved it more than quake1. If you haven't already beat scourge I'd recommend trying it out. Quake1 had some good levels tho, especially like wind tunnels. But really scourge did everything better than quake1 without making it to long or dragged out. But that's just my opinion on quake1 its not for everyone but I still think its one of the most influential shooters ever made, a gaming legend and its engine spawned off half life, sin, soldier of fortune, and of course quake2 which I absolutely love the strogg as enemies.

As for heretic, played and completed doom1-64, blood, and heretic and even though I loved blood. Still thought heretic was a better game overall. And all just off 8mbs, the games amazing. But I've honestly not beat many pixel shooters. Working on duke, and imo killing time looks very interesting. But I still haven't found one as good as heretic.

Not counting system shock, as I don't consider SS a doom style action shooter. SS is something else though, an amazing game, but not fair to compare to action shooters. Not with that level of lore, storyline, voice acting, music, simulation style gameplay, and just all around awesome villain. SS is in a class of its own.

[flarefan]

I'm talking about Saturn Quake though. I actually researched contemporary reviews for Quake for Wikipedia some time ago, and the critics' opinions were basically:

PC Quake - Innovative and awesome, one of the best games of all time
Saturn Quake - Playable but doesn't bring over any of the elements that made PC Quake fun
N64 Quake - Not nearly as good as PC Quake but brings over all the essential elements

I can't comment on PC Quake myself since I've never played it. That's funny about the soundtrack, because I rather liked that element. It's not something you'd want to play when you're in a glum mood, but it perfectly fits the game's setting.

If you have a 3DO, PO'ed is definitely a game to check out. Brilliant design and way ahead of its contemporaries in terms of physics. In fact, even if you don't have a 3DO, you can check it out because a definitive edition was just released for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One.

[Unseen]

Sorry about the mix up never played any shooters on Saturn but I'm familiar with the N64 version of quake. From what I remember it looked really good, but looking at the N64 version on the night dive version it looks really rough. Guessing that had to do with TV resolutions.

Saturns the one system I find very interesting and it had a ton of good but obscure games. Burning rangers, Darius gaiden, Castlevania sotn, die hard trilogy, virtual cop, lotta greats. Would love to see a rerelease even if it's just official Sega stuff. So much I missed out on with Saturn.

Poed looks interesting, but I really like what killing time does with fmv models.

[flarefan]

You're actually not missing out on much with Burning Rangers, Castlevania, and Die Hard Trilogy. Castlevania and Die Hard Trilogy are both inferior ports of PlayStation games, and Burning Rangers is extremely underdeveloped, to the point where it's hard to believe it's an official release instead of a beta. The graphics constantly glitch out, the voice navigation has no pathfinding skills whatsoever, and two of the bosses can't even hurt you; they shoot you but it does nothing.