Hellraid Interactive Trailer Chronicles Edyn's Escape

You don't just watch the latest Hellraid trailer - you play it. Techland has released an interactive trailer for the first-person hack-and-slash game.

The video is entitled "Edyn's Escape" and is set two weeks before the events of Hellraid's campaign. The player character is Edyn, a monk whose monastery has been attacked by the forces of Hell. Players guide him as he flees to safety.

"Edyn's Escape" is structured as a choose-your-own-adventure story. You make your way through the monastery and are presented with a series of this-or-that choices. Will you go right or left? Take the sword-and-shield or the axe?

For the most part, picking the "wrong" option leads to your bloody demise. Some of these deaths are pretty cheap. About a minute into the video, I was blown up about by a chest I opened up. Those old Choose Your Own Adventure books prepared me well for sudden and undeserved death, though. Fortunately, you can just hit "back" on your browser to re-do your choices instead of restarting the whole video.

If you survive the adventure, you'll be given a special reward. If you'd rather just have the reward, go here. It's an MP3 of "Siege of Hell," one of the songs from the Hellraid soundtrack.

In Hellraid, the mortal realm has been overrun by Hell's minions. Players take on the role of a Paladin, Rogue, Barbarian, or Mage attempting to fight back this invasion. They'll battle the forces of Hell in ruins, swamps and caves with randomized enemy spawns and loot.

Hellraid's story-driven campaign is accompanied by online modes. Players can join forces with up to three friends and try to out-score each other. Leaderboards will track everyone's performance. The game will also offer online challenges to give you something to strive for with each session.

When Techland first announced Hellraid, they said it would arrive sometime this year on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. They've yet to provide a release date, though. It's almost October so I'm wondering whether the game might slip to 2014 instead.