Just how far would you go to retrieve the Holy Grail?
GameZone recently had the opportunity to pick the brain of Boian Spasov, designer at Haemimont Games, on what to expect with The First Templar, a title slated for the Xbox 360 and PC that has players set on a journey to find the sacred object.
Let’s continue on as Spasov answers our questions and let’s it be known that the search for the Holy Grail is no laughing matter.
GameZone: In the past, both video games and movies have explored the discovery of the Holy Grail. What approach is The First Templar taking to stand out among the many that have attempted to tell the story?
Boian Spasov: Since this is a game about knights and specifically Templars, the quest for the Holy Grail came naturally as a theme, along with the battles for the Holy lands, the Dominican inquisition, the secrets of the Templar Order, and their downfall at Friday, October 13-th, 1307.
While there are many books, movies, and video games that explored those themes before us, our aim is not to retell any of their stories, but instead tell our own different story.
What is the Holy Grail? If it exists, is it a gift from God or the ultimate temptation? What would you do if the fate of the world depends on your judgment?
We hope that players will discover their answers to those questions while playing The First Templar.
GZ: What are the chances that there’ll be a port to the PlayStation 3?
BS: We haven’t announced any plans for PS3 version at this time.
GZ: In terms of length and longevity, what is the team providing to bring players back after their first playthrough?
BS: While we are focused on the player’s experience during his first playthrough, we also aim to provide plenty of replayability incentives such as various achievements, optional objectives, secrets, and new costumes for the main characters that also provide various special bonuses and effects in battle.
Last but not least, players are free to experiment with the character advancement system, unlock and learn different skills to create different builds for their characters.
GZ: Could you explain the combat system and how involving it is?
BS:The player characters start the game with several basic combat skills and gradually unlock and learn other skills while progressing through the game. Some skills provide passive effects, such as increased health or quick recovery from knockdown, while others unlock new attacks and combos. This RPG-inspired character development system allows the players to experiment with various “builds” and create characters that are behave very differently in combat.
Some of those skills are designed to complement one another and thus encourage team tactics. For example one of the characters may unlock the Grab skill that allows him to grab enemies and thus allow the other character the opportunity to kill them instantly. Another example of a team build would be to create a very durable “tank” character and a light mobile character that excels at killing the enemies with backstabs and ranged attacks.
GZ: When did the team decide to incorporate the cooperative features? Was it a conscious decision upon the start of the project to revolve development around providing a worthy co-op?
BS:From the very beginning of the design process, cooperative gameplay was one of the staples behind the game. I already talked about cooperative tactics in combat, but teamwork is also very prominent out of combat – many of the puzzles and traps require effort from both characters to be resolved.
Even in single-player games, the other character is present and controlled by the AI. It is possible to give him simple commands, or change the character you currently control at any time.
GZ: When it comes to storytelling, how important is it to incorporate comedy and humor into the dialogue?
BS: Do you mean like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and the legendary Black Beast of Aaaaaaaaargh? While we certainly have some Monty Python fans on our crew, we didn’t want that kind of wacky parody setting for The First Templar – it would break the player’s immersion and will totally clash with the game style.
We wanted to tell a dark and gritty medieval story and the jokes and humor in the game are appropriate for this tone.
GZ: Outside of the controls, how do the PC and Xbox 360 iterations differ?
BS:We didn’t want any of the main features to be exclusive for one platform. For example, the game features achievements in both the PC and the Xbox 360 versions.
Still, there are some differences between the two versions – for example the PC version allows you to integrate your friends list from Facebook in order to find partners for multiplayer, while in the Xbox version you use your Xbox friends list for this purpose.
GZ: In effort to build competent computer AI controlled allies, what did the team do to focus on ensuring that players won’t be bogged down with teammates who get stuck behind rocks or aggroing the wrong enemy?
BS:While we are still ironing the kinks in the AI behavior, we are doing our best to ensure that it isn’t frustrating both in and out of combat and we already resolved both problems you mentioned.
GZ: Thanks for taking time out of your schedule to speak to us on The First Templar.
