Instead, we get a fairly weak and unwieldy weapon that I would only rank above the wand (pistol) and below every other pickup weapon except maybe the gauntlets of the necromancer (chainsaw). They're nearly straight ripoffs from Doom, with the exception of the BFG which has no equivalent in Heretic. The weapons, unfortunately, are uninspired. If you get hit, that's because you didn't dodge, and not because the RNG decided that chaingunner across the map has no trouble hitting you even if you're running at 100 mph. Additionally, there is no monster with a hitscan attack. Non-boss monsters all have reasonable amounts of HP so they can be killed fairly quickly. There is no pain elemental, arch-vile or revenant. Maps are also usually generous with redundant weaponry, making them more friendly toward speed runs and pistol starts. Consequences of better mapping are less 'fuck you' traps, less and better overall use of damage floors and less timed door/elevator fuckery. There's still some pretty dumb or forgettable stuff, sure, but nothing outright bad. There are no levels that will make you groan. Nevertheless, it has significant gameplay improvements over Doom: It's structured in episodes of 8 levels + 1 secret level, exactly like Doom 1 was. You look for switches and keys to ultimately reach the exit teleport/switch. It also affects some projectiles, which is funny looking if the push is particularly strong and meant to simulate water current that shouldn't affect projectiles flying in the air. It only has a few of the engine improvements that would be seen later in Hexen: an inventory system, ambient sounds and 'pushing' sectors, the latter being mostly used to simulate water currents and sometimes wind. Developed by Raven Software, Heretic is the game that came after Doom and before Hexen.

Heretic game exit door