Epyo

There was actually a week or two a few years back where I played through Hexen 2 6 times back to back, once as each class and twice as the Necromancer and Crusader, if I remember right. I got to know the game pretty well, and overall, even with the oddly balanced enemies, the game was a fun experience.

My biggest issue with the game, as others have mentioned, was game balance. The enemies were too tough while the weapons and items were too weak or awkward to use. Damage also seemed to be random between weapons and classes. Some would have no problems, while others really struggled or had to slog through the game.

The biggest drag to me was Episode 2: while the were-cats were interesting enemies and fun to fight at times, they simply had too much health. I swear there were times fighting one of those things that lasted for 5 minutes or more. That is simply ridiculous for an enemy that should be fodder.

My favorite hub was the Egyptian one. Both the Heretic inspired music and great level design really nailed it for me. Even the retarded puzzles didn't totally ruin it. I won't mention the puzzles, which I'm sure were a point of contention for some of you. ;)

The game sort of fell apart in the greco roman hub. The level design was merely average, and the major enemy of the hub, the medusa, had a crippling flaw: merely crouching would prevent you from taking any damage they dealt. However, the game picked up again in the last few levels, especially the infernal Cathedral.

All in all, Hexen 2 held up pretty well in my eyes. Even with it's crippling problems, it was still very fun to play and the character classes felt different enough from one another to really stand out. The reintroduction of the Tome of Power also helped the game avoid a boring arsenal that Hexen suffered from. The level design was great as were the sound and graphics, so at the very least, it was fun to look at. :p However, in addition to the problems mentioned above, the character abilities and leveling should have come faster and more frequently. That might have solved some of the tedium the game was known for.

I've never played the expansion, so I can't say if it helped alleviate a lot of the problems the original game suffered from.

Heh, I was amused that the Heretic music lent itself so well to Egyptian themes. I never did get past the Egyptian hub though. I think I got stuck on some puzzle. From what I hear, one of the puzzles in it sometimes breaks and gets you stuck, so maybe that was it.

Ichor usually comes in with a screenshot of that infamous puzzle at this point. ;)