Better than expected, and a decent way to spend your time if you are interested in Templars.

User Rating: 7 | The First Templar PC
When I first heard about this game, I figured it might be pretty good. A third-person action adventure with coop-mechanics, and about Templars to boot! However, after reading mostly negative things about the game as well as seeing it was being made by a completely unknown developer, I pretty much lost hope in it, but still figured I would give it a try. And I am glad to say it's not at all that bad!

Graphically it looks a bit aged. Walking animations are stiff or missing (such as when turning, sheathing your weapon or eating food), but looks decent in combat. Facial expressions aren't the best either, but somewhat charming in their unnaturalness for some reason. Textures are mostly fine though, and the environments are generally well done with lots of detail.

Sound quality is all right too. Music is pretty nice, and the sound effects do their job, even though they are mostly unremarkable. Voice acting could be better, but it's okay too. Unfortunately the script feels rather cliché with a lot of silly one-liners, but again, that somehow adds to the charm.

Gameplay-wise, it's works pretty well too. The combat is easy to get into, the controls smooth enough, and you learn new moves and combos as you gain experience points.
What I like the most about the combat here is actually that there is so little filler, nearly every combat has a piece of story or dialogue attached to it. As such, you don't get the feeling you are just endlessly cutting through random clones in order to get to the boss.
While the levels are mostly linear, there are some side paths to take where you can find items, XP, or complete bonus objectives. And what's great here is that there is always something to find, so you won't feel like going through some boring dead end corridor.

Story-wise, I haven't gotten that far yet, but it's not to bad either. I am actually interested in finding out what happens next, and due to the great pacing, it never feels like a drag either.

All in all, a pleasant surprise worth getting if the theme interests you, though it's blemishes and lower budget might not make it appeal to everyone.