Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2024
Hands of Necromancy II
Developer HON Team
Hands of Necromancy II is a dark fantasy FPS sequel, inspired by classics such as Heretic and Doom. Choose from two characters, wield new weapons and learn even more powerful spells and transformations to prove once and for all that you are the supreme Necromancer, master of death itself! From the Steam store page
85 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Jul 11, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
64 positive · 15 negative
95% range 71–88%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 64 | 15 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
6 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
109 of 127 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 85 · most liked firstWhere the first HoN went with a hub based system and interconnected levels much like the good old Hexen, HoN 2 goes full Heretic with more straightforward level design and linear progression. This might please people who found the first game too confusing, and those who look for a new game like Heretic, with dark fantasy and might & magic. Add to this shape-changing abilities and necromancy (summon/resurrect dead mobs) + great level design with varied themes -you are looking at what I would…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Check your processes/task manager after running this game and you will see what I mean... Do not start this thing up, man, a game shouldn't put my Discord into streamer mode and trigger screen capture and then run a process that is using 68% of my i9 hahahaha. Game is deliberate jank btw, some love went into making it feel like Hexen but the software was likely sold to someone malicious.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You wanted more Heretic? Here you go, modern Heretic. The sound got fixed, so the magic rivals guns in its oomph. Kinda. Don't be dumb like me, try out the new character for a whole new arsenal of spells and forms. I made a switch after finishing one episode. There are 3 level clusters in total, huge ones. The level design is still phenomenal, even though streamlined compared to the original. Don't fret, the maps remained as intricate, open to a degree, but you don't get to warp back and forth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've only played up to E1M6 but so far this is just fantastic. I really liked the first game and this game takes what was great about it and improves on it. Necromancers arsenal feels somehow stronger and more satisfying to use. Maps are large and satisfying to explore and are filled with tons of enemies to murder. The one element of the game that has really taken me by surprise is the excellent music, it just amps up the atmosphere and vibe a ton, its so flipping good. This is an absolute no…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An atmospheric first-person shooter with an emphasis on large sprawling levels, exploration, and unique magical weaponry. This sequel drops the Hexen-like hubs that the first game embraced, favouring a linear sequence of levels that, while varied and well designed, don't quite sit together as cohesively as in HoN1. In all other regards the game feels tighter and more refined. The necromancer has seen his weapons rebalanced slightly, and the new witch character has an entirely new set of spells…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Distinctly an upgrade over the original in that the levels are no longer something you get lost in, but it still suffers from some of the same issues. None of the weapons really feel punchy, none of the enemies really feel like they fit different roles(1 to 3 shots with the Ice Staff still kills everything, enemies either stand still and shoot at you, rush towards you to hit you or fly around getting stuck on geometry and not understanding the Y-axis they've been saddled with ostensible…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only in indie game jank have I found some of the best pixel art I've seen in my life voiced over by a voice actor that sounds like a homeless man deepthroating a microphone. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I played the first one on GOG years ago, I was excited when a sequel was announced after so much silence. It's not unusual for a project like this to have a one hit wonder and move on so I wasn't expecting any follow-up whatsoever. Now that it's here, I kinda wish they stayed silent. I will get this out of the way: I don't mind paying for GZDoom stuff. Hedon was great. And free ones like Ashes 2063 deserve to have my money. So when I say that I feel like I didn't get my value's worth with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An old-school and a conventional FPS game which is a mix of Heretic, Hexen and Shadowcaster. The retro visuals looks okay with the billboard sprites, though it makes difficult to see the enemy above or below. There is not much story to tell, just wandering and shooting in random areas without much context or plot. There are only two playable characters to choose, and their arsenal are too similar to each other to give different play style or replay value, unlike the Hexen games. The shooting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hands of Necromancy II improves on the combat and presentation aspect on its predecessor, offering much more variety in terms of game play and making the necromancy part of the game a little bit more useful. It's unfortunately a very linear game that doesn't have the eerie, brooding