An Elf, a warrior, and a witch walk into a town …
Discaimer: This game was a gift from a family member to be played together.
The land of Kala Moor, as beautiful as it is deadly. In the past few days of travel, the sword master Caddoc has been plagued by cryptic dreams concerning a sorceress named Seraphine (voiced by Lucy Lawless who played the lead character in Xena: Warrior Princess [1995-1997]) but his elven companion, the archère E’lara, tells him to pay those no mind. That is, until both of them learn that Seraphine is not a product of his vivid imagination, but the kidnapped daughter of the mayor of Dyfed himself. After bargaining a price for her rescue with her father, the two embark on a cat and mouse chase to get the gold save her and maybe even the world.
- 1.0 Get the Party Started!
- 2.0 What it looks like when you know what you’re doing
- 3.0 The Less Awesome
- 4.0 When Games became Movies
- 5.0 What is a Muul-tea-play-or?
- 6.0 What happened to the pre-order bonuses and achievements?
- 7.0 Conclusion
- References
- Comment Section
1.0 Get the Party Started!
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge (2011) is one of those hidden gems that any fantasy fan would be remiss not to play. Developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, the game is a high octane, two-player co-op, dungeon crawler that has one person take on the role of the mêlée heavy Caddoc, while the other controls the sharpshooting E’lara. And while both have their specialties as well as unique skill trees, they each can, of course, also dish out lesser versions of each other’s ranged/close quarter attacks should things get finicky, but where’s the fun if both play the same style?
As with most reviews, I engaged this title using a keyboard and mouse get-up on a 32-bit Windows Vista Home Premium desktop PC with an Intel Core 2 CPU, 3070 MB RAM, DirectX 11, and a GeForce 9500 GT graphics card, where it not only ran smoothly but looked sublime in 1080 p. My co-op partner meanwhile used a 64-bit Dell Inspiron 580 desktop PC with Microsoft Windows 10 Home Edition, an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia GTX 960 graphics card, and Direct X 12 where it looked even better and ran without any issues. Furthermore, since neither of us experienced any bugs or hiccups, the review does not contain a bug section.
2.0 What it looks like when you know what you’re doing
Of course, since I mentioned “co-op,” most readers probably already think that the biggest joy killer in multiplayer games has always been that audiences cannot ever stray too far from one another, lest one of them gets mauled by baddies while the other is too far behind to help them out. And that’s not only a reasonable thought, but one that was taken into consideration here. To make sure that players’ means of expressing themselves through gameplay wouldn’t be hindered by another person, Hunted’s developers followed a philosophy they called “co-op at a distance.” As Michael “Maxx” Kaufman, creative director behind the title, explained:
“we decided it should be more action oriented.”
“The concept of ‘co-op at a distance’ came purely out of our desire to play co-op games […] without the constraint of being tied to the person we’re playing with. […] ‘What happens if your partner is across the room and needs help?’ or ‘What happens if you want to do something with your partner cooperatively but they are far away?’ So we came up with the ideas such as healing your partner at a distance and battle charging your partner when they are in the heat of the battle and need ‘super powers’ for a limited time.”1
This mechanic works excellently, even if we preferred to still stay close to one another out of habit. Still, aiding your companion in need has never been easier in any other game I’ve played before. Should a co-op partner be low on health, following a simple button prompt will cause your character to throw a health vial like a grenade at your partner. This is as much a pretty nifty tool as it is a time saving measure, especially in difficult situations with tons of skeletons or other enemies surrounding the protagonists.
