"HUNTED THE DEMON FORGE" MY REVIEW

I think I'd sum this game up with the phrase " A fairly decent arpg with flaws " It is a standard fayre arpg game which is very simplistic ( a little too much so ) in it's approach to the rpg side of the game. There is no "leveling up" as such, you simply collect crystals as you go along and use them at crystal shrines to pay for combat abilities or battle magic although the spells and combat abilities are very limited ( only 3 of each to choose from ) and you can only "level up" at set locations throughout the game which can be a pain. It is not customisable at all, you get to play either a human warrior or an elf ranger, both of which have set facial and body features which you can't alter and picking up different armor sets doesn't seem to alter your appearance very much either. you can switch between the two characters, but again this can only be done at set locations although you can use whichever character you are controlling to instruct the other character to use their unique abilities in certain situations. Having said that I have yet to come across any situation where there is a real need to swap characters and I have played the whole game up to this point with the Elf ranger. The controls are, on the whole user friendly although magic, especially with the Elf ranger, can be a bit clumsy at times and takes a bit of getting used to. Visually the game is quite pleasing although not as detailed or lavish as I had hoped from looking at trailers and at times the animations and combat becomes a little choppy. On the surface of the world the game becomes very linear, giving the player very little room for exploration and there is no map at all or traveling between locations, however once you get into the dungeons ( ironically ) the game seems to open out and allow for a lot more exploration and discovery. There are your pretty standard traps, puzzles etc to solve which are fairly simple and not exactly taxing but enough to keep you entertained. I haven't been able to play the game online which is a shame really as I would imagine ( from the look of it ) that this game is designed for co-op play and there is also a neat looking dungeon designer section of the game where you can set up your own dungeon complete with puzzles, traps and monsters and then challenge friends to enter your dungeon. To summarise, I'd have to say that again, I have been slightly dissapointed at yet another Bethesda release ( the last one being Brink and the least said about THAT steaming pile, the better ) I can't really see this game appealing to anyone outside of the arpg fan base and it certainly isn't a ground breaker in any shape or form. I'd have to give it a 6/10