The First Templar Previews

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Written by BuckGB on February 7th, 2011

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In the opening act, our duo set out across the countryside slaughtering groups of renegade "butchers" wholesale--pausing only to aid someone in need or chow down on his or her discarded food. Combat was a simple affair, where we bludgeoned enemies to death with the basic attack as our tactic of choice. As we collected experience points, however, we were able to build a little complexity into this system by learning advanced two-button combos, counterattacks, and additional ways to build up zeal--the currency needed to perform these special moves. All of these abilities are unlocked via a large skill tree, which splits off in four directions. And you won't know what lies ahead in any one branch until you start dropping points into it.

Next, our journey took us into a dense forest where we found ourselves hounded by an adorable pack of killer attack dogs. Some locals put us on the trail of The Beast, the source of evil in these woods, which we tracked and confronted as our first boss encounter. Unlike the enemies thus far, this hulking giant required a bit more teamwork--especially when it cut down one of our team members. Once downed, we had a limited amount of time to revive our comrade, at the cost of one point of zeal, or it was game over. In the end, not even The Beast's army of cuddly canine killers could save it, and we continued onward.

Blocking is an essential part of combat. When an enemy sports a weapon icon over their head, they are prepping for a special attack. Unless you block these attacks, they do obscene amounts of damage. Enemies also frequently attack in hordes and attempt to flank you, so it's important to remember the foe at your back when pressing the attack against another, or use your surroundings to keep the enemy in front of you. Archers can be the bane of your existence-when they target you, a set of crosshairs appears and hones in on their target. Archers tend to hang back as other foes press the attack, and they never hit their friends in a big melee scrum. The A.I. is also smart enough to make sure melee foes chase you down if you make a run at archers.

Skill advancement takes place on a cross-shaped "grid" instead of a traditional skill tree. As in Final Fantasy XII, learning one skill opens up other skills on the grid. Each character has skills tailored to their style of fighting. You earn XP from defeating your foes and accomplishing quests (though I did find XP in chests as well).

The action itself is pretty straight forward and feels a bit like a looser version of Assassin's Creed's combat system. Players can combo enemies earning multipliers (though I never was exactly sure what they were used for, I assume XP) - as well as utilizing blocking and countering mechanics. Successful attacks and blocks increase your zeal which is then used to perform special moves like block breakers, grabs and knife throws. These moves are unlocked as you level up your character and choose from a giant cross of abilities - health, combos, specials and more are all represented on it to build your characters however you choose. Health itself is restored by finding various plants, meats, and pots of water located throughout the game, and as far as I could tell, there's no regenerative ability.

As I moved on from the forest I entered a monastery which presented the next gameplay element after the action and tracking - and that's stealth. Small stealth sections which showcase Metal Gear Solid like enemy views have you sneaking without getting caught. Finally a battle culminated as the conspiracy was unveiled, finding our maiden in distress. Without spoiling to much, things flip around and Celian and Marie find themselves running for escape. Marie changes gameplay up by allowing the player to perform distance attacks as well as being much faster than either Templar knight.

While The First Templar won't be boasting customisation on a grand scale, there will be a sprinkle of RPG element in it. Both the French Templar and the noblewoman will have separate (skill trees) boasting different abilities that suit their play styles. Instead of having pages and pages of stats or bars of upgradable abilities, the skill tree will, quite fittingly for the game's content, be a skill cross.

At the start of the game the abilities will be set at 1, in the centre of the cross, but as the game progresses and the characters advance and improve, abilities can be upgraded along the cross. This suggests that there may only be four (special moves) per character and only a few of them can be upgraded. Or it could be that each line of the cross may be for a certain area such as, strength, range, agility and energy. However, this is sheer speculation as the skill cross concept has yet to be fully revealed by the developers. Either way, Haemimont Games AD hope that the slight RPG element will allow players their own personal fighting and play method so that they can approach the game in their own way.

While the battles can be intense, there really don't seem to be enough of them. I felt that much of the game is spent simply running through the rather bland scenery, only occasionally coming across a pack of enemies. I'm sure the pacing will be improved as the game nears release, but for now the down time between fights is too plentiful. The First Templar does use these slower times to allow us some banter between the characters, but much of the dialogue is stilted and clunky. There was no voicework as of the time of the preview, so I'm hoping Kalypso will give the script a few more work-overs before release.

In an interesting twist, The First Templar uses almost no inventory system at all. Characters don't pick up new and better weapons, nor do they carry around healing items or power-ups. The problem with this tactic is that it removes the "carrot-and-stick" staple that helps draw most action-RPGs along. There are a few chests sprinkled about a given level, but they only contain some temporary ability boosts, experience, or a few collectables. Enemies don't drop any goodies, either. A consequence of this lack of inventory is the lack of healing choices. Players can't simply quaff a potion to save themselves from certain doom--instead, they need to find one of the few healing points sprinkled about the level. Because of this lack of chests, goodie drops, and other common action-RPGs elements, The First Templar just feels empty in many places. There is very little with which to interact in the world, save for the occasional enemy or quest-giving NPC. This may be remedied later, but for now everything is just a bit too bleak.

You come across numerous locales throughout your search for the Holy Grail. Sandy desert areas, lush forests full of greenery, and barren woods laden with fog are just a couple of the areas you'll visit. You also enter plenty of dungeons which, as previously stated, change in terms of objectives and atmosphere. You'll come across isolated, lonely temples as well as dungeons that are highly populated with enemies and monsters. Each area poses a different challenge and a different atmosphere.

The First Templar may be shaping up to be a somewhat simple action-adventure game, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The varied gameplay styles in conjunction with the cooperative mode add up to create a package that's certainly worth watching out for. And although the game is fairly linear for the most part, completists will be glad to know that it features plenty of sidequests that range from treasure hunting to heroic acts of bravery.

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