Witchaven

Witchaven
Cover art by Ken Kelly
DeveloperCapstone Software
PublisherIntracorp Entertainment
ProducersJames M. Wheeler
Amy Smith Boyland
ProgrammersRafael Paiz
Les Bird
Joe Abbati
ArtistsScott Nixon
Ernesto Roque
WriterMike Pitts
ComposerJoe Abbati
EngineBuild
PlatformMS-DOS
ReleaseSeptember 1995
GenresFirst-person shooter, action role-playing
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Witchaven (usually pronounced /ˌwɪˈhvən/ wich-HAY-vən) is a dark fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Capstone Software and published by Intracorp Entertainment in 1995. Its sword-and-sorcery themed story tasks the knight Grondoval with a quest to seek out and destroy a lair of witches in their titular fortress, fighting hordes of hostile monsters along the way. Witchaven features action role-playing elements such as leveling, as well as an emphasis on melee combat. Its code was based upon an early version of the nascent Build engine. The game received overall mixed reviews, such as praise for its atmosphere and gory combat, but criticism for some aspects of gameplay. It was followed by a sequel titled Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance in 1996.