Hunted: The Demon's Forge Preview

by David Clayman - IGN.com | 04 May 2010 12:00
 
Bringing sexy back to dungeon crawling.
 
You might remember the developer inXile from their work on The Bard's Tale way back when we were still playing PS2 and Xbox 1. Along with that send-up of the classic dungeon crawler the developers talked about their love for a genre that in recent years seems to have fallen behind both visually and mechanically. Their goal with Hunted was to bring some visual flair to the dungeon crawler while keeping the soul of the genre intact.
 
The game centers on two characters, Katic and Allura. Katic is a brutish warrior (think Kratos with an accent) and Allura is an Elvin archer who also happens to be a knockout. The duo have a brother and sister-like dynamic, but it's been promised that their relationship will become more of an issue as the game progresses.
 

When Hunted was first shown to the press it isn't hard to imagine why there were numerous comparisons made to Gears of War. The game does follow its heroes from a third person perspective and implements a similar cover system. And when aiming down the sites of Allura's bow, you can see the influence of Epic's shooter very clearly. But the main parallel between the two titles would most certainly be the attention to the visuals. Hunted's camera gets in close on its characters showing off the detail that's been put into their equipment and character models. Everything from the lighting of the environments to the reflective stonework make this dungeon crawler look fresh, especially compared to its cookie cutter compatriots on the consoles of years past.
 
Hunted was built from the ground-up as a co-op experience with mechanics that extend far beyond the simple "ranged versus melee" styles of the main characters. For example, both characters have access to magic that can be used against enemies and also to "battle charge" their teammates for an offensive boost. Players can also revive each other with potions from across the battlefield, meaning that saving your buddy doesn't require you to hike across terrain.
 
Along with slaying revived skeletons and collecting ever improving weapons the two characters come across a series of puzzles that also require teamwork. This might entail using Allura's fire arrows to ignite a series of torches while Katic takes care of grunt work like pushing large stones into place. There are environmental obstacles like these that block the progression of the main quest, but there are also more difficult "deathstone" puzzles scattered throughout the world. The two heroes use deathstones to converse with the dead who will provide audio and visual clues to push players towards the game's toughest challenges. The deathstones also lead to the biggest rewards and if you'd rather stick to the action, they can be skipped entirely.
 
Weaponry isn't your only reward; there is also a crystal economy that allows characters to upgrade their moves. For example, eventually Katic unlocks a ground-pound that shoots surrounding enemies into the air where Allura can pick them off with her bow. And when you jump into a friend's game, you're still rewarded with all of the crystals you collect there to spend as you please. But what if you have no friends? We've been assured that the game works just as well when the AI takes over the role of the second player. And just to make sure you don't get stuck as Allura and Katic players can swap bodies at the numerous check points found throughout the single, and co-op game.
 
Aside from the crystals, and magical plants that refill Katic and Allura's mana supply, the world is filled with incentives to explore every corner. There are plenty of charged weapons that will give players a limited number of magic infused attacks. And while Allura will have to restock her arrows, Katic will find a range of shields scattered over the battlefield that will have to be replaced often as these defensive items eventually take damage and shatter.
 
In the demo we witnessed two separate areas that stressed the used of the cover system, especially for Allura's ranged attacks, and an underground deathstone quest where players had to light a series of torches to illuminate a maze of tunnels. It might sound like standard dungeon crawler fare, but the detailed environments and a camera that gets up close and personal with both of the main characters make Hunted feel far more dramatic than its predecessors in the genre.
 
The demo closed with Katic being ambushed through a dungeon wall by a giant spider creature – a sequence that has me interested to see more of the still mysterious storyline. I'm looking forward to seeing how far the Hunted pushes the boundaries of dungeon crawling when it comes out next spring.
 
Supplied by IGN.com