Raven Software’s Hexen and Hexen II broke out of the Doom clones in the 90s with their own melding of RPG and first-person shooter elements set against a dark fantasy setting. And for those that missed that, 3D Realms and 1C Entertainment, together with developer Slipgate Ironworks, have the next best thing with GRAVEN.
Announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam, GRAVEN is set to hit next year. Much like Hexen II, GRAVEN features a “gruesome medieval world of deities and monstrosities”, created with “a stark late 90s aesthetic” in mind with modern development tools.
The story involves you as a faithful priest of the Orthogonal order, exiled for a crime of retaliation against the order for sacrificing your adoptive daughter. You live again in a small boat, adrift in a swamp. A stranger ferries you to solid ground and bestows upon you vague instructions, along with a mysterious staff and book. Your job is to hunt down the foul heretical sects responsible for conjuring plagues and twisting the natural order of the seasons.
Wielding an array of powers and weapons (up to 30 weapons, by the way), you’ll be journeying across three expansive, open-ended regions, and scour the lands to purge evil. You’ll also face the occasional environmental puzzle, and must find hidden gold to upgrade weapons and spells at blacksmiths and alchemists. Play solo, with one friend in split-screen co-op, or even in a party of four online for complete arcane chaos.