Now any lover of medieval-themed adventures, like The Legend of Zelda (1986) or Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012), also know that fantasy productions just don’t work without good riddles or puzzles. (Who doesn’t remember, “Speak ‘friend’ and enter?”) Audiences want their heroes and heroines to use their brains as much as their brawns. Sadly, brainteasers all too easily break a game’s flow, which isn’t the worst thing in single player experiences, but quite terrible for any co-op session. Maybe one player has experienced Hunted before and already knows the solutions, which means they’d be bored every time a new partner tries to figure things out. Or maybe both players just can’t figure something. Whatever the reason, two player puzzles are tricky to design, so inXile sidestepped them in a way. As Brian Fargo, then CEO of the studio, says:
“With Hunted, we could have taken a hardcore RPG, but we decided it should be more action oriented. That being said, we did decide to create experiences, such as the game’s puzzles, that are off the critical path – that bring more depth to the experience. We’re able to make as many puzzles as we want and we can make them as difficult as we want because we don’t force the players to complete them in order to have fun playing the main quest.”2
It is a great workaround. In addition, the crew even included context sensitive hot keys that have either Caddoc or E’lara exclaim commands, such as “Put a flame there,” “Give that a shove,” or “Stand right there” to signal the partner that they are needed to solve a puzzle. Furthermore, the critical path and the location to one’s partner will be highlighted by shooting stars at the press of a button as well. Since my partner and I were both familiar with other co-op titles (such as Resident Evil 5 [2009] and Resident Evil 6 [2012]) as well as a number of point & click adventures (like The Secret of Monkey Island [1990, 2009] or Day of the Tentacle [1993, 2016]) however, we instinctively knew to only progress whenever we had turned over every rock and checked out each crevice.
“some of the harshest I have ever seen in a video game.”
Now, many of the riddles in Hunted: The Demon’s Forge aren’t as hard as the developers makes them seem, but rather they require players to find the switches hidden around an area. This is a very comfortable, fitting, brain teasing idea for a co-op title of this nature. Once everything’s unveiled a heroic duo might even find some great loot on weapon racks that randomly contain stronger or weaker versions of one’s arms … with the occasional special effect. To further mix up the gameplay flow, players will also run into occasional ballista sections where one party member has to shoot targets (usually enemy hordes approaching from all sides) while the other protects them. The way these interactive elements were approached and put together is simply marvelous and results in an ever-refreshing mix of diverse, action filled portions with calmer, more reflective thinking bits.
Lastly, there is a level editor that I sadly never got into. Over the course of the adventure, one will gather gold coins that can be used to buy new building blocks to create one’s own custom maps to share with friends. While this seems like a good idea at first, it also appears to be meant for a feature that is no longer supported. But more about that further down below in section 5.0.
3.0 The Less Awesome
That said, while we had an overall great time, there were also segments that did break the rhythm; these were the sleg enemy boss arenas. Aside from throwing traditional behemoths at one, Hunted also has areas where hordes of wargar (orc-like creatures) minotaurs, as well as other beasts are let lose. Unlike regular mobs, however, these dudes are all stronger than their normal brethren due to the sleg they drank. This is a quicksilver-like liquid that not only makes one more ferocious and tenacious, but turns those who get into contact with it into addicts while corrupting their souls. (That last point is hammered home pretty strongly in several in-game conversations.) Naturally these obligatory arena bouts are rather tough, and we died quite often during them. At one point we even decided to set the difficulty to “easy,” which, to our surprise, didn’t do anything for us. These sections are notoriously tough. We even got stuck in the Wilds of Govad area, because our heroes kept kicking the bucket all the time and that sucked!
From a narrative perspective it makes sense that the encounters with sleg enemies are this hard, of course. The liquid is tied to the main plot, characters talk about it all the time, and it’s part of the evil overtaking the lands. One figure also tells the protagonists to drink it multiple times, which is immediately suspicious. This then is expressed in the gameplay itself during the aforementioned arenas that also always have sleg filled chalices for Caddoc or E’lara to drink from. Doing so temporarily makes them stronger and turns these insanely difficult bouts into pieces of cake. However, because of its corrupting properties, we knew that if we drank it, we wouldn’t be able to get the good, happy ending to the game. As we then found out via a walkthrough, despite there being several of these mandatory arenas, just drinking this stuff once automatically results in one of the two evil endings to occur after the finale. In other words, our normally good pace was broken up every time we suffered through a sleg battle.
