The First Templar follows the story of a French Templar and his companion, a noble lady who has been proclaimed a heretic. Taking control over these two unlikely allies, the player must uncover the mysteries behind the Templar Order, play a role in a grand conspiracy, and discover the secret of the Holy Grail. The First Templar draws you in with delightful visuals and rhythmic combat, but technical foibles can lessen your fun.

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Bracknell, UK 27th August 2010 -- KalypsoMedia today released a new trailer for The First Templar, theupcoming cooperative third-person action game being developed byHaemimont Games for Windows PC and the Xbox 360 ^{video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. In thisnew trailer, viewers will be treated to an extensive taste offurious cooperative combat and fast-paced action from within TheFirst Templar. Watch as Knights Templar battle against an onslaughtof foes; from knights and archers, to something far more fearsome,and prepare yourself for an unmatched combat experience, whicharrives in Q1 2011.}

In development by Haemimont Games, The First Templar is aco-operative action-role playing game in development for Xbox 360and Windows PC. The game portrays a dark and gritty view of thelate 13th century where old friends become enemies, corruptionspreads throughout the Church and fallen knights oppress the weakand renounce their oaths.

The First Templar follows the story of two main characters a French Templar, and his companion, a noble lady who hasbeen proclaimed a heretic. Taking control over these two unlikelyallies, the player must uncover the mysteries behind the TemplarOrder, play a role in a grand conspiracy, and discover the secretof the Holy Grail. The heroes face powerful opponents at everyturn, in the face of the Saracen, King Philip IV of France and theInquisition.

The First Templar features both single player and co-op modes.When playing solo, the player can switch between the twocharacters, leaving the control of the second hero to thegames AI. At any moment a second player can join in and takecontrol of the AI controlled hero.

For more information about The First Templar, please visit www.kalypsomedia.com

-Ends-

For more information please contact

Mark Allen

Head of PR, Kalypso Media

T: +44 (0) 1344 382 148

E: mark.allen@kalypsomedia.com

About the Kalypso Media Group

Founded in 2006 in Germany by industry veterans Simon Hellwigand Stefan Marcinek, Kalypso Media is a privately-held, globalindependent developer, marketer and publisher of interactiveentertainment software, primarily for Windows PC, Xbox 360 andPlayStation 3.

Along with headquarters in Germany, the company has offices inthe United Kingdom and the United States, including Kalypso MediaDigital, Ltd., a UK-based subsidiary that focuses on global digitaldistribution and electronic publishing. The company also owns twodevelopment studios Realmforge Studios and Gaming MindsStudios and works with a number of leading independentdevelopers.

About Haemimont Games

Haemimont Games is an independent games development team broughttogether by a common passion: to thrill, engage and provoke gamersworldwide. Since 1997, the studio has developed nine originaltitles with numerous add-ons, including Tropico 3. For moreinformation on the company can be found by visiting www.haemimontgames.com

Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE are trademarks of the Microsoftgroup of companies.

.The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar or simply the Templars, were a founded in 1119, headquartered on the in through 1128 when they went to the and were recognised in 1139 by the. The order was active until 1312 when it was perpetually suppressed by by the bull.The Templars became a favoured charity throughout and grew rapidly in membership and power.

They were prominent in. Templar knights, in their distinctive white with a red, were among the most skilled fighting units of the. Non-combatant members of the order, who made up as much as 90% of their members, managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of, building its own network of nearly 1,000 and across Europe and the, and arguably forming the world's first.The Templars were closely tied to the; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded.

Rumours about the Templars' secret created distrust, and King – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of this distrust to destroy them and erase his debt. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip. The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages. Flag used by the Templars in battle.In 1119, the French approached King and, and proposed creating a order for the protection of these pilgrims. King Baldwin and Patriarch Warmund agreed to the request, probably at the in January 1120, and the king granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the in the captured.

The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the. The Crusaders therefore referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple, and from this location the new order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or 'Templar' knights. The order, with about nine knights including and, had few financial resources and relied on donations to survive. Their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasising the order's poverty. The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the in Jerusalem.

The Crusaders called it 'the ' and from this location derived their name of Templar.The impoverished status of the Templars did not last long. They had a powerful advocate in Saint, a leading Church figure, the French primarily responsible for the founding of the of monks and a nephew of, one of the founding knights. Bernard put his weight behind them and wrote persuasively on their behalf in the letter 'In Praise of the New Knighthood', and in 1129, at the, he led a group of leading churchmen to officially approve and endorse the order on behalf of the church. With this formal blessing, the Templars became a favoured charity throughout, receiving money, land, businesses, and noble-born sons from families who were eager to help with the fight in the. Another major benefit came in 1139, when 's exempted the order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, and were exempt from all authority except that of the pope.With its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly.

Templars were often the advance in key battles of the Crusades, as the heavily armoured knights on their would set out to at the enemy, ahead of the main army bodies, in an attempt to break opposition lines. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the, where some 500 Templar knights helped several thousand infantry to defeat 's army of more than 26,000 soldiers. ―Bernard de Clairvaux, 1135,. De Laude Novae Militae – In Praise of the New KnighthoodAlthough the primary mission of the order was militaristic, relatively few members were combatants. The others acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure. The Templar Order, though its members were sworn to individual poverty, was given control of wealth beyond direct donations. A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away.

