I remember reading Hexen was a spiritual sequel to Heretic, then I got my hands of a shareware CD of Heretic and basically felt that it was like playing the Wizard but the feeling of the levels was very different. I finished that Shareware and was left hungry for more...
Ahh years went by and eventually I got my hands on it (I think I had already lost my Hexen CD during moving by then) and yup it kept that more Doom like playstyle.
I think this game is sadly underrated, and deserves more people modding and enjoying its unique ambiance.