Naturally, I do understand that some players like a challenge from time to time (Hey, I 100%ed Bayonetta [2009, rereleased multiple times since], and reviewed Blood of the Werewolf [2014], Guacamelee! Gold Edition [2013], as well as Electronic Super Joy [2013]. I get it. Difficult games can be fun.) but I also believe that if a developer studio already includes an easy mode setting in their game, that they can safely assume that those players who make use of that option obviously aren’t looking for something to get frustrated about. They simply want to have a good time with their relatives or friends. Tough boss fights or arena bouts that are aggravatingly hard in an otherwise acceptable easy mode (especially the last boss encounter, what was going on there) is not very considerate and not why we came to Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.
4.0 When Games became Movies
The late 1990s and early 2000s was the time when first CD-ROMs and then later DVD-ROMs became mainstream. In the past, I already highlighted how this inspired developers to include real actors or full motion video footage in their video games (c.f. my articles on Night Trap [1992] and Street Fighter: Real Battle on Film [1995] for more. Although maybe don’t read the Street Fighter one. It’s a mess.) and as time progressed, studios moved away from using real people in favor of polygonal characters, like the ones seen in Final Fantasy VIII (1999). This shift in design brought a whole new type of creator to the market: Film enthusiasts who made electronic entertainment. David Cage, for example, started directing video games in the late 1990s and his productions are all more like movies with some video games sprinkled in-between.
The entire game has a summer blockbuster energy to it and I’m here for it!
This naturally affected everything else as well and when we look at electronic entertainment of today, we’ll find that pretty much any genre is much more cinematic now than it used to be ten, twenty years ago. Of course, I wouldn’t even bring this up if Hunted weren’t one of those titles that contributed to this trend by trying a more cinematic approach. As Kaufman explains:
“When we started developing the idea around Hunted [sic!] we used a movie veteran concept artist to create the template for all of our outdoor environments. When we design new areas, we constantly ask ourselves ‘What do we want the player feel, see and experience?’ As a result, Hunted has some of the most beautiful environments as well as some of the harshest I have ever seen in a video game.”1
This worked. The settings are beautiful to look at, even if the used Unreal Engine 3 starts to show its age. The environmental artists, Zaid Ahmed, Damien Evans, together with Daniel McGowan, as well as the level designers, Mike Pirozzi, Joshua Carlos, and Quantin Rezin, have outdone themselves. Even the texturing of the characters still looks phenomenal, thanks to senior character artists Tyler James and his team, Kurt Papstein, Gavin Rich, and Kevin Cassidy. Hunted looks gorgeous and is the result of real team effort. Of course great visuals aren’t even half the bill, as Fargo elaborates:
“Two things that are timeless are good writing and character development. These two elements are something that we really work at achieving when creating a game. Good writing comes from creating good characters and from an understanding of the situations from a real world perspective. The best writing is when the player thinks it is something he would have said or when the characters react realistically to situations. The more in tune you are with your game the better the writing becomes. Our writing comes both from our own personalities and from how we feel we would react should we find ourselves in those situations.”2
The two protagonists are, for a lack of a better word, popcorny! Throughout the nine hour long adventure, players will hear them banter, quip, or react to their surroundings. The entire game has a summer blockbuster energy to it and I’m here for it! I like it when stories aren’t too serious. A lot of it is, of course, thanks to Graham McTavish (who you might know as Dwalin from The Hobbit movies [2012-2014]) who voices Caddoc, as well as the unforgettable Laura Bailey, who’s not only playing E’lara here, but almost everyone in every video game you’ve ever loved. (Seriously, look it up, she’s in everything.) Then there’s the aforementioned Lucy Lawless as Seraphine, at which point I had to pause. With the credits of the game rolling by, I noticed how many big names were involved in this and how the sound department must have invested some serious buck to get them. Attentive readers probably remember that in my Full Throttle Remastered (2017) review, I expressed that I’m hesitant whenever budgeting productions and going all out on the voice actors are put together in one sentence, since this can lead to problems down the line. Then again, it didn’t seem to cause any harm here, and I obviously don’t know what I’m talking about.
