In development by inXile Entertainment, Bethesda Softoworks will be publishing Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, a third person co-op fantasy action game. There are some very big names in volved in this game, such as Brain Fargo, who has been involved with The Bard’s Tale, Baldur’s Gate, and Fallout, and Michael “Maxx” Kaufman, former Art Director for titles such as Kingpin: Life of Crime, Redneck Rampage and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Well, enough of that. Onto the game. As the article title suggests, this game is a third-person action fantasy game. But what seems to set this one apart is the heavy emphasis on cooperative gameplay. The player can choose between E’lara, a ranged weapon expert, or Caddoc, a master swordsmen. With their repsective partners, players must complete co-op based puzzles.

The basic story of Hunted: The Dmon’s Forges:

The dark ages have become corrupted. Heinous creatures have emerged from underground. Townsfolk across the land are disappearing. Upon the promise of their fortune in gold, mercenaries E’lara and Caddoc take on the daunting task of discovering where the innocent villagers have been taken. Their journey will lead them on a dark and twisted path where they will encounter death, slavery, and sacrifice. Travel deep within the world of Kala Moor…and to the secrets of The Demon’s Forge.

Features List:

Dark Fantasy Shooter – Powered by the Unreal 3 engine, the world of Hunted comes to life in a third-person dungeon crawl with the intensity and action of a modern-day shooter.

Co-op at a Distance – Combine E’lara’s ranged attacks with Caddoc’s melee expertise to pull off gruesome co-op kill moves, perform special attacks, and heal one another regardless of where they in relation to one another on the battlefield.  The characters’ differing combat methods allow player strategy to vary from one play through to the next.

Two Ways to Fight – Wade into the thick of the fight using melee skills, or tactically use cover combat to dispatch hordes of creatures with bows and spells.

Spell-Powered Combat – Powerful magic spells can be used to boost your partner’s combat effectiveness and even the odds against increasingly formidable enemies.

Sure, Brink stole the show at the Bethesda booth on PAX 2009, and it’s definitely an awesome game. But it was pretty much the same presentation from E3, so not much new stuff to report.

Another game that we’re interested in from Bethesda Softworks is WET, an upcoming title that has a female character using two pistols and a sword. She even enters a Rage Mode to ‘clean up’ the stage with style. From our experience, it was great fun. Badass too.

And that’s probably why Bethesda Softworks sent us nothing but a bunch of screenshots. Who needs a bunch of sales pitches when pictures can tell you so much more? We have picked our favorites for your convenience:

Stylish, we like.

uly 31, 2009 (London, UK) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, announced today that WET^TM will hit European retail shelves on September 18th for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The game’s highly-stylized mix of action and acrobatics is showcased on the newly revamped web site that can be found at http://wetthegame.com.

“We are extremely excited to bring WET to gamers on September 18th,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “A2M has created an explosive gaming experience and the action is non-stop from start to finish.”

Developed at Artificial Mind and Movement, WET throws players into a heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping adventure of double crosses and paybacks in which they’ll take on the role of problem fixer, Rubi Malone. Use Rubi’s dual pistols or samurai sword during any acrobatic move as you take on countless enemies in a number of exotic locations around the globe.

“We’ve worked really hard to make WET different from any other action game available”, said Patrick Fortier, Creative Director at A2M. “When players experience the game’s unique blend of gunplay, sword combat and acrobatics, they won’t want to put the controller down.”

On a mission to find the man that left you for dead, you’ll master the controls that will allow you to create the most incredible fight sequences – limited only by your own imagination. Once you are able to chain together a number of moves, including sliding down ladders, running on walls, jumping and flipping, you will be rewarded with auto-lock and slow motion advantages. Featuring the perfect mix of humor and violence, WET is a third-person shooter experience unlike any other.

For more information about Bethesda Softworks, please visit www.bethsoft.com. For more information about WET please visit http://wetthegame.com.

ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced it has completed the acquisition of legendary game studio, id Software, creators of world-renowned games such as DOOM, QUAKE, Wolfenstein, and its upcoming title, RAGE. The acquisition by ZeniMax Media joins together two of the finest, most respected videogame developers in the world, combining the first person shooter (FPS) expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game (RPG) developer Bethesda Game Studios – creators of the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout 3, and the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks will publish the titles of id Software other than upcoming releases previously committed to other publishers.

Founded in 1991, id Software established itself as an industry leader with some of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed video games of all time. id Software created the original first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, and subsequently set new standards in the genre with the blockbuster releases of its DOOM and QUAKE titles. In addition, id Software developed cutting edge, proprietary technology with the id Tech engine which powers many notable FPS titles, and continues to make great advances in game technology under the direction of John Carmack, one of the country’s technology leaders and a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame.

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, commented on the transaction: “This was a unique opportunity to team with a smart, sophisticated publisher like Bethesda Softworks where the interests of the studio and the publisher will be fully aligned in the development and marketing of our titles. In addition, we will now have financial and business resources to support the future growth of id Software, a huge advantage which will result in more and even better games for our fans.”

id Software will continue to operate as a studio under the direction of its founder, John Carmack. No changes will be made in the operations of id Software in the development of its games. All the principals at id Software have signed long-term employment contracts, assuring they will continue in their roles developing games at the studio.

“This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said John Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as Technical Director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am.”

Robert Altman, the founder, Chairman & CEO of ZeniMax Media stated, “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities. They have demonstrated, repeatedly, that rare ability to create franchise properties that are critical and commercial successes. Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best – make AAA games. Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.”

ZeniMax Media Inc, which is privately held, was founded in 1999 to create quality interactive entertainment products to meet the growing worldwide demand. The Company is headquartered in Rockville, MD and maintains offices in Hunt Valley, MD, London and Tokyo. Among its wholly owned subsidiaries are Bethesda Softworks, a premier publisher of video games, Vir2L Studios which develops games for the casual market, and ZeniMax Online Studios, a studio dedicated to massively multi-player online games (MMOG).

Bethesda Game Studios, the development group at ZeniMax Media, is one of the top video game studios in the world. Its most recent release, Fallout 3, was the 2008 winner of more than 60 Game of the Year awards, including The Associated Press, Official Xbox Magazine, Yahoo, PC Gamer, IGN, Game Critics Awards, Game Developer Choice Awards, and Gamespy. Bethesda also created the 2006 PC and Xbox 360 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and the 2002 PC and Xbox Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Bethesda Game Studios has created 2 of the 10 best games of all time, Fallout 3 and Oblivion, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.