"YOU DID IT! YOU FINALLY DID IT!"
You dirty, filthy G.T. Interactive! You've managed to screw up the
lucrative PC franchise of "Hexen" on its Saturn incarnation with the same
degree of shameless, shoddy and incompetent butchering that you brought to
your previous low, the Saturn version of "Doom". It is third-party
publishers like you that give our beloved Saturn a bad name in this battle
for the heart and mind of the casual gamer, which is the uninformed gamer
you are hoping will stumble upon this mockery of an RPG/first-person, and
buy it. You make me sick, G.T. Interactive! Hopefully you will decide to
leave development for the Saturn in the backburner until you can get your
act together. Because if "Hexen" is any indication of what we can expect
from you, then we don't need you causing this sort of headache on a Saturn
supporter's senses (and wallet!).
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: C-
Do you seriously expect me to believe that you couldn't utilize the
Saturn's 3D capabilities for a better showcase of these dungeon-filled
corridors? My cleric can summon spells that look like really pixilated
blobs, and my dwarf's ax can fill my screen with so many red pixels when
he gets up close and personal with a demon that, when properly paused, I
can count them! The hallways may be dark, but the frame-rate never exceeds
the 15-20 per second ratio (even though I'm only navigating), why is that?
And why is it that every time I turn around to fight enemies on the
sides or behind my game slows down so much I CAN"T AIM MY SPELL/WEAPON TO
THE CHARACTER IN FRONT OF ME BECAUSE A SLIGHT TAP OF THE D-PAD WILL SEND
ME WAY OVER TO THE LEFT/RIGHT? Why isn't this game been given the proper
facelift that is expected when a 2-year-old PC game gets ported to a
console with twin 32-bit processors?
In other words, why am I pissing on your games when I could be writing
my fellow Saturn gamers and recommending them this "awesome, new,
enhanced" version of "Hexen"? Why am I not playing and enjoying "Hexen"
right now? (Hint: I don't have it anymore, and hope to convince a handful
of souls not to follow my misfortune).
SOUNDS / MUSIC: B-
OK, OK. You did put more than a few dollars into the sounds and music
of this game, and that wouldn't be too hard since Id has taught an entire
generation of game designers how to compose moody, tense-filled demonic
music with the suitable screams and agony howls that come with gusto out
of my Sony Trinitron. And how hard is it, in this day of the cookie-cutter
"Doom" clone, to come up with sounds and music for this sort of game? You
probably have a cabinet from which you just grabbed the darn music from
the PC original (which was quite good), re-recorded the grunts,mixed it
with your work-in-progress audio from Saturn "Doom", and presto!
Your audio for "Hexen" isn't bad, G.T. Interactive, just sadly
ordinary.
GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C-
So is it fun running around in the RPG world according to "Doom"? Well,
it would have been nice to experience some sort of two-player format
(Saturn-to-Saturn deathmatch, Net-Link, etc.), since in the one player
mode the need to explore areas already covered can lead to tedious and
boring retreads of already-covered ground. Your monsters have a wicked
A.I., G.T. Interactive (unlike you, I might add!), and that makes their
patterns unpredictable and thoroughly believable (up to a point, of
course!). But the lack of a controllable aim during the frenzy of the
fight, with slowdown and choppy movements rendering my controls
momentarily useless, makes all of the above good points mute. Cruising
your world with no enemies is boring but acceptable, frame-wise; fighting
in it is ridiculous and a waste of a gamer's skill. None is needed.
Three characters to play, with different attributes and skill levels
(that I can build as my campaign progresses) would have been a great deal
if I had better control of them when engaged in battle. The sorcerer's
spells may be cool, but I prefer the brute-force style of the dwarf over
the brains of the other two. Who knows? RPG nuts (of which I'm not one)
might have the urge to conquer your console world, but I sincerely don't
think so. You see, G.T. Interactive, we console gamers have standards of
quality. And both "Doom" and "Hexen" for Saturn proves you don't have
them!
OVERALL: D
The bottom line is that I didn't have fun trying to get through the
mockery of a 3D world your programmers (were there any?) created for
"Hexen" on Saturn. I've said it so many times before I myself am getting
sick, but it has to be said: PIE's "PowerSlave" for Saturn proves that
this little black box has what it takes to do a corridor game justice!
Only a handful of copies may be available, but "PowerSlave" has earned its
creator, Lobotomy Software, a crack at porting "Duke Nukem" for Saturn
this summer. Every Saturn owner on the face of the Earth will buy it, and
all because Lobotomy/PIE build upon the reputation of their outstanding
first effort. You, on the other hand, will get nothing but the silence of
our closed wallets, G.T. Interactive, until you either get your act
straight or get the hell out of the Saturn development camp.
If it weren't because a friend of mine gave me "Hexen" as a celebratory
gift (I got a 5% pay raise...hooray!), I wouldn't be so bitter in my
assessment of it. But because my friend wasted his time and money on a
game that I can't play anymore (my Saturn keeps spitting it out when I
place it in the CD drive...honest!), and because I lost the free gift that
could have been a great game (instead of a few measly bucks of credit at
FuncoLand), I can't be any more emphatic in my disdain for your company,
your products and your so-called levels of quality control.
I can't afford "Doom" for the Nintendo 64, and the PSX pisses me off
(I've had it with the skipping FMV!) and won't be getting my money soon.
So you got lucky when I needed a kick of "Doom" nostalgia to go with my
"PowerSlave" thrills. But your shoddy follow-up, "Hexen", has made me view
my copy of "Doom" as a constant reminder not to ever consider purchasing a
G.T. Interactive product for any platform ever again. Saturn owners are
starved for quality product from thrid-party developers, but even beggars
who can't be choosers have standards.
By giving us "Hexen" you have proven your lack of any standards
whatsoever. Shame on you, G.T. Interactive!
- J.M.
Vargas