atmosphere of the original game. The "metroidvania" aspect of picking up new keys and abilities and returning to other areas is almost totally removed, and the game as a whole is less cryptic. If you haven't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is insanely well made. The soundtrack is genuinely so incredible and the gameplay flow feels authentically retro. Hexen comes to mind a lot while I play it but this has so much more depth to it. The Necromancy and shapeshifting abilities are really really fun and after modifying my keybinds a Bit it really shined. This game is such a comfort, such a pleasant surprise. Cant wait to put more time into it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really liked the game (Personal Opinion 9.0 - 9.5 out of 10) but, taking personal opinion out of it for the review, I can not give it a 10 out of 10. Over all I think a 7.5 out of 10. It was mainly because of what it was missing. I still say get the game, it's a great game, yet, check the cons first. If we go to back in the day game play where we just played and enjoyed a game without expecting anything else then this hits the spot. I like the changes they did from the first one making…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hands down for this amazing wel done GZDooM Mod that is a game of it's own. Graphics and most of all the leveldesign is very very impressive but it can be sometimes difficult to find the next step. However you have many different abilties you can use to progress through small holes, crumble walls and lava lakes. Soundtrack and soundeffects are good. Ther's the option to play in Vulkan aswell as openGL (slower) and with all GZDooM options. It's an ode to Heretic and Hexen but the best of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am not into 1st person shooters, boomer shooters, etc. If you look at my steam purchases, it is all rpgs. This is mainly a skill issue. Despite sucking at this genre, this game plays so well. The levels are interesting too. When I mean I suck at these games I'm 12 hrs in and only done with the 4th level, but I am having enough fun to write a review for another potential buyer to let you know this game is legit. Have fun! 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good stuff... in the beginning I was disappointed that the exploration elements was seriously toned downed in exchange of a more doom like experience. However the level design and the new character kept me hooked till the end.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you still know what Heretic was and liked it, than buy this game right now! HoN2 is a boomershooter with magic/spells instead of guns. This time the Levels are more linear than in HoN1 and no backtracking. The music is gorgeous, I had to stop playing and was just listen to it. I hope there will be more...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh yes indeed. This is exactly what I look for in an old-school shooter. I do miss the Hexen-style hub system but that doesn't detract from the game at all. Also the music is delightful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More of Hands of Necromancy, which is good. New levels, enemies, weapons and so on, though I didn't like the map selection as much as the first game. The game has also ditched the hub & key hunting type of Hexen gameplay for a simpler, Doom-like run and gun, which can either be a plus or a minus depending on the player. Overall, solid experience just like the first game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33401179/]Follow my curator page for more recommendations! These are just my first impressions after beating three levels and playing for about an hour and a half. I love it so far, it is very reminiscent of Heretic, but with the ability to transform into various creatures with their own unique abilities, which I liked a lot. And as the name would imply, you'll be doing some necromancy by reviving dead enemies into teammates. Based on what I've seen…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just.. Wow! What a great great game so far. I played the hell out of HoN 1, and this rocks even more! THANK YOU!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice necrogame 2
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent boomer shooter. Very early on but like the transition from Hexxen to Doom. The music will melt your face and the weapons and abilities are fun to use. The new character is great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Digiphile Deep Dive: @underthemayo.bsky.social called KILLBUG a "must own"! Get this and 4 other Indie Boomer Shooters for $5 ...while supplies last @samuraipunk.bsky.social @neondoctrine.games @rawfury.bsky.social Hands of Necromancy II TEXNOPLAZM @texnoplazm.bsky.social Wrack: Reclamation
unlabelledView post →Support indie game developers! $5 gets you 4 great Boomer Shooters handpicked by @kirkcollects.bsky.social Developer tip option goes 100% to devs KILLBUG @samuraipunk.bsky.social @rawfury.bsky.social @neondoctrine.games Hands of Necromancy II TEXNOPLAZM @texnoplazm.bsky.social Wrack: Reclamation
unlabelledView post →Less creative, but heaps more accessible than the first game. Levels are linear. Weapons feel fine-tuned. You get lost less, and key hunting feels less burdensome. The pace of play moves at a good clip, but it keeps the more procedural feeling of the first game with weapons still firing slow and relying on timely use of alternate fire to clear encounters. Getting tapped directly by an enemy bullet still whips hp off of you on normal. I like the new secondary character a lot. The witch feels…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*insert approving nod meme here*
