The First Templar

 Xbox 360
  • Publisher: Kalypso
  • Release Date: May 17, 2011
  • Also On: PC
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 29
  3. Negative: 6 out of 29
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  1. SockPuppetSyko
    May 19, 2011
    8
    I had a small idea of what this game was going to be like before finding it (which took multiple days and I have lost count of how many stores). Its a hack and slash style game, with the usual upgrade system in place to earn new moves or make the ones that you already have more powerful. There is a decent story behind all of the game play, much of which is based around the facts of theI had a small idea of what this game was going to be like before finding it (which took multiple days and I have lost count of how many stores). Its a hack and slash style game, with the usual upgrade system in place to earn new moves or make the ones that you already have more powerful. There is a decent story behind all of the game play, much of which is based around the facts of the actual knights templar (though liberties are obviously taken). CONTROLS: The controls in the game few very responsive, since combat in this game is more timing based then smashing the attack button, that is a good thing. The camara will do most of the work itself, though you will need to control it during battles since they tend to be against groups of enemies.

    GRAPHICS: The areas you go through are richly detailed, with nice lighting effects and seem to have a good variety to them. They are clustered with a lot of things to stare at when you are running around them, which does help hide the middle of the line quality. Characters stand out somewhat, they are detailed well, with flowing clothing and nice texturing. However characters skin looks fake, almost plastic, something that is hard not to notice during the cutscenes when you are doing nothing but looking at them.

    GAMEPLAY: You always have two characters with you, controlling which one you prefer. Each one has a different set of moves and has enough variety that you will see the differences depending on whom you control. The one you are not using is controlled through AI and does a good job of being helpful but not doing all the work for you. They use the moves they have learned when the time is there, defend themselves pretty well. Over all with the lower price tag it is a great game for anyone that is looking to swing a sword with a reason behind it. Though be warned, this game is about the templars, so there is a heavy amount of religion in the plot.    … Expand
  2. SpartanEdge
    May 17, 2011
    8
    First of all,i should say this game obviously didnt have the budget of a Triple A title,& because this game is a little rough around the edges i can imagine that it wont be well recieved by critics,& some gamers will dismiss it before discovering how great this title is.. This game is about 2 Templar Knights(not to be confused with the Historically inaccurate bad-guy templars in AssassinsFirst of all,i should say this game obviously didnt have the budget of a Triple A title,& because this game is a little rough around the edges i can imagine that it wont be well recieved by critics,& some gamers will dismiss it before discovering how great this title is.. This game is about 2 Templar Knights(not to be confused with the Historically inaccurate bad-guy templars in Assassins Creed)serach for the Holy Grail.I wont go into why,but one of the characters gets replaced by a different one,during the course of the game.This is a pretty big game though,& has you in many different & varied locations in the world,in your quest,fighting different kinds of foes.I should point out,this is not a free roaming game,like GTA or Assassins Creed.Though the levels are big,& your free to backtrack & go wherever you want within them,& its worth doing so,because there are collectibles to find,like journal entries,Buffs that will iimprove your characters in some way for the rest of the level,or pieces of collectiable weapon & armour sets,that once completed,you can equip.I'll start with the negatives first,then move onto the positives.Theres only 3 negatives i can think of with this game,& they are fairly trivial,& not game breaking.Firstly,as i hinted at earlier,the graphics are not the best you'll ever see,though i cant say they're bad either,& do the job nicely,never going below average.In fact,in some locations,they look great,but either way,the detail on the characters clothes & armour is very good.In fact i'm quite impressed how historically accurate the armour & weapons look.(I know,because i have a big interest in this period,weapons&armours,& know how they look).Alot of attention also has gone into the historical accuracy with the people & events of the time,& the facts about the Templars themselves,which i wasnt expecting. But people that will accept nothing less than Top notch graphics will probably try for a bit,then dismiss,or ignore completely this game,which is a shame,because it plays great(I'll come to that later).The second negative,is turning the camera feels a little stiff,as there isnt a great range of analog movement(you cant move it very slowly,in minute detail),but it doesnt affect gameplay,& perhaps can be sorted in a patch. & the last negative,is that when playing Co-Op(offline at least,havnt played online yet),Only player one will get the achievments,as everything collected etc only applies to that players saved game.But if your like me,& dont care about achievments,it wont matter.Besides,its a good excuse to play through again,or play solo,so its not all bad.I'm gonna keep re-playing this anyway,because its fun. Right,the good points.First,it has Co-Op,On & Offline(Splitscreen in Offline,so your not tethered together),& it works very well.I'm impressed how historically accurate this game is.If you've looked at screenshots or videos of this game,& thought it has a resembalance to Assassins Creed,you'd be right,At least as the Combat & time period goes.the combat is this games real calling card.As like Creed,its very tactical & very well paced.you'll often find yourself surrounded,so have to use your blocking,& time your blocking attacks & counter attacks.Your moves start out fairly basic,but as you fight,you gain experience,which can be used to buy more moves,offensive & defensive,from a pretty big,skill tree.This is where your patience with the game early on becomes rewarded,giving you more health(in the form of backup health bars,Crackdown style),to more Zeals you can store(lets you use heavier moves),to running attacks,better,bigger & more damaging combos,Healing moves,moves that allow you to hold an enemy,while your partner finishes them,& many other moves i cant go into here.The combat is very satisfying.You even have to block against melee & arrow attcaks,buy blocking in the direction of the attack,which is indicated by a symbol,giving you time to react.It works very well.Not to mention the nice little finishing move animations.The combat is best described as a cross between Assassins Creed,& Demon Souls,But dont expect fast paced God of War paced combat here(not that i dont like GoW,which i do in a game that suits it).But anyone who's interested in the look of this game,the time period,The Crusades,The real Templars,& the subject matter,& enjoy the combat in Assassins Creed/Demon Souls or the movie Kingdom of Heaven,will enjoy whats on offer in this game,I & the Girlfriend do. As i said,Its a little rough around the edges,but theres a REAL gem under there,Try with an open mind,& you will be rewarded..… Expand
  3. theatticusera
    May 10, 2011
    8
    I went into The First Templar not expecting much and yet i was surprised to find that hours later i was still playing and enjoying it. Yes the graphics arent up to par and the voice acting is bit shoddy but i found the story engaging and i kept going back for just one more level. I believe that this is another game like Deadly Premonition where you'll either like it for its quirky charmI went into The First Templar not expecting much and yet i was surprised to find that hours later i was still playing and enjoying it. Yes the graphics arent up to par and the voice acting is bit shoddy but i found the story engaging and i kept going back for just one more level. I believe that this is another game like Deadly Premonition where you'll either like it for its quirky charm or hate it because of its faults. I am one of he former. So i'd say possibly rent it and you may be pleasantly surprised.… Expand
  4. bugbear1
    May 29, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well, first off, it is EASY to understand why critical reviews have been negative. BUT, to me, this game was more engaging, more fun, combined more backstory and historically relevant detail with, simply, more variety than many games of its ilk, for a much-better gameplay experience! :) -I liked it. A lot. . .
    To be sure, I did trash DA2 in my review here on Metacritic and for the reasons included in THAT brief review; but, comparatively, I had much more FUN playing First Templar than DA2. While DA2 obviously touts grander production values, better animation and set-pieces, etc. First Templar often hews to historical facts and personages and the whole thing "smacks" of attention-to-detail albeit a bit under-financed and under-cooked.

