Heretic sent 1994 out with a bang. DOOM II and its clones may have had the share of the year but right before Christmas, Raven Software brought something while not wholly original , felt different enough to not just justify its' existence but be enjoyable. It was the first fps game to feature a usable inventory system. It pushed a modified Id Tech 1 engine in all kinds of new and colorful ways in a fantasy setting. The game still has a lot of quick and violent shooting and gore that I'm honestly wondering how used to the industry was after the earlier part of the year. In 1994 this would have been a very mature game like the rest of its genre, offing a nice reprieve from Nintendo's family systems. I started luke warm with this game and very quickly found myself really enjoying it. By no means does it dethrone its' older cousin but its a hidden gem I wish now more people knew about.
The movement in Heretic feels a good bit slower and different in dynamic than the in and out of DOOM II. Heretic's controls are largely outdated by today and took some getting used too. Perhaps I'm still getting used to them but after some time with the game I find it to be a fair bit slower and more direct line of firing sight than its older cousin. Strafing seems nigh impossible to do properly so I usually wind up zipping from one point to the next until I can line up sight at the appropriate distance from the enemy and fire. I find enemies ranged attacks do interact mostly alright with this system of movement. For instance enemies tend shoot less projectiles in general than some other shooters of the time. Also this gives the player some small windows and mobility options of when to go through the games quick inventory system and use items or potions. It really goes to show how much in infancy fps games where in 1994. Basic movement systems and dynamics could vary wildly between games. I can see why Heretic has the game design choices it has and honestly I have a lot of fun with the game in part because of its movement choices. Its not great and certainly no where on DOOM II's level of fun.
Aesthetic is something that really makes us all fall in love with games and I'd be mistaken to not give Heretic a massive amount of credit here. The fantasy setting and art direction of this game look great. I remember in the last blog talking about the cost of realtime 3d graphics in comparison to 2d graphics at the time. It's no Nintendo SNES master piece in art direction and visuals but in my opinion looks drastically better than DOOM which ran on the same engine. The game is no stranger to color. Spells, magical lightning, fire, water all these things are colored vibrantly and displayed in a very respectable way for the age. Castles and stone towers rise to the sky with entry in and up, all surrounded by moats filled with water crossed with draw bridges. This was some cutting edge PC shit. Sure a lot of the games weapons where reskins of DOOM weapons. The staff that shoots magic orbs is the pistol exactly. Dragon orb staff is the plasma gun etc. But the effect of having them and firing them with corresponding repainted enemies is still a lot of fun. Its a nice fresh coat of paint that does plenty of new and fun things.
By the end of 1994 we see the genre taking shape. Most of these games would be called DOOM clones one way or another but its clear set rules and design guide lines where taking place. Technology while advancing was playing some catch up. Many people probably had trouble running DOOM back when it launched. But the potential audience and market saturation of capable hardware was much bigger by the end of 1994. It's clear despite this 3d gaming and fps gaming where very much limited in their infancy. I'm having a blast with Heretic.I haven't even got to its quick item use. I'm by no means done with the game and 1994 just yet. 
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