Crapshoot: Time Gate, the other game about templars and assassins

Time Gate

From 2010 to 2014 Richard Cobbett wrote Crapshoot, a column about rolling the dice to bring random obscure games back into the light. This edition was written the same week the third part of the Assassin’s Creed series was announced to much excitement.

OK, see if any of this sounds familiar. It’s the present day, and American-born William Tibbs has just discovered that he’s the descendant of a noble Templar knight—a fact he learns when an assassin breaks into his room and tries to kill him with an axe. While he survives, mostly by dumb luck, he’s soon captured by his enemies and forced to relive the life of his ancestor circa 1329. His mission? To track down a set of magic weapons forged by the precursors of mankind. His family symbol? A falcon.

Oh, and the cherry on top? There were three Time Gate games planned, though only one was ever released, and the start of this adventure shows when they’d have been set. The first? Templars. The second? Mumble mumble not relevant. But the third? The American War of Independence. Ubisoft, consider thyselves well and truly busted!

OK, OK, so I’m simplifying things—a little. Unlike Assassin’s Creed, William actually does go back in time for his adventures, and everything is based on magic rather than science. The Templars aren’t an evil worldwide conspiracy. The transportation is handled by a magical portal hidden in the well of a museum. The focus of the series would have been William’s assorted incarnations fighting an eternal battle with an enemy called Wolfram, much like there’s always a Blackadder and there’s always a Baldrick. And there’s no parkour. The exact opposite, really. But we’ll get to that.

source: gamezpot.com