Accumulating wealth in this manner throughout Christendom and the Outremer, the order in 1150 began generating for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land: pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar preceptory before embarking, received a document indicating the value of their deposit, then used that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds in an amount of treasure of equal value. This innovative arrangement was an early form of and may have been the first formal system to support the use of; it improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, and also contributed to the Templar coffers.Based on this mix of donations and business dealing, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. They acquired large tracts of land, both in Europe and the Middle East; they bought and managed farms and vineyards; they built massive stone cathedrals and castles; they were involved in manufacturing, import and export; they had their own fleet of ships; and at one point they even owned the entire island of. The Order of the Knights Templar arguably qualifies as the world's first. In 1187, the turning point in the Third CrusadeIn the mid-12th century, the tide began to turn in the Crusades.

The world had become more united under effective leaders such as. Dissension arose among Christian factions in and concerning the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were occasionally at odds with the two other Christian, the and the, and decades of internecine feuds weakened Christian positions, both politically and militarily. After the Templars were involved in several unsuccessful campaigns, including the pivotal, Jerusalem was by Muslim forces under Saladin in 1187. The Holy Roman Emperor reclaimed the city for Christians in the of 1229, without Templar aid, but only held it briefly for a little more than a decade. In 1244, the together with mercenaries recaptured Jerusalem, and the city did not return to Western control until 1917 when, during, the captured it from the.The Templars were forced to relocate their headquarters to other cities in the north, such as the seaport of, which they held for the next century. It was lost in 1291, followed by their last mainland strongholds, Tortosa ( in what is now ) and in present-day.

Their headquarters then moved to on the island of Cyprus, and they also attempted to maintain a garrison on tiny, just off the coast from Tortosa. In 1300, there was some attempt to engage in via a new invasion force at. In 1302 or 1303, however, the Templars lost the island to the Egyptian in the. With the island gone, the Crusaders lost their last foothold in the Holy Land.With the order's military mission now less important, support for the organization began to dwindle. The situation was complex, however, since during the two hundred years of their existence, the Templars had become a part of daily life throughout Christendom. The organisation's Templar Houses, hundreds of which were dotted throughout Europe and the, gave them a widespread presence at the local level. The Templars still managed many businesses, and many Europeans had daily contact with the Templar network, such as by working at a Templar farm or, or using the order as a bank in which to store personal valuables.

The order was still not subject to local government, making it everywhere a 'state within a state' – its, though it no longer had a well-defined mission, could pass freely through all borders. This situation heightened tensions with some European nobility, especially as the Templars were indicating an interest in founding their own monastic state, just as the had done in and the were doing in. Arrests, charges and dissolution In 1305, the new, based in, France, sent letters to both the Templar Grand Master and the Hospitaller Grand Master to discuss the possibility of merging the two orders. Neither was amenable to the idea, but Pope Clement persisted, and in 1306 he invited both Grand Masters to France to discuss the matter. De Molay arrived first in early 1307, but de Villaret was delayed for several months. While waiting, De Molay and Clement discussed criminal charges that had been made two years earlier by an ousted Templar and were being discussed by King and his ministers. It was generally agreed that the charges were false, but Clement sent the king a written request for assistance in the investigation.

According to some historians, King Philip, who was already deeply in debt to the Templars from his, decided to seize upon the rumours for his own purposes. He began pressuring the church to take action against the order, as a way of freeing himself from his debts. Main article:In September 2001, a document known as the dated 17–20 August 1308 was discovered in the by, apparently after having been filed in the wrong place in 1628. It is a record of the trial of the Templars and shows that Clement absolved the Templars of all heresies in 1308 before formally disbanding the order in 1312, as did another Chinon Parchment dated 20 August 1308 addressed to Philip IV of France, also mentioning that all Templars that had confessed to were 'restored to the Sacraments and to the unity of the Church'.

This other Chinon Parchment has been well known to historians, having been published by in 1693 and by in 1751.The current position of the is that the medieval persecution of the Knights Templar was unjust, that nothing was inherently wrong with the order or its rule, and that Pope Clement was pressed into his actions by the magnitude of the public and by the dominating influence of King Philip IV, who was Clement's relative. Organization. Templar chapel from the 12th century in, France. Once part of the Templar commandery of, the oldest Templar institution of the.The Templars were organized as a similar to Bernard's Order, which was considered the first effective international organization in Europe. The organizational structure had a strong chain of authority. Each country with a major Templar presence (France, Jerusalem, , Hungary, and ) had a Master of the Order for the Templars in that region.All of them were subject to the Grand Master, appointed for life, who oversaw both the order's military efforts in the East and their financial holdings in the West.

