Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, a dungeon crawling, loot collecting, medieval fantasy adventure game for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC by Bethesda Softworks, attempts to combine the fast paced action elements of a first person shooter with the looting and grinding elements of an action RPG. The end results comes out as a unique and entertaining action RPG that somewhat reaches its goal of being the better of two worlds but is held back by linear, repetitive gameplay, a bunch of presentation issues, and, at times, shallow and generic combat.

You play as either Caddoc, a muscular warrior with a knack for close combat, or E’Lara, a deadly and bewitching elf with a mastery of killing foes from a distance with her bow and arrow, on a quest to discover their next money making venture. The two money-making mercenaries eventually discover an adventure to search for a mysterious relic envisioned about in Caddoc’s dreams and get caught up in a series of events involving demons, a death spirit named Seraphine, and the orc-like monsters, the Wargar. The game tries to pull the player in with the story but fails to deliver a good motive to keep the player moving through the campaign. I eventually found myself not caring about the story and just kept playing to continue to use E’lara’s trusty bow and arrow in combat (more on that in a minute).

Gameplay consists of hacking and slashing through a bunch of enemies, solving dull puzzles, looting dungeons in search of treasure, using magic to lay waste to enemies, ducking behind cover a la Gears of War and picking off enemies in the distance with your bows and arrows, exchanging old weapons for new and powerful ones, and leveling up and upgrading various talents and spells RPG style.  The swordplay is generic and boring, never instilling in me that wow factor I receive in other games. Puzzles found throughout the game are simple and uninteresting.  You consistently fight enemies that look very similar throughout the game and rarely are opponents mixed up. Levels and dungeons are very linear and usually have a predetermined path to get to the next section. The game tries to mix things up with the usual turret sequences and with large set pieces found in first person shooters but fails to create any moments that I have never seen before in other games.

The two mercs you'll be playing as...

The graphics are another factor that holds this game back from wowing me even further. I found walls and details spread through the game that I could walk through, such as a dirt mound that I found in an early dungeon that my character glitched through with ease. The character models look dated and bland. I found levels that failed to load textures on time and experienced lots of pop in throughout the game. Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is filled with lots of graphical bugs that removes the player from the experience, failing to allow any sense of immersion thanks to the annoying hic-cups the graphics take throughout the game.

The sound in this game is quite possibly the only shining point of the whole package. Voice acting is surprisingly good and helps draw out the characters you find throughout the game. The music gets dramatic and heart-pumping when appropriate. Listening to Caddoc and E’lara fight playfully during and after battles is enjoyable and reminds me of listening to Gimli and Legolas from the Lord of the Rings competing throughout their battles. The monologues given by the dead citizenry you encounter throughout the game are well done and makes you want to stop and listen to what they have to say. Quite honestly, the sounds of Hunted: The Demon’s forge made it much easier for me to enjoy playing through the game even with its long list of bugs and presentation issues found all over the game. It’s that good.

I also found myself choosing to play more as E’lara than to Caddoc throughout the game. Although the swordplay in Hunted is bland and unexciting, using bows and arrows to annihilate your enemies while under cover proved to be the most satisfying part of combat for me while I played through the game. Although both Caddoc and E’lara have access to both swords and arrows, I couldn’t get myself to play as E’lara’s bald-headed companion. Maybe it is because using her to pick off enemies from afar made the combat much more satisfying. It is either that or because her character model is very voluptuous and scantily clad. Either way, the long-range combat in Hunted proved to be quite entertaining and pushed me forward to the next battle so that I could pick off enemies with my trusty bow and arrow once again.

E'Lara is awesome.

The game also offers a split-screen co-op mode, online co-op play, and a simple and generic dungeon creator mode called The Crucible. Playing with a buddy is a blast and very satisfying. Being able to use Caddoc’s and E’lara’s magic powers in tandem with their swords and arrows creates some of the most memorable experiences throughout the game. Creating dungeons in the crucible gets the job done, but is very simple and generic and leaves a lot to be desired.

Even with all of its flaws and presentation issues, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge still proves to be an enjoyable experience. This game is at its heart a co-op game and with a friend, you’ll have a blast hacking and slashing away through hordes of enemies. Just be prepared to deal with lots of presentation issues and graphical bugs and errors. On your own however, the game does get somewhat bland and repetitive. The game lasts about 10 hours and that’s not even including maxing out your character’s stats or unlocking all the items you can use in the Crucible mode. It’s a shame this game looks like it was rushed out the door as the core ideas of the game could still use more work. Still, for what it is, Bethesda’s latest does offer some mindless fun here and there. Give it a rental over a weekend and see if it tickles your fancy.

Final Verdict — 7/10