From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
On Fri, 22 May 2026 19:33:15 -0600, "rms" <
rmsmoo@moomoo.net> said
this thing:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1655410/announcements/detail/684128677863096652
https://www.gog.com/en/game/witchaven_witchaven_ii_blood_vengeance
And, dare I say, nothing of value was lost?
Because... look, I actually have sort of a soft spot for "Witchaven".
I'll never call it a 'good' game, because it very much was *not* that.
It was a buggy game, with awful level design, average artwork, and
some rather unsatisfying decisions made with its gameplay mechanics.
Even when "Witchhaven" was released in 1995, the game was passed over
by most because it was just wasn't very good.
Still, it had its moments. It was an FPS melee game that tried to be a
more actionified "Ultima Underworld", and there were times you could
see what the developers were reaching for. There were moments of real atmosphere when you almost felt like you really were a lone warrior
creeping down into a dark dungeon filled with monstrosities, and only
your sword arm to protect you. The game was sometimes a moody and
mysterious experience that belied its otherwise monotonous combat
against spongey enemies.
Oh, and it was also the first game to use the new "Build Engine" by
3DRealms (before "Duke Nukem 3D", even!), so it hearkened to a new era
of interactive world-design. Witchhaven even let you play in SVGA. It
/almost/ felt cutting edge.
So it's not like the game was completely without merit. But those
moments of coolness were swamped by the generic, unexciting gameplay
that dominated the rest of the experience. There were so many other
better games available that it was hard to get excited about
"Witchhaven" (much less the sequel, which already felt ancient and
out-of-touch even when it came out a year later). That it's being
delisted on Steam and GOG is no surprise. I can't imagine it was worth
the cost of keeping it on the digital store-shelves; I doubt it sold
well enough to recoup even those low expenses. It's a game that won't
be missed except by the weirdest of the die-hard FPS aficionados.*
But I'll always have a fond memory of crawling down that first
dungeon, even if I can't ever recommend the game to anybody else.
(The really sad thing? Terrible as it was, I think the "Witchhaven"
games were the /best/ games ever put out by Capstone, a company
renowned for its awful (often licensed) games. "Witchhaven" wasn't
very good... but the rest of their catalog --which included titles
like "TekWar" and "The Beverly Hillbillies"-- was truly awful).
* guilty as charged
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