Hellraid developers go back to their roots with monsters based on European folklore

Polish developer Techland is going back to its roots in Hellraid by introducing a roster of enemy monsters based on European Lore, a studio representative told Polygon.

While the game shares its DNA with Dead Island, having started out as an internal weapons mod for the zombie title, Hellraid will combine first-person dungeon crawling with preternatural creatures from European fairytales. As shown in a hands-off presentation during this week's E3, one of these creatures includes the Hircus, an evil goat-like creature similar to a Satyr.

The company also gave us a glimpse at the game's story mode, which will be one of three gameplay modes available at launch. In Hellraid, players take on the role of a rough barbarian with mage-like skills who is forced into an alliance with one particular mage. The short preview takes us into the depths of a catacomb and tasks the protagonist with seeking out a monastery abbott.

The game offers a variety of combat styles similar to those found in Skyrim, allowing you to switch between melee, ranged and mage abilities on the fly. Likewise, the game will feature "thousands" of items, we're told.

Hellraid was first revealed as Project Hell back in August 2012. The game has since been delayed twice, with plans to launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC next year.