    YES, First Templar is not without aggravating bugs in a few spots, particularly imo, the controller-hurling boss-fight with "General Muzaffar" which devolved into a PITA. BUT, the odd glitch, the wonky camera and much of what might be askew can, rightly, be patched-away. The weird lip-synch, plasticky models and, sometimes, poor collision (especially during puzzle segments) do need more attention and more revision. BUT, the difference with First Templar compared to other, similar, games are the devs apparent painstaking and arduous attempts to deliver to fans the kind of game that gamers really want, as opposed to, say, a DLC cash grab from other companies disguised as extra features. First Templar boasts better-than-average in-the-round sword fighting with a variety of skill unlocks. Enemies do not explode, nor teleport wearing full plate, or even (/facepalm) drop from the heavens. When your player-character is knocked to the ground, wearing partial-plate, he will roll on the ground and struggle to upright himself while often being surrounded and pummeled by enemy assault. The AI is not bad, although combat animations, death animations, idle animations need more motion-captured adherence to normal movement cycles.
    So, then, the game seems like a throwback to earlier development cycles? The environments are well-appointed and simulate large expanses quite well with directed pathing. It's progressively an homage to multivariable gameplay conceits such as stealth, puzzles, action, fighting with a heavier than normal dose of historical-relevancy tossed on top for narrative coherence. The story, ahem, makes sense and the gameplay captures the ambience of the era despite language localization and UI accessibility issues. First Templar might be an enigma. . . The devs bit off a huge chunk and in their attempt to realize their goal have floundered a bit in translation from plan-to-project, BUT First Templar is most definitely worth a playthrough, imo.    … Expand
  5. WyattTheAwesome
    May 30, 2013
    1
    I can't fully explain how bad this game was, but I will try. The storyline is bland, the graphics belong on the gamecube, the combat is a joke, the gameplay cutscenes are N64 standards and it just falls flat. If you enjoy pressing x for about 8 hours then pick up this game, but this game doesn't deserve a mediocre rating. It deserves a rating. The only reason I didn't give this game a 0I can't fully explain how bad this game was, but I will try. The storyline is bland, the graphics belong on the gamecube, the combat is a joke, the gameplay cutscenes are N64 standards and it just falls flat. If you enjoy pressing x for about 8 hours then pick up this game, but this game doesn't deserve a mediocre rating. It deserves a rating. The only reason I didn't give this game a 0 out of 10 was because the main character was decent and his voice actor was well done, but besides that, I hate everything about this loathsome piece of filth.… Expand
  6. SamiNami
    Jul 19, 2011
    4
    Well there is two good things in this game, there is co-op and the game is long. So if you want to suffer with a friend, get this game! The game is really bad in general but some things stick out being extra bad, for example: the voice acting is so bad.. it sounds like every single word was recorded separately. And the ending... I can't find any words to describe it... lmao
  7. naughtyjames
    May 10, 2011
    2
    Oddly, I was sent a rental copy of the game before it was officially released in the shops, and with no reviews in any magazines / online.. and the second you load the game you can see why no review copies were sent out to magazines...

