Raven Releases Remastered Versions of Heretic and Hexen

Raven delivered a fun surprise at QuakeCon this week: The original 1990s versions of Heretic and Hexen are now available in remastered form across Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC (i.e. Windows), and Game Pass, and they support Xbox Play Anywhere.

“Over the last few years, id Software and Bethesda have partnered with Nightdive Studios to revisit many 90’s FPS [first person shooter] classics with a level of care and attention to detail that makes returning to these games immensely enjoyable experiences, both as a player and as an interactive piece of gaming preservation,” Xbox Wire editor Mike Nelson explains. “Nightdive’s recent restorations of the excellent DOOM I + II, Quake II, and most recently System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster, give the feeling of a studio cementing their reputation for creating definitive versions of some truly iconic games.”

Now, Nightdive has given Heretic and Hexen this same remaster attention. For those unfamiliar, these games were some of the best and most successful games ever created with the original Doom engine. Heretic arrived first, in 1994, and Hexen, its sequel, came in 1995, both for MS-DOS, not Windows. But now, we can relive that history. Each game is available in 4K and 120 FPS for the first time, each with numerous texture enhancements, remixed soundtracks, in-game support for community-created mods, local split screen for 4 to 8 players, and online crossplay multiplayer with up to 16 players.

Most interesting, perhaps, Nightdive and Id Software collaborated on all-new episodes for each game: Heretic: Faith Renewed and Hexen: Vestiges of Grandier.

The history here is interesting. Id Software created Doom and then Doom II, of course. And during the time in which the company was creating what would become Quake, Raven Software, which had previously created games based on earlier Id titles like Wolfenstein 3D, used the Doom engine to make Heretic, possibly the most successful third-party Doom engine game, and then its sequel, Hexen. Activision acquired Raven in 1997, and thanks to various Microsoft Games acquisitions in recent years, Id Software and Raven, like Activision Blizzard, are now part of that family of game publishers.

To me, Heretic is right up there with the other 1990s FPS classics–Doom and Doom II, of course, and Quake and Quake II, but also Duke Nukem 3D, Half-Life, and others–and I’m looking forward to reliving this title now.

Heretic + Hexen costs $14.99 and is available now on PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass, Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Xbox PC (Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam (PC), GOG (PC) and various cloud streaming choices.

Bethesda is also having a big sale across its titles and various platforms.