A team of developers at developer Techland have reportedly splintered off from work on the expected Dead Island sequel to work on a separate project that they have codenamed Project Hell.

According to an official dev blog, the concept came about after one of the crew created an internal weapon mod for Dead Island that introduced magic freeze spells and two-handed swords into the game. The team was apparently so impressed by the results that a standalone game based on a dark fantasy theme is now in the works.

Awesomely, the blog explains that they are drawing inspiration from classic occult-style dark fantasy:

Combining the fighting mechanics of Dead Island and adding magic (literally) we created a powerful mixture – a dark fantasy FPP hack’n'slash. We want to travel back to the times when enemies were really hideous and repulsive, the fights were brutal and bloody and the gameplay was challenging and rich with secrets waiting to be uncovered.

It was natural for us to think in terms of a dark horror setting. Mostly due to Dead Island but also because we’re lucky enough to remember the first Quake and Diablo and the impression these games made on us – so few new games can keep up with these classics.

While searching for a dark and mature mood we are constantly referring to early European medieval times. It was a time when a lot of people were torn between Christianity and pagan habits – they attended masses but kept casting curses, asking oracles for advice all the while living in fear of necromancy. This gives us a believable base to build up a setting with grounds for magic bound with the evil side.

A couple of early screenshots and concept art can be found over on the official blog sharpenyouraxes.com, where the team also promise to continue chronicling the game's development process. PC is the lead platform, with console versions hoped to follow.

Thanks Eurogamer.