The LAN Report by Witzbold.

Yesterday, Jaegle, King (two of my clanmates, who also happen to live in the same town as me), and I (Witzbold) got the chance to play some demo Hexen2 over a LAN. What does this mean? No lag, baby. And, let me tell you, playing this game without lag is an incredible experience - I don't know if I'll ever be able to easily go back to Quake (erm, who'm I kidding, who can't go back to Quake?) There are two things, in my mind, that make HeXen II really stand out as a truly fun and original multiplayer experience. They are, the character classes (including level advancement) and the inventory.

Trans water in software! First off, the classes. Even with only two classes availible, it was still an incredible experience. The classes were very well balanced, so that neither player has an advantage unless they're just really good with that class (I love assassins). Each class has all of it's own strategies to be mastered, making it four times more difficult to be a master of Hexen as it is to rule at Quake (think how hard it is to rock at all of the classes in TF). A nice touch was the way character experience and levels were handled. I had reservations about this, privately hoping that Raven would not let us bring old characters (say, from single player) to deathmatch. And, thankfully, they didn't. Instead, levels are accumulated on a per-game basis, so you gain experience only for that game. Your powers and hit points increase as you advance in levels, till you can rock anyone's world.

The one drawback I could see about this, would be weaker characters that enter the game will get a beat-down from the high level characters. However, I'm sure Raven saw this, and has an answer. I believe (I'm not sure, though) that weaker characters will get more experience for killing high levelers, and vice-versa. I'm practically sure (think AD&D, people), but not positive. I did not play the Paladin very much (both King and Jaegle played it), but here's some notes I noticed about his weapons the few times I did play. The paladin's weapons perfectly fit his personality. They are his fists (which are decent weapons), a sword, throwing axes, and a sort of rapid-fire fire staff. My personal favorite weapon are the axes, which, when thrown, bounce off the walls, like the laser cannon in Scourge of Armagon, till they cut someone up. The Assassin is the class that I played, almost all the time. She rules. :-) Her weapons are designed for stealth and backstabbing, except for the Staff of Set, which can match the Paladin's purifer (that rapid-fire weapon) in a match of strength. The bombs are my favorite weapon, very effective in eliminating enemies - almost like the grenade launcher in Quake. Except, you can control how far you throw, which is quite a boon, once you get used to it. The Assassin even has cool powers, once get high level, like becoming totally translucent in shadows (it does work - King ran right by me before), and backstabbing with the katar. I know I'm gushing, but I love this class. :)

Jaegle meets Witz's Glyph. Next, the inventory/items. This is probably my favorite feature. Let me give you a comparison to Quake - it's like the person you're chasing could have the Quad, but not turn it on till they needed it. All of the items are very useful, but not too powerful, and if they are powerful, they are very hard to get. They are the great equalizer - if you use the right combo of items, you can kick some serious butt. Let me tell you about my three favorite power ups. The first is the glyph of the ancients, which is a glorified bomb, but has a different use for each class. In the hands of the paladin, he throws it, and it soon explodes. However, if the bomb lands on you, it sticks to you, until it explodes. In the hands of the assassin, however, the glyph becomes a tripwire, which explodes when someone crosses it (including the assassin).

I nibble Jaegle to death. The second is the Seal of the Ovinmancer, which, if you hit your opponent with it, turns them into a sheep. How cool is that? It's then quite easy to chase them down and kill them, as long as you do it before the spell wears off. But, be careful, because the sheep can bite, as Jaegle quickly found out. Hehehe. Maybe the best touch to the sheep thing is that when you jump, you go "baaaa". :) I rip someone to death. Last, but certainly not least, is the Tome of Power. This is HeXen II's quad (in a way). This sucker totally changes your weapons to make them more powerful than they are, for a short period of time (note sure on how long, yet). For example, the assassin's Staff of Set, which normally shoots out small balls of power, sends a flying, homing beetle, that, when it attachs to the enemy, does some amazing things. Look at the picture to see. Those chains come from the wall, and rip your foe apart. All in all, HeXen II over a LAN is perhaps the most fun I've ever had playing on the computer (perhaps, tied with a good LAN game of defusion). I am eagerly awaiting the full release, to fully explore the classes and items. Just think about a CTF mod for HeXen II - I'm pratically salivating right now.

Misc Tips & Strategy: If you are turned into a sheep, you can still use the items in your inventory (where the sheep stores them, I don't know). That means, throw those boots of speed on, and run around till the spell wears off. On that note, the Tome of Power cancels out the Seal of the Ovinomancer, making you human once again. Just for that reason, I keep one handy at all times. Once you know this, being turned into a sheep doesn't suck as much as it did. If you're a spy, have the Glyph of the Ancients, and are being chased, here's a tip. Lead the hunter into a room with only one exit, and run out the exit. As you're going out, slap the Glyph across the doorway, and watch the hunter go BOOM! They'll never know what hit them (at least until they check their console :)

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