It's a bit unfair to assume that Hunted: The Demon's Forge is an RPG based purely on its aesthetic, but it's hard not to. I was about an hour in before it hit me: I'm not playing an RPG; I'm playing an action game.

Cooperative play is dynamic and enjoyable

Looks like a dated RPG; Tedious combat

A cover-based, hack-and-slash fantasy epic. Seriously it doesn't even make sense, but for some reason it works. Hunted: The Demon's Forge is not going to win over any gamers with its graphics, gameplay or even its story; however, as a mindless weekend hack-and-slash, it's rather enjoyable.

Classic RPG elements that carry over to both game types; Auto-aim makes bow and arrow combat sleek and sexy; A personalized dungeon creator

Massively steep learning curve; Repetitive hacking and slashing; Thick English accents are almost impossible to understand

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+ Offers fantastic co-op action; the game is perfect to play with a friend both online and local; + Interesting story with good characters; tie in a the creation mode with the crucible mode and you have a lot of content

+ Offers fantastic co-op action; the game is perfect to play with a friend both online and local; - The game overall just doesn't do anything to set itself apart from the pack

This middling co-operative effort from Bethesda never quite rises above its generic and repetitive gameplay.

Has co-operative gameplay; wide variety of items and enemies; Gears-of-War style gameplay will appeal to fans of that style of gameplay; CONS: Poorly written across the board; local co-op is a disaster; no inventory with which to store items; repetitive encounters and challenges

is one of those under the radar games that no one really talks about. Truth be told when it came into the TPS compound I had no idea what exactly it was. I saw "Bethesda" on the box but knew it was developed by inXile Entertainment.

Dungeon crawls have been around for about as long as computers. Anyone remember Rogue? (get a copy compliments of GiN at the link) It might have been all ASCII text, but it was a dungeon craw nonetheless. The point is that hack and slash adventures have been with us for a long time.

Despite the strong whiff of sword and sorcery it gives off, Hunted: The Demon's Forge is far more evocative of Epic Games than epic loot. Most of the RPG trappings of this co-op-focused action game are buried deep, allowing you to focus on head shots, cover dashing, and ally-reviving.

inXile Entertainment had a clear vision with what it wanted to do with Hunted: The Demon's Forge. That vision came up short due to clunky controls, linear gameplay and a very frustrating single player experience.

Concept: Bring the gameplay of a modern-day shooter to a gritty fantasy setting Graphics: Glitches abound, and most of the environments are obviously recycled throughout the adventure Sound: The banter between Caddoc and E'lara is one of the high points, along with the rumbling, epic score...

What does it take for a game to stick in a player's memory? For RPGs, it could be the writing of story and characters. For an action game, it might be the flexibility of movement and fluidity of combat. For a shooter, the graphics could be the centerpiece.