If you’re a fan of a type of computer game known as a ‘first-person shooter’ (or FPS), in which the perspective of the game is from the eyes of the character being played, there are countless games you will know of on other platforms, with far fewer titles available for RISC OS, whether ported or original.
One of those that began life elsewhere and was ported to our system was Hexen. Elsewhere, the game was developed by Raven Software and published by id Software – also known for titles such as Quake and Doom. Indeed, Hexen makes use of the Doom game engine, but with enhancements.
Hexen is a fantasy action/adventure game, in which the player can take on one of three classes of character – a fighter, a mage, or a cleric – each of which has its own physical attributes, differing skills, and even some unique weapons. The second part of the Serpent Riders trilogy, the game follows Heretic and puts the player in the realm of Cronos, with the goal of overcoming Korax, the second of the three riders.
The game was brought to RISC OS in the late 1990s through the efforts of Gerph, aka Charles Ferguson, and released by R-Comp along with Heretic under the title “Heretic and Hexen: Towers of Darkness” – and Gerph has been busying himself with the game again recently, updating it so that it can be used on the whole range of RISC OS computers. The outcome of this is that it now works on modern systems such as those based around the Raspberry Pi, the iMX6, and more. In fact, on modern systems it can be played like it never has before on RISC OS – with graphics resolutions up to 2560×1440 pixels, in 8 or 24-bit colour, and even with high quality digital music (the original played MIDI files), which gives it a much more atmospheric feel.
The new version is again available from R-Comp, and can be purchased via !Store for £17.50.