Heretic

Overview

Title Screen

Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter created by Raven Software. The game uses a modified Doom engine. It was one of the first first-person games to feature inventory manipulation and the ability to look up or down. The game also used randomized ambient sounds and noises to enhance the atmosphere.

Plot

Three brothers, the Serpent Riders, have used their magic to turn seven kings of Parthoris into their slaves. The kings led their subjects in doing the Serpent Riders' will. The Sidhe elves are immune to the spells of the Serpent Riders and had no allegiance to any of the kings. Thus, the Riders declared the Sidhe heretics and launched a campaign of genocide against them. The Sidhe had seven candles, each tied to a natural power of the world as well as that of one king. They extinguished these candles, destroying the kings armies and weakening the elves own powers in the process. The Serpent Riders took advantage of this and killed the elders. After that the Sidhe went into hiding. One however sets out in search of D'Sparil, the weakest of the three brothers and the only one remaining in Parthoris.

The crossbow is effective against lesser enemies

The player must fight his way through the City of the Damned, the capital of Sidhe and the site where the elders performed their ritual. At it's end is the gateway to Hell's Maw, guarded by the Iron Liches. After their demise, the player must seal the portal. But the portal can only be sealed from the other side. The only choice is to go onward, into the enemy's territory. Eventually the player arrives at D'Sparil's fortress. A final battle commences and once he is finally destroyed, all the creatures under his command perish. A portal opens. The fortress crumbles into oblivion and the player is transported away from home.

Gameplay

Shoot with magic

The gameplay is very similar to Doom in the sense, that you'll have to find three colored keys to progress. Also, the weapons in the game are also very similar. The staff in the beginning is very much like the pistol etc. Items include from simple health potions to power-ups to the "morph ovum," an item that transforms enemies into chickens. Looking up and down come in handy, since some of the enemies have wings or float.

Multiplayer

Like Doom before it, Heretic supported four-player co-op and four-player deathmatch games. Matches could be played over modem or LAN, and were also supported by DWANGO.

Other Versions and Availability

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

Although the original version of Heretic was only available through mail order and contained three episodes, a retail version was released, distributed by GT Interactive. It was titled Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders and featured two additional episodes: The Ossuary, which took the player to the remains of a world conquered by the Serpent Riders many centuries ago, and The Stagnant Demesne, which took place in the birthplace of D'Sparil. A patch was available from Raven's website to update the original game to match Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

After its release, Raven discontinued production of the original version of Heretic.

Open Source

In 1999, the source code of Heretic was published by Raven Software under a license that granted rights to non-commercial use, and was re-released under the GNU General Public License on September 4, 2008. This resulted in ports to Linux and a shareware version console port for the Sega Dreamcast.

Weapons

Weapon	Description
The Staff	The Staff The most basic melee weapon of the game. Sometimes useful early in the game, but when stronger monsters appear, you should run away and look for ammo.
Gauntlets of the Necromancer	Gauntlets of the Necromancer If you have these puppies, you don't need the staff. These gauntlets deliver a strong electrical attack.
Elven Wand	Elven Wand The basic ranged weapon. It fires single yellow crystals. Quite deadly, if you're on lower levels. On higher, you should do the mentioned tactic used for the staff.
Ethereal Crossbow	Ethereal Crossbow It fires three arrows at once, good for multiple enemies or concentrating your fire on one.
Dragonclaw	Dragon Claw The Dragon's Claw is the perfect weapon for those, who are into machine guns. This destroys everything in your path, leaving you a nice cleared hallway.
Hellstaff	Hellstaff Powered by Hell itself, this staff is so fast you just see the enemies dying. Another winner for the clear-the-hallway-quickly type.
Phoenix Rod	Phoenix Rod The Phoenix Rod fires an explosive charge and when it hits, dead bodies follow quickly. mmm... Incendiarism...
Firemace	Firemace This man-made machine fires small "grenade" type objects that bounce around and explode. Oh joy!

Items and Artifacts

Item/Artifact	Description
Crystal Vial	Crystal Vial The most invaluable friend of them all. This little guy restores your health a little bit.
Bag of Holding	Bag of Holding An extra bag is always handy. It increases your ammo capacity.
Map Scroll	Map Scroll Handy little helper, this gives you the map of the entire level. Don't forget to press TAB...
Silver Shield	Silver Shield If you can't find anyone, who will take someone else's punches, this will really help. Gives 100 armor.
Enchanted Shield	Enchanted Shield The enchanted version of the one, who will take the punches. This one gives 200 armor.
Quartz Flask	Quartz Flask If you've got one and expected to go through an entire boss fight with no vial in sight, you're toast. If you have ten, you're in heaven. This increases your health.
Torch	Torch Invaluable. Never go through a dark spot without it!
Shadowsphere	Shadowsphere This turns the game into a covert ops mission. Turns you partially invisible. Stealthy kills, here I come!
Mystic Urn	Mystic Urn Maybe this contains some guys ashes... don't care! This gives you full health!
Darchala's Chaos Device	Darchala's Chaos Device Handy, when you're overwhelmed. Teleports you back to the start of the level.
Torpol's Morph Ovum	Torpol's Morph Ovum A delight. Some humor in this eerie place. This turns the enemies into chickens! Do they lay eggs? No... Wish I could throw this into D'Sparil's face and laugh... Bring on the omelet!
Valador's Ring of Invincibility	Valador's Ring of Invincibility God-Mode... for a duration of time...
Delmintalintar's Timebomb of the Ancients	Delmintalintar's Timebomb of the Ancients Got a second? That's the time you have to get out of this thing's way before it explodes! Be careful!
Tyketto's Tome of Power	Tyketto's Tome of Power This powers up your weapon, making it all-around useful. Even now the staff seems good... Why... oh why can't you power up the Morph Ovum?
Inhilicon's Wings of Wrath	Inhilicon's Wings of Wrath Wings. Simple as that. Fly me to the moon, let me sing among those stars...

Useful links

ZDOOM - Popular source port for modern operating systems.

trivia	What is the 4th difficulty setting in the ...	Khalen
trivia	Who developed Heretic?	chicubs223420
trivia	D'Sparil, the final boss of Heretic, rode atop ...	LordKorax

Game Name	Heretic
Platform(s)	PC
Publisher(s)	id Software
Developer(s)	Raven Software
Genres	Add a new genre Action First-Person Shooter
Themes	Add a new theme Fantasy Medieval
Original US Release	Dec. 23, 1994 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases	Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

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Overview

Plot

Gameplay

Multiplayer

Other Versions and Availability

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

Open Source

Weapons

The Staff

Gauntlets of the Necromancer

Elven Wand

Ethereal Crossbow

Dragon Claw

Hellstaff

Phoenix Rod

Firemace

Items and Artifacts

Crystal Vial

Bag of Holding

Map Scroll

Silver Shield

Enchanted Shield

Quartz Flask

Torch

Shadowsphere

Mystic Urn

Darchala's Chaos Device

Torpol's Morph Ovum

Valador's Ring of Invincibility

Delmintalintar's Timebomb of the Ancients

Tyketto's Tome of Power

Inhilicon's Wings of Wrath

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