MashButtons gets their hands on Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Fantasy RPG fans get ready as we have gotten our hands on a copy of Bethesda's latest, I present you...Hunted: The Demon's Forge. It must be that time of year with the release of The Witcher 2, D&D Daggerdale, Hunted, and Dungeon Seige III. But on to the task at hand, Hunted takes place in a dark fantasy world where you tale control of a rag tag duo, mercenaries E'lara and Caddoc, tasked with locating missing townsfolk of Kala Moor all while cooperatively slaughtering hordes of creatures popping up left and right from the lands. Let's get to the stuff as I tell you a little something about my play through of this third person, fantasy, action RPG.

I don't know about you y'all but ever since Fallout 3 I have gotten giddy about Bethesda's releases hoping to get another game changing experience like that spent of wandering the wastelands. Unfortunately, it seems like they are not quite at that point, but damn close. Much of the advertising and even the back of the game states this is a "Gears of" game, well yes and no, it takes place in a dark world and uses a cover system, but I felt the experience was a unique one. Aside from the relatively fast gameplay, the most gratifying parts of my time playing was cooperatively, online. Though you can also play couch coop either are just as fun to run through the the gothic fantasy settings, unlocking new skills, finding weapons while continuously fighting off the bad guys. Each character has their own unique feel and I suggest getting cozy with each as certain parts require puzzle solving involving strength, range, and teamwork.

The bad or should I should I say the dated, would have to start with the graphics, I have seen better graphics on the Nintendo 3DS and the iPhone, and I'm not talking iPhone 4 peoples. I'm sorry but for the amount of effort spent talking about the use of the Unreal engine, I just expected a bit more, but the character and level designs did a good job taking my mind off the lack of texture and definition from the character and enemy designs. You can't jump, I don't know if this is a big thing to you readers but it was more than frustrating through the first few levels. You are able to use the "A" button to dodge, cover, and vault over certain barriers you are able to take cover behind. Granted, I know you are unable to jump in Gears, but at least in Gears of War you can tell what objects you can vault over and take cover behind.

The two issues aside, Hunted is fun to play and is a title that has a substantial amount of replay value, with its shorter length than other games and play through varying depending on the play style of your partner. I can see now what they meant by it being a "Gears of" title, as it does have similarities in play style and color palette, but the difference like environments, enemies, and weapons slash skills it help make gameplay unique and feel more like a homage to Gears while still having its own originality.