Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard, PC

Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard (aka Wizard) was released by Psygnosis in 1994 and is a first-person, free-roaming dungeon-crawler. Unfortunately, though, it’s not a very good one.

I remember reviewing this game when it first came out, for PC Player magazine, and the PR rep for Psygnosis being very upset with me when he discovered I’d given it one star (out of five). What did he expect? Two stars? Three? Five? Nah, mate… The game is very clunky (especially combat), and is little more than a key hunt through an endless number of locked doors.

You might say, “well, all RPGs are like that!“, but I’d have to disagree. Most of the old school RPGs I love (Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, and Black Crypt, for example) have much more to them than key-finding. Even games more similar to Hexx, like Shadowcaster or Ultima Underworld, have so much more going for them than this…

That said – to be fair to this game – having re-played it recently, Hexx is not completely crap. It does have a few half-decent elements, and can be absorbing when you get into it. If you’re prepared to turn a blind eye to its misgivings… The combat is terrible; the graphics are garish, and the locations and setting are unimaginative.

Hexx really isn’t very good. It’s a rather amateurish attempt to create a 3D dungeon crawler. The enemies might be dangerous, but they sure as hell look funny (especially the mouse men, with their goofy teeth); the gameplay is repetitive and dull, and the presentation is bland. Considering the great RPGs that came before it, Hexx is a step back into the dark ages.

For RPG diehards, and the terminally bored and curious only.

More: Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard on Wikipedia