Filter's gloomy rendition of "Happy Together" sets the perfect tone for the May 31 launch of inXile's co-op focused dungeon romp Hunted: The Demon's Forge.

In the latest behind-the-scenes video for inXile's Hunted: The Demon's Forge, the development team explores how they tackled crafting the game world, and how players can create their own bits of it using the game's Crucible map editor.

"Hunted is running through dungeons and killing monsters with really cool swords, really cool weapons, and amazing spells," says developer inXile's president Matt Findley. That's enough of a description for me. The rest of you should watch this behind-the-scenes trailer.

It may look like just another hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, but Hunted: The Demon Forge has a lot going on under the hood that you might not pick up on simply by seeing the game in action. The cooperative aspects of the game are what truly sets it apart, with innovative ways for two players to work together to take on otherwise deadly foes.

Of course the best part of a behind-the-scenes development documentary is seeing the excitement on the faces of the game creators as they talk about their baby. Here's hoping Hunted lives up to their expectations when it hits the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on May 31.

Finishing story mode is only the beginning of the adventure in inXile Entertainment's Hunted: The Demon's Forge. With the Crucible, players can spend their hard-earned gold pieces on creating and sharing endless custom dungeon romps.

The Crucible is a feature in Hunted that allows players to craft their own dungeon adventures for play alone with an AI teammate or with a friend in either online or split-screen multiplayer. Players can generate a completely random dungeon experience, or go deep with the Crucible's options, tweaking everything from player handicaps to gravity. Once completed, custom dungeons can be saved or uploaded online for the world to see.

The vast wealth acquired in the main game is used to purchase new creatures and features to add to their adventures, giving players a rewarding reason to explore every corner of the game world, squeezing out every ounce of gold they can find.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge is due out May 31 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Featuring both online and split-screen offline cooperative multiplayer, Hunted: The Demon's Forge is definitely a game you'll want to play with a friend. I call dibs on the elf girl.

In the latest trailer for Inxile Entertainment's hack and slash fantasy adventure focuses on how Caddoc the mercenary and E'lara the archer can combine their powers and skills together to devastating effect. Combination attacks and tactics are a key element of good cooperative gameplay that many games gloss over these days, satisfied with simply having two players fighting at one time. It looks like that won't be the case with Hunted.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge is due out June 1 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Hopefully we'll get a chance to play together. I get to be the pretty elf, and yes, I will use voice chatr to sing about how pretty I am.

You may want me as a coop partner in Hunted: The Demon's Forge, because on day one, I'll be very familiar with the dungeon crawler's cooperative combat and puzzle solving.

Bethesda's playable demo of Hunted: The Demon's Forge at Gamescom was but a smaller slice of a hands-off demo I'd seen before. It starts with unwise molestation of a strange artifact—a cursed skull—that engages the player in a sprint through falling debris, a nasty encounter with some animated skeletons and a chance to play as both Caddoc and E'lara, the game's main characters.

While the sights and sounds were familiar, as were the techniques previously taught to me by the developer, inXile Entertainment, actually controlling Hunted was new to me. It mostly controls well, as one might expect a third-person shooter to, if they've played one before. Swapping weapons and magic spells, left and right bumper buttons, respectively, felt natural, as did aiming and firing.

Cycling through my "ammo" options, making my regular arrows into ice arrows as E'lara, for example, was done with the d-pad. Snapping into cover (A) and reviving my partner (B) were control choices I'd been trained for.

Basically, people who like shooters but want to try a bleak dungeon crawler on for size will feel comfortable slipping into Hunted.

One new thing that I learned while playing through the Gamescom demo a handful of times was the importance of communication. My German language-speaking partners and I didn't, which became something of a problem. We didn't stick together in battle, didn't communicate our plans and didn't come to each other's aid quickly enough. So make sure you play with someone whose language you share.

Another minor revelation to me was Hunted's linearity. Since I'd seen this demo before, I knew that in order to defeat a group of skeletal warriors I needed to, one, shoot a pair of ropes that would lower a platform; two, take control of a ballista; three, shoot down a pair of spires with gargoyles atop them to stop the flood of undead.

Frustrating then, that I couldn't actually shoot those ropes until the game decided it was okay to do so. According to the game's rules, I needed to first defeat the skeleton champion manning that crossbow. Only then would those ropes would be vulnerable and snap when hit with arrows. Stupid ropes! We can agree it's a minor quibble, but a factor that may annoy when replaying Hunted in coop with a friend.

But that aspect seems to be Hunted's most fun feature. I'd be lying if I said the hand-to-hand combat in this game felt too graceful or that it excelled as a third-person shooter. And it doesn't seem to scratch that loot itch. Players can really only equip new weapons and shields, try on new magic spells and abilities. But it does seem fun in its possibility for exploration, for buddying up with another Hunted player, swapping between Caddoc and E'lara for variety.

Better still, it seems like Hunted: The Demon's Forge will be a challenge, a way to kill a few hours with a friend (or a hopefully capable AI-controlled partner) while solving a puzzle here and there.

We'll find out if I'm right about the more fun parts early in 2011 when Hunted: The Demon's Forge heads to the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.