5.0 What is a Muul-tea-play-or?
If you’ve managed to come this far and are hyped to get into this game with your significant other, your in-laws, your arch nemesis, your brother or sister, your best bud’s dog, or whoever, then that’s both great and sad. Unfortunately, the multiplayer in Hunted: The Demon’s Forge was set up to be server based and tied to gamespy, a company that shut its doors in 2013, two years after the release of this title. Unfortunately, the publisher, Betheseda, never retrofitted the production to be host based, so the only way to play it with two players on PC now is to get two copies (we got our copies during a Steam sale) and use a LAN connection, as was considered fashionable at the time. It’ll only take a few seconds to set up, and you’ll be good to go. There is also still an active multiplayer as well as modding community available for Hunted and several guides on Steam explain how to play online co-op, though we haven’t tried out any of those methods.
6.0 What happened to the pre-order bonuses and achievements?
The other slight annoyance with this title is that the pre-order bonuses were never added as DLC later on in the life cycle. Originally, four of these came out:
- the Assassin Pack (containing Seraphine as a playable character, as well as an assassin bow, assassin level, and a new assassin boss)
- the Demon Pack (with a Notch Axe [because Minecraft], a Demon Level, as well as a new Demon Boss)
- The Darkset Pack (including a new shield and axe for Caddoc, E’lara’s Darkset Armor, E’lara’s Darkset Light Sword)
- Griffin Pack (with Caddoc’s Griffin Maw Crossbow, Caddoc’s Griffin Bracer, E’lara’s Griffin Claw Bow)
Sure, they don’t add much other than cosmetics, but it’s still weird that they’re not available on storefronts at all. In addition, the PC version never came with the achievements that console players received.
7.0 Conclusion
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is a game that desperately needs either a remake (to rejuvenate interest in the IP) followed by a sequel or a direct sequel without a remake. Either one is fine. The characters are interesting, the settings delightful. The concept intrigues and is perfect for friends, family, or couples who want to play a game with one another. It’s an overall good time, even if the boss fight difficulty needs to be reevaluated. Going by steamdb, there are also obviously people still buying the game, so the interest in Caddoc or E’lara never subsided. The biggest hurdle for those willing and paying customers, however, is the lack of official online capability, which can be fixed, if Betheseda Softworks or Zenimax greenlight a new entry to the series or allow modders to create an unofficial patch, like they did for Skyrim (2011). This, by the way, was kind of like a hinted at request at the IP holders for a new game, in case they should read this and didn’t notice so far.
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is available as a digital download for PCS for U.S. $ 4.99 or your local equivalent on Steam or as a retail copy for U.S. $ 34.99 or your local counterpart for Xbox 360 on Amazon.
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge would get an 8 Brutal Axes out of 10 Warriors, but since the online lacks, it gets a 7 arrows out of a 10 magical Elven Eyesight
References:
- Puelo, Nick, 2010, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge Co-Op Interview, Co-Optimus, posted, 2010, August, 06, accessed 2019, September, 21, retrieved from https://www.co-optimus.com/interview/536/page/2/hunted-the-demon-s-forge-co-op-interview.html
- Puelo, Nick, 2010, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge Co-Op Interview, Co-Optimus, posted, 2010, August, 06, accessed 2019, September, 21, retrieved from https://www.co-optimus.com/interview/536/page/1/hunted-the-demon-s-forge-co-op-interview.html
You look like you could use some adventure!
Thank you for reading my article. If you like, please do feel free to leave a comment. There’s no need to register or login. Also, all screenshots and photos shown here were taken by me during my playthrough and later on edited to fit the blog. You can also follow my reviews on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/8839524-Gaos-Corner/ Have a nice day.
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