Hunted: The Demon's Forge: Easily fixable errors let down a game with a lot of potential

Formats: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

Developer: inXile Entertainment

Publisher: Bethesda

Release date: June 3rd

Age Rating: 15 BBFC / 18 PEGI

Price: £49.99 RRP (Xbox 360 and PS3), £34.99 (PC)

I saw this game described as ‘a dungeon crawler for the Gears of War generation,’ which is a pretty accurate description, taking elements of traditional crawlers and mixing them with elements of a third person action shooter.

Primarily it’s a hack and slash game but there is also tactics involved, hiding behind cover like you would in a third person shooter.

Like many games I’ve played recently, the single player AI is a letdown. You play in a team of two but more often than not when you get struck down by an enemy your team mate remains completely oblivious to your plight leaving you to die whilst they continue to take down oncoming hordes.  Resulting in having to continue from the last save point.

This is the main problem in what otherwise is good gameplay. Not brilliant for a moment, but it is undoubtedly fun rushing through masses of enemies striking them down with your sword or picking them off from afar with a bow, complete with devastating special abilities.

Graphically, it’s ok, nothing amazing but at the same time there were not too many noticeable flaws or horrifically bad textures on show.

The interaction between the two characters Caddoc and E’Lara, almost polar opposites with Caddoc being a powerhouse of a man and E’Lara being an agile, crafty warrior, is enjoyable and gives you an idea of what the characters are all about.

The pair exchange banter throughout the game, but as I found about half-way through the game I had heard everything they had to say.

The game is definitely tailored towards co-operative play, but there are some glaringly obvious areas which have been neglected, such as an inability to start multiplayer midway through a level or even for someone to drop out of an online game and be replaced by another player waiting in the wings.

Another frustrating element is how infrequently you can change between the two characters, with the character-change obelisks appearing only sparingly throughout the levels.

Whilst Hunted is not a bad game, it’s far from the finished article and a few extra changes would have made it far better. However, it beats most other games in the in the genre regarding the fun you can have.