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In review
HACX - registered
From banjo software!


What is it?
HACX is a shareware Total Conversion for DooM 2. Shareware version only has 4 levels, some monsters and 4 weapons. The registered version introduces 21 levels, all 8 weapons and 5 monsters that are not in the shareware version.

I gotta say that HACX has been made to look and feel really good. HACX has all new graphics, monsters and weapons. Nothing left from DooM! This is the first Total Conversion that I've seen that changes all the graphics!

Textures
Texture graphics of HACX are totally awesome! The only Teams that I know that makes as good graphics (or better) are Id-softare, TeamTNT and Requiem-Team (note that some of the Requiem authors have been also working with HACX). You can see some of the graphics on the screenshots.

Sounds
Sounds of HACX are very good. On some situations they are very creepy. However I don't think that even these sounds are as good as original DooM sounds. No game has got better sounds than those yet.

Monsters
I usually have seen many peoples to write or heard them say that the monsters of HACX are too wussy. Well I agree that the shareware version monsters look a bit wussy, but they are not wussy, and the registered version monsters are just great (specially the creepy spider monster that you can see in the bottom of the page). I'm not going to reveal any more information about the monsters. I let it be a suprise!

Weapons
The weapons of HACX act very same way that the DooM weapons act, but they look very different. I think they have altered some weapons speed (Uzi for sure). Most of them are just super, but I never liked the look of pistol or the third weapon (Tazer - replaces the shotgun). My favourite gun is absolutely the Uzi! It almost feels like you are really shooting with it, and it's damn fast! You can see the Uzi in the bottom of page (animated gif).

Levels
levels of HACX are VERY detailed and they all rate from 4 to 5 stars! Levels are also very well planned and I've only found one bug (I couldn't save on the level 8 - it gave me "Save game buffer overflow", so I had to play it straight from start to end without dying even once). Levels have some very nice special tricks on them, ("moving" train and destroyable objects like monitors, chairs and stuff like that). HACX also has breakable windows that may hurt you if you stand too near when they break. Clever? yes!
As I already mentioned, some of the Requiem authors have been working with HACX too, and some of them are really known in the DooM WAD business. I might mention my two favourite level designers, Iikka Keränen and Adelusion. The levels are almost as detailed as the most detailed levels in Requiem, and they look and feel super!

Is it worth of registering?
After blasting through the registered version, I can tell you that HACX is well worth of $14.95. Think about it! Basically it's a whole new game (however you still need DooM 2 to run it).

Final comments:
HACX is beautiful, and very detailed. It's all new, and it doesn't have any graphics left from DooM. Shareware version only has four levels and a few weapons, but the registered version has 21 levels and lot's of stuff in it.
By the way, HACX will have future too... Banjo software is now making a HACX 3D for Quake 2! I can't wait to see :)

Here are the stars that tell you how good is it:
The look: Excellent
The sound: Very good. DooM is still better.
The Music: Not bad.
The feel: Very good
Hardness: Hard enough
Mindwork: Not much thinking. Just kill them all!

Points: *****

Shareware Download and registered version orders:
From Banjo softwares homepage
You can also get a nice t-shirt from there :)
Notice also the: The Official HACX Site