<s>
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
is	O
a	O
dark	O
fantasy	O
first-person	O
shooter	O
(	O
FPS	O
)	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Raven	O
Software	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
id	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
third	O
game	O
in	O
the	O
Hexen/Heretic	O
series	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
last	O
in	O
the	O
Serpent	O
Riders	O
trilogy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
a	O
modified	O
Quake	B-Application
engine	I-Application
,	O
it	O
features	O
single-player	O
and	O
multiplayer	O
game	O
modes	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
four	O
character	O
classes	O
to	O
choose	O
from	O
,	O
each	O
with	O
different	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Improvements	O
from	O
Hexen	B-Application
:	I-Application
Beyond	I-Application
Heretic	I-Application
and	O
Quake	B-Application
include	O
destructible	O
environments	O
,	O
mounted	O
weapons	O
,	O
and	O
unique	O
level	O
up	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
also	O
uses	O
a	O
hub	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
the	O
Tome	O
of	O
Power	O
artifact	O
makes	O
a	O
return	O
from	O
Heretic	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
gameplay	O
of	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
is	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Hexen	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
three	O
classes	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
features	O
four	O
:	O
Paladin	O
,	O
Crusader	O
,	O
Assassin	O
,	O
and	O
Necromancer	O
,	O
each	O
with	O
their	O
own	O
unique	O
weapons	O
and	O
play	O
style	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
also	O
adds	O
certain	O
role-playing	O
video	O
game	O
elements	O
to	O
the	O
mix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
then	O
causes	O
the	O
player	O
character	O
to	O
grow	O
in	O
power	O
as	O
his	O
or	O
her	O
HP	O
and	O
Mana	B-Application
increases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Now	O
,	O
the	O
oldest	O
and	O
most	O
powerful	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
Serpent	O
Rider	O
brothers	O
,	O
Eidolon	B-Application
,	O
must	O
be	O
defeated	O
to	O
free	O
Thyrion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eidolon	B-Application
is	O
supported	O
by	O
his	O
four	O
generals	O
,	O
themselves	O
a	O
reference	O
to	O
the	O
Four	O
Horsemen	O
of	O
the	O
Apocalypse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
,	O
finally	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
returns	O
to	O
Blackmarsh	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
confront	O
Eidolon	B-Application
himself	O
inside	O
of	O
his	O
own	O
dominion	O
Cathedral	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
What	O
was	O
originally	O
supposed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
final	O
game	O
in	O
a	O
trilogy	O
,	O
the	O
sequel	O
to	O
Hexen	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
titled	O
Hecatomb	O
but	O
was	O
abandoned	O
after	O
John	O
Romero	O
left	O
id	O
Software	O
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Activision	O
,	O
the	O
distributor	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
pressured	O
Raven	O
Software	O
to	O
split	O
development	O
of	O
Hecatomb	O
into	O
two	O
different	O
games	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
Heretic	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Activision	O
felt	O
that	O
the	O
previous	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
Heretic	B-Application
and	O
Hexen	B-Application
,	O
were	O
different	O
enough	O
from	O
one	O
another	O
that	O
they	O
should	O
treat	O
them	O
as	O
separate	O
entities	O
going	O
forward	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
just	O
one	O
final	O
game	O
to	O
complete	O
a	O
trilogy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
a	O
select	O
few	O
ideas	O
of	O
Romero	O
's	O
from	O
Hecatomb	O
would	O
ultimately	O
make	O
their	O
way	O
into	O
what	O
became	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
Heretic	B-Application
II	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
was	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
enhanced	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Quake	B-Application
engine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
,	O
by	O
way	O
of	O
the	O
Quake	B-Application
engine	I-Application
,	O
uses	O
OpenGL	B-Application
for	O
3D	O
acceleration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
prevalence	O
of	O
3dfx	O
hardware	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
installs	O
an	O
OpenGL	B-Application
ICD	O
(	O
opengl32.dll	O
)	O
designed	O
specifically	O
for	O
3dfx	O
's	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