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I do not usually give many reviews out but this one deserves it. Hands is a game in which 10 mins in I became a spider sending small squads of spiderlings to take shots for me so I can shoot webs at the target just before turning "Human" again and stabbing enemies for their life force... It was and is awesome! Having been made in the doom engine, its both perfectly Doom and simultaneously perfectly something new and fun! The spells, enemies and chaos combine together to give an experience…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good Heretic-like FPS with a few additional twists, like being able to transform into various creatures and revive enemies to fight at your side. It's not mindblowingly good, but still definitely solid and long enough to justify the full price.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I vastly prefer this game to HON 1. The first game I found way to confusing. This game is much more like Heretic in its linear game play. The soundtrack is also amazing just like HON 1!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Up to E1M4, this is 5/5 for me. The game mechanic of resource management still stands from HoN1 while we still get enough ammunition for the challenge. I wish we kept the 4th morph throughout the progress, though i understand the decision to remove it to avoid game play immersion been dampened. The 2 class of Necromancers: Crimson Mage and Dark Witch have similarities/differences in: 1) Flame shot: Fire Staff and Fire Bracer does the same purpose except the Staff have high rate of fire while…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems good so far. Liked the 1st game in the series so wanted this new game too.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Enjoying the game a lot so far. The OST is lovely!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's ok, an improvement from the previous game, in that the hub system was more confusing than anything. The maps are still too big and usually too dark. The weapons are fun to use and the transformations are fun to use. Also use luxtorpeda-dev because the linux version did not work.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't even play boomer shooters and this is peak
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Disappointing how the new character's morphs and arsenal aren't as fun to use as the original character's, since most of them are visually superior. A rare case where fun matters more than beauty. Well, she reminded me of my stupid second ex semi-girl/boyfriend anyway, so at least I have a real excuse not to play as her. This one still doesn't have proper checkpoints, but at least this time I didn't get lost often, since it's a lot more linear compared to the first game. And it's just as fun…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More of the same except no metroidvania and a new character to play as. Again, can’t wait for Egyptian retro FPS Profaned.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Take Hands of Necromancy, add one new character with her own weapons and transformation, remove the Hexen-like hubs and you've got Hands of Necromancy II. It's fine. There aren't levels that kill the framerate like its predecessor, at the very least.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →KAMGUSTA's MINI REVIEW Yep, it's just another "WAD" for the classic 1990s Doom, loosely reminescent of Heretic/Hexen. Today they use GZDoom as a platform (it's an open-source project that supports modern hardware but doesn't add anything new). Back to "Hands of Necromancy 2", it's antiquated, amateurish, unpolished, uninteresting, unimpressive, unrequested and uneverything. Exactly "more of the same" of the first one. Best played with keyboard & mouse Recommended buy price: 1$ Score: 4,5/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked the first game, the sequel will give you more of it. That being said, there are a few important changes. There is now a second playable character with a new selection of weapons to use. There's a bunch of new monsters to fight. The metroidvania elements have been abandoned in favor of a more linear doom-like structure and the level design is generally much better. Beyond that, it's basically the same game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this game isn't for me but I still recommend it over the first Hand of Necromancy. The combat is still the same as before if you chose to play as the same wizard as in the first game. It is still good and fun to use the spells such as tornado and the transformations. An incredibly notable improvement is in the level design which made it more linear-oriented and much easier to navigate than before. There are still plenty of hidden secrets and areas that still warrant exploration.