The Grand Master exercised his authority via the visitors-general of the order, who were knights specially appointed by the Grand Master and convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, correct malpractices, introduce new regulations, and resolve important disputes. The visitors-general had the power to remove knights from office and to suspend the Master of the province concerned.No precise numbers exist, but it is estimated that at the order's peak there were between 15,000 and 20,000 Templars, of whom about a tenth were actual knights. Ranks within the order Three main ranks There was a threefold division of the ranks of the Templars: the noble knights, the non-noble sergeants, and the chaplains. The Templars did not perform knighting ceremonies, so any knight wishing to become a Knight Templar had to be a knight already. They were the most visible branch of the order, and wore the famous white mantles to symbolize their purity and chastity. They were equipped as, with three or four horses and one or two squires. Were generally not members of the order but were instead outsiders who were hired for a set period of time.

Beneath the knights in the order and drawn from non-noble families were the sergeants. They brought vital skills and trades from and builders, including administration of many of the order's European properties.

In the, they fought alongside the knights as with a single horse. Several of the order's most senior positions were reserved for sergeants, including the post of Commander of the Vault of Acre, who was the de facto Admiral of the Templar fleet. The sergeants wore black or brown. From 1139, constituted a third Templar class.

They were priests who cared for the Templars' spiritual needs. All three classes of brother wore the order's red cross. Grand Masters. Templar building at Saint Martin des Champs, FranceStarting with founder Hugues de Payens in 1118–1119, the order's highest office was that of Grand Master, a position which was held for life, though considering the martial nature of the order, this could mean a very short tenure. All but two of the Grand Masters died in office, and several died during military campaigns.

For example, during the in 1153, Grand Master led a group of 40 Templars through a breach in the city walls. When the rest of the Crusader army did not follow, the Templars, including their Grand Master, were surrounded and beheaded. Grand Master was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the.The Grand Master oversaw all of the operations of the order, including both the military operations in the Holy Land and and the Templars' financial and business dealings in. Some Grand Masters also served as battlefield commanders, though this was not always wise: several blunders in de Ridefort's combat leadership contributed to the devastating defeat at the Battle of Hattin.

NIGHT HOURS are NOT RECOMMENDED for visitors UNDER 13 or anyone that may be pregnant or that may have a heart or any other medical condition. The Grand Prize Winner will spend a night in The Graveyard of The Dark Manor after doors close.will they survive? Open 6:30pm - 11:00pm. The remains of the evil residing within The Dark Manor patrol the Graveyard in search of victims to repair their plagued souls. Those who have made it this far say your only hope for escape is a hidden exit deep beneath The Dark Manor itself.

The last Grand Master was, burned at the stake in Paris in 1314 by order of King Philip IV. Conduct, costume and beards. As the chapel of the New Temple in London, it was the location for Templar initiation ceremonies.

In modern times it is the parish church of the and, two of the, and a popular tourist attraction.With their military mission and extensive financial resources, the Knights Templar funded a large number of building projects around Europe and the Holy Land. Many of these structures are still standing. Many sites also maintain the name 'Temple' because of centuries-old association with the Templars. For example, some of the Templars' lands in London were later rented to, which led to the names of the gateway and the.

Two of the four which may call members to act as are the and – the entire area known as.Distinctive elements of Templar buildings include the use of the image of 'two knights on a single horse', representing the Knights' poverty, and round buildings designed to resemble the in Jerusalem. Modern organizations The Knights Templar were dismantled in the Rolls of the Catholic Church in 1309 with the death of Jacques de Molay; with the suppression of the Order, a number of Knights Templar joined the newly established Order of Christ, which effectively reabsorbed the Knights Templar and its properties in AD 1319, especially in Portugal. The story of the persecution and sudden dissolution of the secretive yet powerful medieval Templars has drawn many other groups to use alleged connections with them as a way of enhancing their own image and mystery. Apart from the Order of Christ, there is no clear historical connection between the Knights Templar and any other modern organization, the earliest of which emerged publicly in the 18th century.

Order of Christ. Main articles: andMany named themselves after the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, citing the belief that the original Knights Templar 'drank sour milk, and also because they were fighting 'a great crusade' against 'this terrible vice' of alcohol'.

The largest of these, the (IOGT), grew throughout the world after being started in the 19th century and continues to advocate for the; other Orders in this tradition include those of the (Tempel Riddare Orden), which has a large presence in Scandinavia. Self-styled orders The is a established in 1804 and 'accredited as a nongovernmental organization (NGO) by the UN in 2001'. It is in that it admits Christians of many denominations in its ranks. Its founder, produced the in order to try to link it with the original Catholic Christian military order. Freemasonry. Main article:has incorporated the symbols and rituals of several medieval military orders in a number of since the 18th century at least. This can be seen in the ',' inspired by the; the ',' inspired by the Knights Hospitaller; and the ', inspired by the Knights Templar.

The Orders of Malta and the Temple feature prominently in the. One theory on the origin of Freemasonry claims direct descent from the historical Knights Templar through its final fourteenth-century members who allegedly took refuge in and aided in his victory at.

This theory is usually rejected by both Masonic authorities and historians due to lack of evidence. Modern popular culture. Main article:The Knights Templar have become associated with concerning handed down to the select from ancient times.

Rumours circulated even during the time of the Templars themselves.