driver	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
wrapper	O
for	O
the	O
proprietary	O
Glide	B-Operating_System
API	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
thus	O
is	O
only	O
compatible	O
with	O
3dfx	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Custom	O
OpenGL	B-Application
drivers	O
were	O
also	O
released	O
by	O
PowerVR	B-Device
and	O
Rendition	O
for	O
running	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
with	O
their	O
respective	O
(	O
and	O
also	O
now	O
defunct	O
)	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Removal	O
of	O
the	O
ICD	O
allows	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
default	O
OpenGL	B-Application
system	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
music	O
in	O
this	O
game	O
is	O
remixed	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
soundtracks	O
of	O
Hexen	B-Application
and	O
Heretic	B-Application
to	O
match	O
the	O
hub	O
themes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Activision	O
acquired	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
publish	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
and	O
Sega	B-Device
Saturn	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
was	O
made	O
available	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
on	O
August	O
3	O
,	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
tradition	O
from	O
Heretic	B-Application
and	O
Hexen	B-Application
,	O
Raven	O
released	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
the	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
engine	O
on	O
November	O
10	O
,	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
time	O
the	O
source	O
was	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
GPL-2.0-only	I-License
,	O
allowing	O
source	O
ports	O
to	O
be	O
made	O
to	O
different	O
platforms	O
like	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
the	B-Operating_System
Dreamcast	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
expansion	O
pack	O
called	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
Mission	O
Pack	O
:	O
Portal	O
of	O
Praevus	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
April	O
1	O
,	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
She	O
is	O
the	O
only	O
player	O
class	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
ranged	O
starting	O
weapon	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Mage	O
class	O
in	O
the	O
original	O
Hexen	B-Application
)	O
,	O
whereas	O
all	O
other	O
characters	O
start	O
with	O
melee	O
weapons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
its	O
release	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
received	O
mixed	O
to	O
positive	O
reviews	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Edge	O
praised	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
being	O
different	O
from	O
other	O
Quake	O
engine-based	O
games	O
,	O
highlighting	O
its	O
inventive	O
and	O
interactive	O
levels	O
,	O
enemy	O
variety	O
,	O
and	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpot	O
summarized	O
:	O
"	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
is	O
a	O
game	O
with	O
many	O
strengths	O
-	O
its	O
design	O
is	O
superior	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Hexen	B-Application
,	O
it	O
has	O
a	O
significant	O
payoff	O
for	O
single	O
players	O
winding	O
through	O
its	O
twisted	O
corridors	O
,	O
and	O
visually	O
it	O
is	O
without	O
equal	O
in	O
the	O
action	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reviewer	O
elaborated	O
that	O
while	O
the	O
lush	O
,	O
detailed	O
environments	O
and	O
astoundingly	O
animated	O
bosses	O
make	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
"	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
beautiful	O
games	O
ever	O
made	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
actions	O
needed	O
to	O
progress	O
are	O
so	O
obscure	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
comparable	O
to	O
what	O
is	O
required	O
to	O
find	O
optional	O
secret	O
areas	O
in	O
most	O
games	O
,	O
forcing	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
undertake	O
frustrating	O
,	O
exhaustive	O
searches	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
environments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
concluded	O
:	O
"	O
For	O
replay	O
value	O
and	O
sheer	O
fun	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
is	O
going	O
to	O
be	O
hard	O
to	O
beat	O
;	O
you	O
could	O
spend	O
days	O
playing	O
through	O
all	O
four	O
characters	O
in	O
single-player	O
mode	O
without	O
even	O
entering	O
multiplayer	O
battles	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Erik	O
Bethke	O
,	O
Hexen	B-Application
II	I-Application
was	O
commercially	O
unsuccessful	O
,	O
with	O
sales	O
slightly	O
above	O
30,000	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
