14 DAY TRIAL // Hellraid could be one of the titles that keep a low profile through the development process but impress on launch, as long as the development team at Techland manages to create a solid mix of combat mechanics, character progression and narrative.
The E3 2014 demo for the title shows a powerful warrior exploring a monastery that saw its leader go insane after researching the nature of evil.
This is a great occasion to battle a variety of enemies, mostly of skeletal nature, using both ranged magic and more brutal weapons in hand to hand.
Hellraid is all about the gruesome nature of combat and the developers want players to feel like a powerful warrior and think about each encounter on a tactical level at the same time.
The game also includes unique bosses that have special attacks and will force gamers to adapt their approach in order to emerge victorious.
The team has created more than 100,000 procedurally generated items for the game world and gamers will have to pick and choose the best to use depending on the enemies that they are facing and their personal preference.
Hellraid does not aim for subtlety and can be over the top violent at times, but the combat system is interesting and could be the basis for a title that captures the attention of first-person hack and slash fans.
Apart from the single-player mode that is part of the E3 2014 demo for the title, the developers at Techland are also creating a mission-based mode, which will deliver unique challenges for the players to complete as they battle their enemies, and an arena mode where four players can fight a never ending stream of foes.
The team explains that teamwork will be important and that gamers will have to find the best builds that can cooperate in order to efficiently take out enemy forces.
Apparently, a player who wants to unlock all the skills for a character will have to play the game for close to 200 hours.
Techland says that the choices offered by the progression system are designed to allow players to choose whether they want to be a specialized fighter or mage or a bit of a jack of all trades.
Hellraid is set to be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft at some point in 2015.