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun game but it completely crashed and restarted my PC the moment in a specific moment when I jumped on an elevator-like platform in the second level. Don't want to risk it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Solid Sequel that does More and also does Less! (Played with Acheron only) Hands of Necromancy II is the sequel to, well, Hands of Necromancy, A Doom TC that basically: "What if Hexen wasn't a confusing mess and we have transformations?" It was a pretty solid game that while it has some balancing issues, was a pretty unique purchasable Doom TC to standout from the crowd of new games using the Doom Engine, like Hedon, Shrine, Supplice, etc. HoN2 both improves on the formula introduced in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just started this game last night and I like it. My only complaint is that the levels are dark but I see when you find the torch the map lights up I only wish that it was already that bright the robbed mages are almost impossible to see at times as well as the imps. I do like the monster variety, the level designs are fantastic, and the abundance of abilities is sweet. The main thing I noticed big time was the music. its fascinating with the intro song sounding very much like the theme from…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I gave the first one a good review but this had to impress me to get the same, and its just more of the same without anything new. Theres no dumb hub world which is nice, but still levels are a maze for key hunting and switch hunting that you'll spend forever looking for that one little room you missed or little opening you didn't go through with a snake form. So much time wasted going all around a level pixel hunting, and you'll need to find a walkthrough to see that one little thing you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm live on Twitch! Tonight for PSO Saturday, we're playing PSO Blue Burst! Also, the last necromancy school game for the year at the start of the stream - Hands of Necromancy II! I hope you can stop by! =D Link in the comments!
unlabelledView post →This was released in 2024? The controls are atrocious. There's a row of items in the item bar and I can't select them in any common sense way. I'm not sure if it was taught in the tutorial because I was too confused about why my character randomly stopped moving or doing what I said. I thought the game was stuttering or crashing, but it's just the tutorial removing your control over the character randomly. Do I really need full control removed for that long just so I can read "press E to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is more of what made the first game so enjoyable with some extra stuff added in. The new character is a lot of fun and the level design is excellent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are two types of retro FPS games. Those that give you the same feeling as games made in 1993 did back in 1993, and those which may as well have been made in 1993. This is the latter. It's pretty much heretic with mouse look, and less interesting sprite work. Less irritating than the first game, but not for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Is good I liked the little touches - the frogs, bats, owls, burning bushes, toadstools. That little bit of non-euclidian geometry in E3M6 that we might have seen in another doom level lately.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While Hands of Necromancy 2 doesn't put its best foot forward, it quickly finds its groove and shows many improvements over the original. First two levels are rather 'meh', they are rather simplistic and boring in design. However once these are done its only bangers going forward. Almost every level does its best to differentiate itself from the usual, flat GZDoom level and makes good use of the transformation spells, that make your character change into one of the monsters. I played as…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So far, I like HoN1 a little bit more, but I can say already that HoN2 is also a great game well worth your money!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked the previous game, then this one is a safe bet. Thankfully with less open/lever based level design so you'll spend more time exploring and fighting, and less time roaming around the place confused. Wholly recommended to all fans of retro FPS, especially fans Hexen and Heretic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game! I love the necromancy/shape shifting aspect. Great atmosphere. Also I'm glad they went more Heretic than Hexen this time around.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not very fun. levels a mazes easy to get lost in needing endless backtracking. enemies are great at pathfinding and hitting you, but become useless after you necro them. constant ammo shortage even on easy. it just throws endless ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ at you to make sure you don't enjoy yourself.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's an alright GZDOOM shooter, the level design, visuals and art is good, the voice acting is ok, but the enemy variety, weapon sfx, summoned AI and bosses (FPS game boss moment) are fair weakpoints.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another amazing feat of level design, challenge and retro-greatness.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one is less janky and irritating than the first game, but basically everything I said in my review also applies to Hands of Necromancy II as well. There are way better retro/boomer shooter games you can buy for your money, IMO.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Streaming Hands of Necromancy II. Join us again as we continue the game! #Janttu #HandsofNecromancy #HON #HONTeam www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6sS...
unlabelledView post →Extremely amateurish. Basic things like movement and shooting feel terrible.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good oldschool fps action
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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