14 DAY TRIAL // Techland has slowly but surely made a name for itself by crafting some good games with a lot of potential and plenty of things to do.
Even if the studio is working hard nowadays on Dying Light, the Polish team is also working in parallel on Hellraid, a medieval fantasy first-person role-playing game. The title was initially presented quite some time ago, the studio decided to overhaul the whole experience by recreating it into its proprietary Chrome Engine 5 technology, which is now being used by Dying Light.
Now, the title has been showcased at Gamescom 2014 so that media representatives can get an idea of the new version of the RPG.
At first glance, Hellraid can be likened to quite a few different games, from Techland's own Dead Island, to Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
The game's single-player campaign was showcased, with the studio offering the first details about the story. Players take control of Ayden, a soldier that deserts his post right in the middle of an undead rising. Skeletons, zombies, and other demons are rising from the earth so Ayden wants to make sure that his last remaining relative, his sister, is safe.
Seeing as how it's a first-person game, you only get to interact with Ayden through his voice acting which is pretty good.
The combat is quite similar to Dead Island or Skyrim, with players being able to wield swords, shields, maces, warhammers, magic staves, and much more. The weapon system is a procedural one, with stats slowly improving alongside the level of the player.
There aren't any classes in Hellraid, as Techland allows players to dictate their own play style by choosing from the sprawling, Path of Exile-like skill tree. Enemies are relatively varied but, at least from the first few levels, expect quite a few skeletons and undead monsters.
Hellraid doesn't use an open world, although Techland emphasizes that quite a lot of sections will be quite big and allow for multiple paths to be taken throughout them.
The combat is visceral, with plenty of dismemberment not just when using hulking weapons like axes, but also when you employ magic elemental attacks such as ice or electricity.
The visuals are quite impressive and the Polish studio promises stunning vistas, great lighting, and a lot of great effects, thanks to the new Chrome Engine 5 technology. The team also wants to ensure that Hellraid will run at 1080p and 60fps on PS4 and Xbox One when the game will debut in 2015.
Until then, the studio plans on launching Hellraid on Steam Early Access for PC later in the year.