Kalypso Goes Medieval

Kalypso wants to take you back to a time when there were knights fought evil mythical creatures and spells were easily learned by reading an ancient scroll. With The First Templar and Dungeons due out in February 2011, it looks like that time-traveling trip is closer than you think.

The First Templar
The First Templar is an action-adventure RPG coming to Xbox 360 and PC. The game runs entirely on the Tropico 3 engine and promises no loading times. The game is set in the classic 13th century era and the main mission is finding the Holy Grail. If anyone needs my help, I think I might have an idea where it is…but I am guessing they didn’t have The Last Crusade back then.

The First Templar will feature 20 different, historically correct locations to explore with you and a teammate. The game will be available to be played co-op over Xbox Live or split-screen, much like Resident Evil 5, if you choose. If not, then the game will take over the second character and the player will be able to switch back and forth between characters to level them both up as they see fit. Similar to other action-RPG’s, there will be different skills and skill trees for each character. But unlike most games in the genre, there will not be looting other than what is found in various chests. The combat is team-based and inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Of the small amount of gameplay that I was shown, The First Templar looks well-polished. Some might say it looks a bit generic, but from what I saw, it looks better than a lot of the other action-RPGs we see come out every year on the PC.

Dungeons
Dungeons is a unique gem. It is a dungeon-crawler (think Diablo) but a dungeon-sim as well. Players will be able to strategically create their own dungeons. The more the players build, the more powerful they will become.To start building the ultimate dungeon players will need resources such as gold and soul energy. The amount of soul energy is gained by how well heroes do within the walls of player’s dungeon. The happier the heroes, the more soul energy they produce. Then, the objective transitions into taking those soul energy filled heroes and sucking them dry within torture chambers where goblin workers are waiting for commands. The game will feature 10 different classes of heroes to attract to your dungeons and 15 different types of monsters.

Creation is only part of the game; players also get the chance to do some dungeon crawling of their own as they try to make it through 20 different campaign missions and three levels of the underworld to explore.

For the little I saw of Dungeons I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it looked. Managing the goblin workers, laying down dungeon blueprints and performing management duties of said dungeon should serve to be exciting strategy. Who doesn’t love a good sim game, especially when it involves torturing?