Bethesda shows off their new dungeon game that has us wanting for more!  Bethesda’s new game, Hunted: The Demon Forge will feature a new twist that has never been done with any fantasy/dungeon game.  In Hunted: The Demon Forge players will now experience  an action/cover game in a fantasy setting.

In the Hunted: The Demon Forge e3 demo, the only playable characters were, Caddock and Elara.  Caddock, is portrade as a massive barbarian.  As you can immagine Caddock is a weapons expert that uses brute strenght to take down the toughest of enemies.  In the e3 demo Caddock was equipped with both a sword and a crossbow.  Although Caddock is a weapons expert, he is not just limited to only weapons.  Caddock can also perform magic spells, such as levitate and lightning bolt.

Elara on the otherhand plays a more fragile role in this dungeon type game.  Elara is an elven amazon/mage.  Unlike Caddock, Elara relies more on her range weapons and magic to finish the job.  In the demo Elara was equipped with both the bow and a short sword.  As for Elara’s magic she can perform ice attacks with her bow and can also fire lightning bolts just like Caddock can.

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge’s gameplay is very similar to games like the Gears of War series, especially with the cover mechanics that is featured in the game.  In addition the run button being the A button (X button for PS3), the left trigger button to aim and the the right button to attack.  So this game was no stranger to me and was very easy to pick up.

The game relies heavily on co-op.  When playing the game with inXiles’ own developer Devin Morrow, he demonstrated how and why co-op is important.  Devin demonstrated how players can use regenerating vials to revive a downed player in combat.  In addition Devin showed us how the combat works when playing cooperatively.  For example, when using Elara’s ice bolts to freeze an enemy, Caddock can then easily take down the enemy with the player’s weapon of choice for a satisfying kill.  Players playing as Caddock can also help take down enemies when performing Caddock’s levitate ability.  While the enemies are in stuck in Caddock’s spell, Elara can then easily pick off the enemies from a distance.  Although this game relies on cooperative play, the AI will be useful and will not get in the players way.

Another great addition to the game were the puzzles.  The puzzle that was available in the e3 demo was quite fun and rewarding.  To activate this quest or puzzle the player must activate what they call the “Death Stones”.  When activating a “Death Stone”, a dead corpse will rise and present a riddle for the player to solve.  The riddle was quite difficult solve, but playing cooperatively with Devin made solving the puzzle fun and interesting.

Even though Hunted: The Demon Forgue is in alpha, it sure looks and plays great!  After playing the e3 demo, I have to say that the people behind the game sure has given the idea for the game a lot of thought.