Techland’s catalogue of games is the very definition of a mixed bag. They’ve produced Dead Island, which has quite a lot of fans, and its sequel Riptide. Next month they’re releasing Call of Juarez: Gunslinger digitally, which looks like a surprisingly awesome western shooter. Speaking of Call of Juarez they’re responsible for Call of Jaurez and its prequel, Bound in Blood, which are both games I’d recommend you check out.

Yet for anything good they’ve done they’re also responsible for something…not so good, like Call of Juarez: The Cartel. They could be best described, then, as a middle-ground developer, releasing solid titles that don’t set the world alight with amazement, but tend to at least provide some entertainment.

Their newest title, though, could be something pretty cool. Titled Hellraid, Techland are describing it as a “first-person co-op slasher”. In Hellraid you’ll venture through a dark fantasy realm for whatever contrived reason the writers have come up with and engage many, many monsters in first-person combat using either your straightforward melee stuff like swords and maces,  by using magic or by precision use of a crossbow, depending on whether you choose to play as a Warrior, Mage, Paladin or Rogue. Techland are promising that combat will be more than just button mashing and will require timing and precision.

Along the way you’ll have plenty of opportunity to explore various environments and pick up plenty of loot with which to outfit yourself. Should the aforementioned loot not be up to snuff then you can always craft your own gear as well. There’s also mention of character progression, so expect to see some levelling up mechanics at work.

Techland also claim there’s going to be plenty of replay value thanks to their Game Master system which will make each game different by placing enemies and loot in different locations, as well as generating online challenge, whatever those might be.

And finally there’s a four-player co-op mode as well, in which you work together to slay the enemy hordes while also competing against each other to see who is the best out of the group. Here’s what the website has to say about it:

“Coopetition also adds an additional layer of rivalry with points gained for each kill, assist, completed quest and challenge.”

Coopetition, huh? Clever, Techland, clever.  At this point I’m not entirely clear whether all four players go through the main storyline found in singleplayer, or if it’s an entirely separate mode with its own levels and such.

You can visit the official website here, which is worth a good look as there’s some blog entries providing further insight on what to expect from Hellraid.

Hellraid will be available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year.