Last month Bethesda and retro specialists Nightdive Studios announced the return and shadow drop of Heretic + Hexen – a “definitive re-release” of the classic spell shooters. Now, much like the re-releases of DOOM and Quake, this latest package has now received its first major update. As explained on the Slayers Club website, Update 1 introduces a variety of new features, gameplay changes, fixes, and modding improvements, and has been made available across all platforms.
New Features
Heretic: Added original game’s Firemace placement randomization (albeit with 100% spawn chance instead of the original’s 75%)
Added option to disable cutscene subtitles in Accessibility menu
Added option to restore original two-button press behavior when selecting inventory items
Added option to restore original behavior where flying forward or backward will keep you at the same height, regardless of looking up or down
Added option to disable weapon animation smoothing
Added ‘look up’, ‘look down’, and ‘center view’ key bindings
Allow use of more buttons to advance through intermission text screens
Gameplay Modifiers menu is now accessible from episode and player class screens, instead of just difficulty selection
Changes
Hexen: Buffed Bloodscourge damage and adjusted autoaim behavior to work better with large crowds of enemies
Hexen: Slightly increased attack speed of Timon’s Axe
Hexen: Decreased Quietus mana usage from 14 of each type to 10
Hexen: Slightly increased Wraithverge mana usage from 18 to 20
Improved smoothness of weapon attack animations for various weapons
Improved smoothness of weapon raise and lower animations
Disable menu ambience if music soundtrack is set to None
Fixes
Automap now scrolls at a consistent speed regardless of screen resolution
Automap now zooms more quickly when using a mouse wheel
Strafe left and right keys will now cancel each other out to match original game behavior
Monsters can no longer be pushed off ledges by player weapon attacks
Triggers can no longer be skipped in certain circumstances when sliding along walls
Enemy missiles will no longer fire slightly downward, preventing incorrect explosions
Monster melee attacks no longer have infinite height
Multiplayer scoreboards will no longer show zeroed out stats in certain cases
Fixed cases where disabling viewbob would cause weapon sprites to offset incorrectly
Level Changes & Fixes
Fixed inconsistent blood floor texture behavior
Fixed inconsistencies between types of locked door textures
Various fixes in different levels such as removing unreachable enemies, fixing softlocks, and adjusting environment details
Microsoft Store
Added support for using the Windows virtual keyboard for text inputs
Removed option for exclusive fullscreen to fix some issues with Game Bar overlays
Various modding changes to improve user experience and customization possibilities
So, are you excited to dive back into Heretic + Hexen with this new update? Maybe it’s time to dust off your spells and take on the challenges once again. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
