Witchaven I & II Bundle

First off, there are two main ways to play these games. Either through the BuildGDX source port, which does an excellent job bringing these games into the current year, or through the enhanced DOSBox build bundled with this collection, which has almost all of the important community fixes already integrated and runs fairly stable. Personally, I prefer the latter, as Witchaven is the type of game you want to experience in all of its pixelated, low-resolution glory. While thematically similar to Heretic and Hexen at first glance, Witchaven plays quite differently compared to these games. There is a heavy emphasis on melee combat, and progression through each level is entirely based around finding keys and ultimately the exit, while avoiding often deadly traps. Outside of a select few enemies capable of firing projectiles, most foes are restricted to melee attacks, and they often don't even chase after the player or move around much. Hence, once the maximum experience level has been hit, simply running past everyone is perfectly possible. The actual challenge comes from finding the keys and exits, which are often hidden in the most obscure places. The level design is actually quite varied, but never exceeds anything that would've been just as possible in the Doom engine. The exception are two vertical levels in Witchaven II, which happen to be the most annoying levels of them all. What sets Witchaven apart is the atmosphere. The first one in particular has some nice music, the sound effects are cool, and the environments are eerie and dark throughout. That said, be ready to deal with jank, a lot of jank. The second Witchaven in particular is quite buggy, and running against certain level objects at the wrong angle is enough to corrupt the memory for the remainder of a session. And don't jump towards barrels in the first game, lest you levitate towards the ceiling and stay there for good. So, are these games good? No. And yet, I couldn't help but finish them.

I was a teenager when these games came out in the 90s and loved them. I've kept playing them both over the years, even as they became harder and harder to get working on modern systems, so really happy to see them here. Better graphics and engine than the original Hexen, though a lot of people were never fans of how the game "feels". There isn't a deep story here or anything- just hack and slash your way through numerous levels filled with creatures and some interesting traps. There was a lot of potential here though- I love the way the different goblin tribes (forest, desert, and mountain) will fight amongst themselves.

In general, the Witchaven games are often compared to Raven Software's Hexen/Heretic series, but while they share some thematic parallels with Raven Software's games, the games are quite distinct. Unlike Hexen and Heretic, Witchaven is not a shooter, but an action game with an emphasis on first-person melee combat. A common feature of both games is an abundance of bugs, even with the EGWhaven patch present here. Witchaven is probably the most even game in quality. Over the course of 25 levels, we travel through large open spaces, fighting mostly non-human opponents - both the indigenous inhabitants of the island of Char and the creatures of Chaos. Compared to the sequel, the first part is noticeably simpler in terms of combat, and is more stable - I almost didn’t have any crashes or other problems. The levels are also more diverse - caves, castles, dungeons. Perhaps the most memorable level is the 9th, the most vertical in the game. Witchaven 2 is noticeably more complex than its predecessor. The opponents (mostly humans) are noticeably more dangerous and the levels are replete with traps. The game is more atmospheric: levels became less abstract and more similar to real buildings. Although there are fewer maps - 15 instead of 25 - I spent much more time on each of them than on their counterparts from Witchaven. However, at the same time, the levels became monotonous. It should also be noted that the game has become noticeably more buggy than the previous game: crashes, non-working triggers etc. - began to happen more often. In Witchaven 2, softlocks from completing level are more common. What makes these games stand out now? Firstly, these are games provides interesting exploration of open levels in search of bonuses and pick-up items. Secondly, games ooze a specific dark fantasy atmosphere that leaves a pleasant impression for me. Just save often and conserve "fly" and "open door" spells! For each game I gave "3", but the bundle recieves solid "4" from me.

Thanks GOG, really thanks to release this diamond, this game really criminaly under-reated, was a great game back in the days. I am so excited to test the gog edition and make the fun back again.

I've played both of these games for hundreds of hours on release. They came in those big carton boxes they used then. These are fun to play with a nice array of weapons and enemies. You can dual wield weapons. The jumping was not that fun and watch out for those pesky spear pits as they end you right then and there. Can't wait to play them again and for good measure I'll be buying them on Steam too. For me games like this go way and beyond everything "indie" on GOG because games like Witchaven are genuine good old games.