Levels and Atmosphere

Level Design and Atmosphere

One word best describes the intricate level design: details. The abstract details that are scattered across the maps, such as flowing waterfalls, random moss and plants growing out of walls, spider webs, fog, trees, and other such effects really bring to light the beauty of a third-person perspective game. The 3rd person perspective opens up new avenues for level designers, enabling them to take full advantage of a true 3D world. You'll find the levels have more open space, reach far greater heights, and overall are simply the most spectacular usage of the Quake II engine to date.

Sweet waterfall

Poor slaves of the Seraph

You begin your journey in your hometown of Silverspring. The instant you warp in your senses are awakened to a slew of different sights and sounds. The sound of water washing ashore, seagulls bawking in the background, a woman crying, a baby wailing, an enemy muttering about eating your liver, a plague-ridden fellow begging for mercy, heavy breathing from close-by, and rats squeaking at you. The whole scene thrusts you into the game, making you feel as though you were in it, rather than playing it.

As you journey out of town, you'll come across a beautifully rendered swampland. A thick fog loomed over the entire area, which wouldn't have been a big deal except it made for great camouflage for the high-flying harpies (mythological beasts that are combination reptile and bird). The entire area was wonderfully done. Also, the quicksand did a great job of keeping my attention on my footing while the harpies swooped out of the sky to hack at my face. I'd find myself cursing at the damned agile birds - they were capable of dodging everything I threw at them. From the swamplands, you'll travel to other cities, and finally, a cloud fortress.

One small gripe I had with the level design was Ravensoft's usage of the ol' "find the key or button" type gameplay. Admittedly, I didn't notice it much in the beginning, but it did get rather tedious near the end. What made Half-Life such a brilliant game was their innovative manner of story development, and I expected something similar in Heretic II. But alas, there was not. Heretic II is all about fast and furious action and Ravensoft hit the mark in this regard, but the lack of an interwoven plot (within the level design) didn't do the gorgeous levels any justice. With that said, the levels were still spectacular - big kudos go out to Ravensoft's level designers!