The First Templar Preview
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The gameplay appears to be more similar to Fable than anything else. On the 360, X is to do a basic attack, and tapping it furiously will initiate a combo. But it serves you best to time your blows well, as every consecutive hit after the first will multiply in strength until your foe has fallen. And fallen foes do more for you than serve as evidence of your wanton wrath. Experience gained through slaughtering evildoers will allow you to access upgraded stats or new moves and combos via the skill tree. Slashes that connect also build up your character's Zeal, which is the game's stand-in for mana. With Zeal, you'll be able to use special attacks that do extra damage and have other contextual effects, like knocking an enemy's shield away if he has one.
Zeal is also necessary to revive a fallen teammate, and here's where the Marvel's Ultimate Alliance resemblance comes in. The game supports drop-in/drop-out co-op, no strings attached, and allows lone players to switch between characters at will (also no strings attached). The teammate AI seems like it can handle itself pretty well, though, which is good considering you'll need them to slay the imposing bosses you'll come across. That and the fact that if you don't revive them the game is over. Makes Zeal seem a lot more important, huh? We'll just have to see if that means more frustration when your teammate dies and you don't have enough enemies nearby to build up the Zeal to save him, or if that'll just force you to think before you hack and slash (it's also worth noting the game alerts you with a message, pausing the action, when a teammate falls).
