The Templars are a funny bunch. Steeped in mystery, and, more importantly, history, the Templar crusades must have seemed like a great starting point for a game - or at least, they probably did, until the recent events in Norway. With a young man going on a killing spree in the name of religion - and a self-styled crusade - publishers Mastertronic had a tricky decision on their hands. Should they cancel the game, on grounds of taste, and scrap years of work thanks to the lunacy of one man? Luckily for us, calmer heads have prevailed, and the game, which focuses lightly on the history, and legend of the Templars, will see its release in the middle of October.
Much like buses, you seem to wait years for a co-op, historical adventure game, and then two similarly themed ones come along at once. We've already had The First Templar, which we gave a healthy 8/10, and now comes the Cursed Crusade, a game that seems a little more polished, and with a few unique twists of its own.
Sip some mead while looking at this picture for maximum authenticity.
Similarly a co-op, split-screen, hack and slash adventure, the Cursed Crusade puts you into the stonking chainmail boots of Denz and Esteban, the former a Templar, the latter a Mercenary, who are about to take part in what became known as the Cursed Crusade. Based around the events of the fourth Crusade, which, in the game, becomes known as the Cursed Crusade, thanks to how disastrously it went, the game follows the Crusaders as they make their way across Europe, in an attempt to reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims.
So far, so historical - but there's a bit of a twist. Along with the crusade that's cursed, it turns out your two protagonists are, too. In the version we played, it wasn't made entirely clear why you're cursed, but all that's important is that you are. As you progress through the levels, defeating your enemies in combat, you'll charge a bar in the top of the screen - which, when you activate it, turns the entire screen into a firey hell, and turns you into something of an unstoppable monster. As you may imagine, it's best to hold this power back until you're surrounded by a load of enemies - as we discovered on the first level.
The build we played opened with an assault on a castle. Pushing a giant battering ram towards the huge, oak door, the two Templars filled us in on the plot as arrows whizzed overhead. When playing in single player, you'll have an AI companion helping you through, but it's obvious the game's been designed for two people to play together.
Reaching the castle door, a quick time event triggered, where you and your co-op buddy had to press X at the same time to smash the door down. After a few attempts, we broke into the castle, and were faced with a number of rather angry, and heavily armoured men.
The Templars - a bit of a rough bunch.
The combat in the Cursed Crusade seems as easy as you want it to be, having enough depth that people who want to look good, as well as defeating enemies can memorise as many combos as they want, while the rest of us mash buttons with the same results. The combat feels fluid, and seems to have an emphasis on making you look like you know what you're doing. Defeat an enemy in the right place, and you'll trigger a special move - as an example, the courtyard we were fighting across had a well in the middle, which several enemies managed to somehow find their way to the bottom of. You'll also have a number of special finishing moves, that help you knock off enemies quicker, and these can all be levelled up as you gain experience. On the downside, though, the combat does seem overly gory, with limbs being sliced off, and decapitations being somewhat commonplace - if there's no option to disable the excessive violence, then this certainly won't be a game for kids.
With its emphasis on co-op action, strong historical setting, and air of authenticity, the Cursed Crusade certainly ticks all the right boxes. With enemies to defeat, rudimentary puzzles to solve, some 36 levels, and an authentically recreated Medieval world as your playground, with a friend in tow, this could be a lot of fun - and we're eagerly awaiting getting the chance to go hands-on with the final version. Check back soon for a full review.
The Cursed Crusade releases on the 7th of October, on PS3 and Xbox 360
