Heretic

1994 · First-Person Shooter · PC/DOS

Overview

Heretic (1994) is Raven Software's dark-fantasy shooter on a modified Doom engine, one of the first first-person games with an inventory and the ability to look up and down.

Deep Dive

The elf Corvus hunts D'Sparil, one of the three Serpent Riders who corrupted the seven kings of Parthoris, through the City of the Damned and Hell's Maw to D'Sparil's dome. Raven added an inventory of items, looking up and down and flying to the Doom engine. Health potions can be carried for later, the Tome of Power gives every weapon a stronger mode, and the Morph Ovum turns enemies into chickens.

Developer Story

John Romero proposed a medieval game in the style of Doom, and Raven built it on a modified version of id's engine. The shareware version came out on 29 December 1994, and the retail Shadow of the Serpent Riders added two episodes in 1996. It sold more than 500,000 copies, and Hexen: Beyond Heretic followed.

Did You Know?

John Carmack reportedly told the team to "do it like Doom, and add the fantasy flavor".
Computer Gaming World ranked being turned into a chicken third among the best ways to die in computer games.
Raven released the source code in 1999.