The First Templar

Haemimont Games of Tropico and Imperium Romanum fame have now moved into the 13th Century with The First Templar.

Strangley for an action adventure title, The First Templar is a co-operative title with two main characters - Celian, a French Knight Templar, and Marie - his female companion who has been proclaimed a heretic.

Each character has their own abilities (and shortcomings) and their own forking development paths to follow. Abilities can be levelled up as the game progresses.

The player's role is to discover the mysteries of the Templar Order (made famous by Dan Brown), in a grand conspiracy which concerns the secrets of the Holy Grail itself.

But all this is not without its dangers of course, as the hero and heroine must also best their foes including 'The Saracen', King Philip IV of France and even the Spanish Inquisition.

There are two ways of playing the two characters in single player and co-op modes. In the first mode, the player can switch between the two characters, with the game's AI controlling the non-playing character.

In two-player mode, of course, each player controls one of the characters. This mode can be entered at any time during the single-player version.

Set in 13th Century Europe, there are 20 historical locations to explore and fight through.