    awful is the only word I can really use to describe the game, it has no flow, it's clunky, the graphics are awful, you only need to bash one button through    Oddly, I was sent a rental copy of the game before it was officially released in the shops, and with no reviews in any magazines / online.. and the second you load the game you can see why no review copies were sent out to magazines...

    awful is the only word I can really use to describe the game, it has no flow, it's clunky, the graphics are awful, you only need to bash one button through out the game, the sound is terrible, sounds like it's mono.

    Terrible.    … Expand
  8. dylan365v
    Aug 11, 2011
    6
    You donâ
  9. DukeJon
    Apr 12, 2012
    10
    Really enjoyed this game. The story is interesting, combat is fluid and fun, graphics look great, the game is long and the drop-in co-op works really well. On the downside the anims are poor, particularly in cutscenes, collision detection isn't good and the game has an odd dated feel to it. Overall it's a strong purchase imho, particularly as you can now get it fairly cheap. I really hopeReally enjoyed this game. The story is interesting, combat is fluid and fun, graphics look great, the game is long and the drop-in co-op works really well. On the downside the anims are poor, particularly in cutscenes, collision detection isn't good and the game has an odd dated feel to it. Overall it's a strong purchase imho, particularly as you can now get it fairly cheap. I really hope they make a sequel.… Expand
  10. Tothedregs
    Jun 17, 2013
    7
    I knew very little about this game before purchase.I began playing with a friend on co-op and it was very easy to connect and play through the story. Although, the graphics are not anywhere comparable to Skyrim, nor was the budget of this game comparable either. The story is interesting enough to keep my attention, and the game play is engaging enough to make me keep slashing away. OverallI knew very little about this game before purchase.I began playing with a friend on co-op and it was very easy to connect and play through the story. Although, the graphics are not anywhere comparable to Skyrim, nor was the budget of this game comparable either. The story is interesting enough to keep my attention, and the game play is engaging enough to make me keep slashing away. Overall for $20 you get a pretty good story, about 8 hours of game play, and a good game to play with a buddy or alone.… Expand
  11. ThyRavenWings
    Feb 20, 2014
    8
    A little rough around the edges, but it's ultimately worth checking out. To the paint thinner aficionados in minority of the negative user reviews, graphics doesn't make the game.
  12. bolacola
    Apr 9, 2015
    7
    This is the game that could have, and should have been. Releasing itself in a world of fps games, this game tried to integrate a new style of stealth, beat 'em up and linear RPG this game, however did not deliver these things seamlessly and thus is receiving a 7 as game-play gets redundant after awhile.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
52

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 21
  3. Negative: 9 out of 21
  1. games(TM)
    Jul 23, 2011
    40
    Consistently let down by poor design decisions and outdated play mechanics. [Issue#111, p.116]
  2. GamingExcellence
    Jul 20, 2011
    75
    First Templar leaves me with mixed feelings. One the one hand it's a very fun and engaging game to make your way through with a friend, but on the other hand it has little problems here and there that mar the gameplay. It seems like it was sloppily put together and could have been better constructed all around in order to make the gameplay more fluid. It's a decent game to go through at least once and is definitely worth picking up. Not necessarily at full price, but it's certainly worth playing.
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  3. Games Master UK
    Jul 8, 2011
    52
    Too cheap and nasty by half. They used to crusade against this kind of thing. [Aug 2011, p.91]
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