Hexen PS1 Review

Hexen is a fantasy based first-person styled shooter game that was released for the PlayStation in 1997 and the game itself alongside the Sega Saturn and even the Nintendo 64 versions are ports of the original PC version that originally was called Hexen Beyond Heretic on the PC that was released originally back in late 1994, 1995 with the PC versions predominantly being added as a collection with a number of different games in the series that were being developed during that time. 

The PS1 version is also considered to be one of the worst PC to conversion ports of any game that was seen at that time as the game is often seen as suffering from many limitations and setbacks with different areas with regards to 3D animation, the frame rate being a lot slower and chopier, the monsters not having the full graphical aspects that would have been seen in the PC version with various elements being removed all to try and maintain the various run speed of the game. 

Both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions would also feature slightly remixed versions of the CD music portion of the PC version and the game would be built on the popular build engine that would have been used predominantly seen with games like such as Doom and Duke Nukem 3D among many other first person games that were appearing on the PC at that time. 

And hexen was just another one of those games that would receive that type of treatment being ported to consoles again because the series was considered to be quite popular on the PC during that time period. 

While it may not be considered to be a definitive version of the game, it does have some unique attributes and regarding that it is a port of a PC game primarily back in those days games would often be criticized due to many elements because games that where being ported, reviewers would always have wanted the PlayStation or the console port of the game to be almost identical to the PC Port which back then when you look at it from a standpoint it was never going to be possible because regardless of how powerful the console was at the time it was never going to be as powerful as the PC because again even during the 90s PC'S could be upgraded with better graphics chips and various other attributes to improve various functions and features of games. 

Whereas the PlayStation could never achieve that so in a lot of cases for many of these games it's quite a miracle to see games of those calibers being ported to the console. 

Now there are a handful of FPS games that made its way onto the console years later that were way beyond what was expected especially when you look at the likes of Quake 2. 

Even the original Doom port on the PlayStation as that's considered one of the best FPS ports ever seen on a console and even with the likes of Quake 2, is a phenomenal example of a port done right and the fact is that it pushed the boundaries of what was even considered possible with the PlayStation during the late 90s because many considered it to not even be possible at all. 

While it's still not as refined as the PC version it was damn near close in terms of what it presented and what it offered and it is a phenomenal game outright and for me personally it's one of my favorite FPS Shooters of all time and even with the PS1 version I played it I known that on both the PS1 and on the PC and regardless of the version you play a quake 2 for me it's just hands down phenomenal. 

But with regards to hexen, what is it like to play overall?  

The aesthetic is more of a gothic fantasy style theme but if you're familiar with doom and even with the likes of Duke Nukem but more so Doom it plays almost identical to Doom. 

The only difference is it replaces the likes of the aliens and the guns instead with more types of fictional and fantasy styled elements with being able to shoot like magic from likes of magical staffs being able to shoot weapons from crossbows and even being able to punch opponents and that's where the game primarily boils down to that you have the ability to choose three different types of characters which kind of reflect a lot of your typical dungeon style games or RPG style games of the time and even still today. 

It usually always boils down to the choice between one of three characters usually some sort of Mage that's usually like a magician that can manipulate magic but would be weaker physically and then you have other type of characters more like a barbarian style character that's physically very strong but it's not really good or has no magic abilities whatsoever. 

Then you have an in-between character that has agility, has mobility and has a little bit of strength and can use a little bit of magic but it's kind of like a balance between the three. 

There's always that kind of dynamic in the game so they give you a different type of character to suit your own play style. 

So if you want to go more Hands-On or to be more physical or more action focused you can pick the stronger character and just go in and beat the crap out of everybody until literally you complete a level or you die or you can pick other characters where you can take a more cautious approach to how you get through levels and so both puzzles and so forth. 

So how you decide to play the game is really based off your own choices and the characters that you decide to use and this game is no different to that. 

While it may not be is considered as good as the PC Port which for obvious reasons is apparent but it still doesn't take away from the whole gameplay aesthetic of the game, if you played the Doom port you will be familiar with the concepts surrounding this. 

Yes the levels are difficult and at times they can be a struggle to figure out or to understand what you have to do especially when you have to try and find keys or elements to open various doors or unlock hidden areas. 

Sometimes it can be tricky to understand what to do but once you figure out the basic aspects of the game you'll be able to play it with enough enjoyment to keep at it for a while. 

But only hardcore FPS or old school FPS players that would have been fans of the original doom and even games like it would get the most out of games like these as those are the players that the game would appeal to mostly. 

Even for my own experience I never really played hexen back in the day I only got to play it a few years later, I remember even years ago when I first got into the PlayStation and we used to go around to game stores because of me living in Ireland we didn't really have access to buy games really where I was living as such I had to travel all the way to Dublin if you wanted to find game stores. 

There was Electronics Boutique, Game among a few others and you had a massive amount of selection of games that you could buy if you wanted to so it just left you trying to save whatever pocket money you have so you could get on the train and just head down to Dublin so you could spend your money. 

Because that's what you used to do every couple of the months or even once or twice a year when you did have money back then and I do remember going into a lot of the game shops and hexen was always on the game store for many years. 

You'd always see them on the game shelves so it was one of those games that was being pushed quite a bit. 

Now it didn't take long for the game to drop in price and I think that's primarily why you would see it on the likes of different types of bargain shelves and stuff and it was always there. 

So it's hard to see if the game sold in high numbers but imagine if it was always on the store shelf there was a chance that it would have sold a few copies here and especially as the game got cheaper. And it's one of those type of games that will only appeal to a certain dynamic of players that wouldn't appealed to everybody. I remember regularly going into different game shops whenever it was in Dublin and it would be there and for some reason I was always drawn to the cover of the game I always really liked the look of it and I remember always looking at it and thinking to myself you know what I think I would like this but for some reason I just never bought it. 

I would always go and buy something else but I suppose back then I always kind of had an idea of the type of game I wanted to go for and usually if I had any money left over I would try to pick up something maybe cheap and this game was usually always there within that kind of time frame or that price point but I just never really allowed myself to buy it. 

But having to get to play it years later yeah it's a decent game now the PC version is by far the definitive version I can't deny that for a second and the fact is that they've remastered it in recent years where you can now access on the likes of Steam and Gog or goodoldgames.com so if you want to get the best hexen experience, download the latest and updated remastered versions that way you'll definitely get more bang for your buck. 

But still these all games do showcase what was possible even though they may not have been considered as great considered to their PC Alternatives but they did present something that was unique and did in some ways show what the PlayStation was all about and it showed that it was possible to put games like that on the console that the console was powerful enough to present this type of element which was pretty cool back then. 

But again it's the type of game that wouldn't be for everybody it's just it will appeal to a certain dynamic of players but if you are one of those players then there's no harm in going back to this and trying it out to see what you think for yourself and if you're a fan of the original doom and more so the Doom version on the PlayStation itself even Duke Nukem among a couple of other games you'll feel right at home here with this. 

So I'd love to know your thoughts on hexen for the PlayStation if you have played the game yourself and if so what do you think of the game overall. 

Are you a fan of this series or are you a fan of this era of FPS games that would have been seen on the PlayStation? 

I'd love to hear whatever stories you do have with this game or even game similar to it so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Hexen, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...