Recent reviews by JAC-MAT-HAG

It is really hard to recommend HeXen II. There are a few moments where everything clicks and the game is great, but the majority of this campaign is a pain to get through. Put simply, the puzzles are confusing and offer little to no direction while the combat is extremely one note. Unfortunately, unlike Heretic and the first Hexen, HeXen II is just not worth the pain and suffering.

PROS:
- Great art style and impressive graphics for the Quake engine
- Fun item system
- Decent length, taking around 6 - 10 hours to complete (depending on your use of a guide)

CONS:
- Terrible port that will need some configuration
- Puzzles are excruciating and ambiguous, a guide is a necessity
- Mana is far too rare for what the game expects
- Enemies have far too much health and engagements become a test of when the player runs out of mana, rather than true difficulty
- Missing the Portal of Praevus expansion

Hexen: Deathking of the Dark Citadel does nothing to distinguish itself as anything more than a poor map pack. In fact, the level design is a significant downgrade, and with no new weapons or enemies, there is no real reason to play this (other than to be a completionist). In short, the strengths of the base game are largely missing and the weaknesses are amplified.

PROS:
- Great art style from the base game
- Fun items from the base game

CONS:
- DosBox port, look at installing with GZDoom
- By the middle of the expansion it becomes clear that there is nothing new and the same few encounters will be repeated for its duration
- Poor level design, perhaps more confusing than the base game

Hexen: Beyond Heretic does a lot to separate itself from all the other games on the Doom engine, including its predecessor. While Hexen is perhaps best known for its confusing switch and key puzzles, a lot of these complaints overstate the level of complexity in them. What is, on the other hand, often understand is the repetitiveness of the combat due the lack of enemy variety and small number of weapons. While Hexen does have its faults, it is ultimately worth a shot for most classic FPS fans.

PROS:
- Creative art style that build upon Heretic with impressive environmental effects
- Expansive list of unique items
- Mostly solid level design
- Great length, taking around 7 hours to complete

CONS:
- DosBox port, look at installing with GZDoom
- The small number of weapons and enemies make combat extremely repetitive and slow
- Some sections can be confusing and may require a guide

Marathon Infinity could best be described as more Marathon 2. Unlike its predecessor, Marathon Infinity does little to improve on what came before. This feels like a missed opportunity, considering how Marathon 2 still had some considerable flaws. Nevertheless, for anyone who enjoyed the other games in this series, Marathon Infinity is a (mostly) enjoyable time.

PROS:
- Great weapon and enemy variety
- Solid level design (with some very notable exceptions)
- Stunning art style
- Intriguing (if extremely convoluted) story
- Decent length, taking around 6 hours to complete
- Free

CONS:
- Swimming controls are still horrible
- Movement is still very floaty
- Still unable to reload weapons
- Some late game levels are very tedious
- Some soft locking issues

A slight upgrade when compared to the first Marathon that introduces its own issues. Anyone that likes the first game will probably like this, but don't expect it to win over those who did not.

PROS:
- Great weapon and enemy variety
- Improved level design
- For the most part, vastly improved art style
- Improved story and world building
- Decent length, taking around 6 hours to complete
- Free

CONS:
- The introduction of bad swimming controls really hurts this game
- Movement is still very difficult to get used to
- Still unable to reload weapons
- Checkpoint system is still very inconsistent

Marathon occupies a bit of a strange place in the classic FPS genre. Apart from the obvious, such as the Macintosh exclusivity, Marathon separates itself in its gameplay and design (for better and worse). Marathon is worth a shot, but don't expect it to be painless.

PROS:
- Decent enemy and weapon variety
- Great port with plenty of customization and solid performance
- Healthy amount of difficulty in engagements
- Okay length, taking around 5 hours to complete
- Free

CONS:
- Pretty ugly and dated art style, even at the time
- Some really bad level design, with frequent mazes and tedious puzzles
- Movement is very floaty and hard to gauge
- Unable to reload weapons on demand
- Checkpoint system is inconsistent

Largely just more of the same when compared to the base game. There are some improvements, but also some downsides. At the end of the day though, this is really just a little bit more of Blake Stone.

PROS:
- Slightly improved level design and enemy variety
- Fun visuals

CONS:
- Very short, taking around 90 minutes to complete
- Minimap is now harder to discern

Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold does very little to distinguish itself from the game its engine was made for. While this does not mean there is no fun to be had, it does make it hard to recommend for anyone who is not a big fan of Wolfenstein 3D. Ultimately though, the game is well designed and very cheap, so look at giving this a shot if you are a fan of old raycaster shooters.

PROS:
- Decent length, taking around 5 hours to complete, and a great value at just $2
- Game has some small improvements when compared to Wolfenstein 3D, such as the minimap
- Fun visuals and sprites

CONS:
- This is just a DOSBox port, look at installing a source port like BStone alongside
- Has not aged terribly well when compared to the Doom and Quake era FPS games
- Lacking in weapon and enemy variety

Rise of the Triad is a great (if a bit janky) classic FPS, and this remaster is a great way to experience it. While Rise of the Triad has not aged as well as games like Doom or Quake, it does enough to separate itself from all the other FPS games that came out in the 90's (especially the game its engine was adopted from, Wolfenstein 3D). For most classic FPS fans, this game is worth a shot.

PROS:
- The level design does a (mostly) good job keeping the game fresh
- Solid amount of content, containing 3 campaigns that total ~12 hours (excluding the Hell that is Extreme RotT)
- Game adds substantially to the Wolfenstein 3D engine, making it feel somewhere between Wolfenstein and Doom
- Undeniable charm, easter eggs, and fun items
- Great remaster with a variety of settings and solid performance

CONS:
- The weapons are not great, and limiting the user to 3 at a time is a real shame
- Enemies can be extremely repetitive, with very little variety
- Some levels can be too much of a maze, though they are nowhere near as bad as Wolfenstein 3D

This feels like a wasted opportunity to re-release Chex Quest 1 through 3 in a single package. The gameplay in this "HD" remake does not feel correct and ultimately this is just not worth your time. Do yourself a favor and download GZDoom to play the original version instead.

PROS:
- Free
- Fine performance and stability

CONS:
- Very short, only containing a remake of Chex Quest 1
- Really monotonous gameplay
- Terrible visuals, any charm from the original sprite work is lost