Future Publishing
1st October 2004
Author: Steven Williams
Publisher: TDK
Machine: PlayStation 2 (EU Version)
Published in Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine #47
And you thought merciless religious massacres were just on the news...
Knights Of The Temple: Infernal Crusade
Let a games designer make a sword and before you know it you're in a world of beards, spells and people called Crith-Ofargh'ath The Mighty. Let us be the first to denounce this as grumbles from the bum of gaming. It's a relief, then, to be slicing away at all-comers without even a whiff of dragon.
Knights Of The Temple is set in the 12th Century and your enemies are religious maniacs. Oddly, you're a religious maniac as well, gently winning people over to your world view by stabbing them many, many times in the head. Some things never change.
The Dark Ages weren't really dark after all, it seems: more a muddy brown and grey. The camera, however, may occasionally fool you into thinking it's darker. It's clearly modelled on Resident Evil, watching you from ceiling corners with only fitful success.
The 'puzzles' too are very Resi, involving the placing or manipulation of arcane objects to open doors. None of this slows down the running around and killing, however, which leaves you to fight with increasing numbers of enemies with increasingly powerful weapons. It starts off fun - skewering monks could hardly be anything else - but can falter once enemies start blocking.It's all still strangely cathartic, though, and not a terrible way to spend a rainy afternoon when all you want is a bit of righteous hacking and slashing.
Verdict
Graphics 70%
All the browns... but nice characters
Dramatic music, amusing squealing
Gameplay 60%
Repetitive and simplistic, though pacy
Lifespan 60%
Fun, but not a life-changing experience
Overall 60%
This is mindless in a strangely pacifying kind of way. You may well keep plugging at it if you've finished everything else. Maybe...
