By:
Raven Software

We'll be frank with you- when we got Raven Software's, (via publisher Activision), Heretic II in for review we weren't exactly jumping up and down with excitement. Of all the recent 3D shooters to hit the scene, Heretic II is perhaps one of the least publicized and hyped. Nothing much was 'expected' so to speak. Two general schools of thought arose, albeit prematurely. Firstly, we weren't actually all that keen on the original Heretic, never a good sign. Secondly, the thought of playing a Quake 2 engine based game from a 3rd person perspective, similar to Tomb Raider III, wasn't a pleasant one. Why 'fix' something (the 1st person view) that wasn't broke to begin with?

Skepticism pointed at "Oh Raven is trying to churn out yet another a Quake 2 engine based game with only a 3rd person POV and we all know how well Tomb Raider III went down, eh?" So cynical and yet so entirely wrong were our original thoughts because whether or not you liked/disliked the original Heretic matters not. And whether you liked/disliked Tomb Raider III also bears no relevance. In fact, we'll stop doing Heretic II any more disservice by comparing it to Lara's latest frolics. To be blunt, Lara would give her right, um, eye for this level of gaming satisfaction. To put it mildly, Heretic II is one of the most addictive, intuitive, attractive, innovative and downright entertaining 3D shooters to date (bar Half-Life). In the current market of 3D shooter after 3D shooter, Heretic II is one helluva pleasant surprise.