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| | Title:
Knights of the Temple 2
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Adventure
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Publisher:
Playlogic International
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Developer:
Cauldron Ltd.
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Release:
December 14, 2005
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
M
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The first Knights of the Temple was developed by Starbreeze AB studios, and received less than complimentary scores by some reviewers. This time around now backed by publisher Playlogic International, Slovakian developers, Cauldron is bringing a new chapter to the adventures of Paul De Raque in Knights of the Temple 2.
Swords and Sorcery
Originally Knights of the Temple followed the adventures of Paul De Raque, the son of a legendary Templer Knight. Paul’s true desire was to join the Templer Knighthood. After doing so he set out on a quest to close a Hell-Gate, and defeat the minions that were released through this Gate. Well things are still amiss in 13th century Medieval Europe as Paul De Raque must travel the lands to vanquish the minions of Hell once again.
Knights of the Temple 2's story picks up twenty years after the original. Paul has become a Grandmaster of the Knights of the Temple, after closing the first Hell-Gate. However, an evil Demon wants to open the Gates of Hell once more but needs a woman who wields heavenly powers named Adele. It becomes a race for control as three ancient Artifacts are required to close the Gate, and Paul must travel the lands to find them. At the same time, Paul must also venture to save Adele from the evil Demon. Ultimately, the progress of the story as well as the ending will be determined by the choices players make throughout the game.
Along the way players can upgrade Paul’s equipment: his sword, his armor and his abilities. But what good are RPG-like upgrades without being able to venture around in RPG-like fashion? That’s why Cauldron changed the core exploration in KOTT2. Using an advanced Conan 3D engine, players have more freedom in a non-linear fashion and can play the game as they see fit. The linear direction of the original Knights of the Temple proved to have extremely short playtime, and as a result gamers had very few reasons to go back and play it again. Cauldron has made it clear that the issues of gameplay length, and replayability have been addressed in the upcoming Knights of the Temple 2.
Above the standard H&S
One of the other problems the first Knights of the Temple suffered from was the repetitive hack and slash syndrome. For those unfamiliar: The H&S syndrome started back in the days of games like the original arcade of Gauntlet, Crossed Swords, Light Bringer, and continued forth into the era of MediEval, Sengoku, and Dark Vengeance. Fast forward still and you have the likes of Evil Dead, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, and Knights of the Temple. Basically, as the name suggests, the H&S syndrome has gamers literally hacking and slashing at enemies with a sword. Eight hours of repetitive button mashing gets dull after a while, so Cauldron is hoping to improve upon the errs of the previous KOTT, by including non-linear dialogue and more gameplay interactivity. For instance, a free-roaming mode has been included so players can venture around to interact with a number of NPCs to take on sidequests inbetween levels. Different decisions by players will determine how the game progresses, and what locations and other quests will be activated.
Elements of Role Playing
There is well over thirty different weapon related items that can be obtained and used in KOTT2. Ranging from axes, single and double-handed swords, bows, shields, war hammers, maces, even magic-imbued, and elemental weapons. Some of the special-item abilities include: using the “Powers of Heaven” which allow Paul to heal himself, dispatch of enemies from afar, or even slow-down time.
Players are also given the ability to increase their attributes and fighting abilities by gaining experience through a number of different activities. Killing enemies, completing quests, finding secrets, and solving puzzles or riddles, will all work towards gaining experience that can be used for a number of different things. Cauldron allows the purchasing of new fighting styles or combos which are sometimes specific to certain weapons players can obtain. Moves and combos also vary from single and two-handed weapons. Players have more of an option to fine-tune the kind of weapon fighting style they would prefer to use. There’s also special grabs and finishes which can be executed during certain parts of a fight. Cauldron acquired the talents of skilled weapon handlers and stuntmen to perform all the motion capturing for both the player and the enemies to ensure a higher-quality of fight animations in KOTT2.
Challenges from across the land
Developers, Cauldron, have taken the time and effort to improve upon an already acceptable AI system. The result is giving players a worthy challenge from a number of different foes. Each enemy has different styles of fighting, as well as different weapons to fight with. Some enemies are even resistant to different attacks, weapons, or specials, requiring the player to use varying strategies for specific opponents. Cauldron wanted players to have more of a challenge, and use more of a strategic edge when facing off against certain foes.
But the AI isn’t the only foe players can go toe-to-toe with. Several on-line modes have been included, to take the medieval experience to new multiplayer heights, in the KOTT series. Aside from the standard head-to-head Deathmatch mode, there’s a Team-Deathmatch and a new “Capture the Grail” mode; a mode that’s reminiscent to Capture The Flag.
With improved graphics, gameplay, multiplayer and replay values, Cauldron is bringing Knights of the Temple 2 to gaming platforms with high-hopes and big aims. Anyone interested in this game, can look for it come December 14, 2005.
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