What we know
Hunted is developed by inXile Entertainment for Bethesda Softworks and is one of the more low-profile big titles to arrive in the first half of 2011, available on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 at the beginning of 2011.
The game will focus on two characters, the big warrior Caddoc and the nimble archer E'lara as they are scouring a fantasy world in order to find an artifact that they have had visions about.
Hunted is created using the Unreal 3 engine and will allow players to experience cooperative play without requiring the use of split screen, focusing on how the two characters can use their different abilities in conjunction to solve the challenges the game throws at them.
The game mixes exploration with combat that seems to be pretty fluid, with hordes of enemies taken out before the two characters face off against a bigger boss.
Why it matters
Cooperative play has become one of the most important trends in video games over the past few years and titles like Army of Two, out of Electronic Arts, and Kane & Lynch showed that, no matter the flaws of the overall design, overcoming challenges with the direct and equal help of another gamer can provide some very good gaming experiences.
Hunted: The Demon's Forge tackles a fantasy setting and, from what I have played of it last year at Gamescom, it seems to be built from the ground up in order to accommodate two players, with their abilities complementing each other and the fights becoming really tough when the two companies are not actually working together or when one of them is down and out of combat.
Cooperative play on the same screen might lead to good game for those who are interested in partnering up with a friend to finish a game, but one big unknown is the quality of the A.I., which will be heavily used by more single-player-oriented gamers.
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