I can never forget the impact I had when I first saw Hexen on my very first computer. Duke Nukem 3D and other classics of the genre came afterward, but Hexen will always hold a special place in my heart for several reasons.
This great game by Raven Software was far ahead of its time, offering complex hubs and puzzles that went beyond the single-level format à la Doom. The environments were dark and the atmosphere was beautifully enhanced by the limitations of the engine, such as the perfectly contextualized and well-placed fog created by Raven’s programmers. The engine accomplished things that the early chapters of Doom could only dream of, and this gap was evident even in Heretic, the first title in the Hexen saga, which was mostly just a simple Doom clone. I don’t see any YouTubers or influencers singing the praises of this game, which leads me to conclude that Hexen is an underrated gem in its genre, despite being a cornerstone of modern first-person shooters with extensive areas and intelligent backtracking. A must-have in my collection.
