Templar Battleforce: Armoured Marine Chapel in Space

Templar Battleforce, a game developed by the Trese Brothers, is a top down, turn-based, squad tactics game where you play the role of a Force Commander in one of the few remaining Templar Chapels.

The game is heavily inspired from the Warhammer 40k universe, however they do have their own spin on things where Templars are analogous to the Space Marines. They are genetically enhanced soldiers whose lineage allow them to command specialised mech suits called Leviathans.

It also takes from the wider universe as well but meshes it with elements of different aspects together and in turn makes its own amalgamation that one can somewhat get an idea where their inspiration lies, but still has its own mystery to it.

The graphics are fairly simple however they are done with enough skill that is clean and consistent which helps convey the themes and tones well. A benefit of the simplier graphics is it allows the gameplay to stand out more as the systems are easy to understand but still has nuance to keep one on their toes with its turn-based nature.

There is an extensive tech tree in game that requires requisition points to unlock, this is done by completing objectives, additional sub-objectives, kill rate and these are additionally adjusted if completed under a specified turn goal - the rate of which is then multiplied by difficulty. This is the system in which to unlock, upgrade and gear your Templars and requires the player to plan a bit to decide which aspects of their battleforce they wish to strengthen and improve as the further the tech tree one specialises in the more requisition is required to unlock higher tiers of content.

There is a wide variety of Leviathan types that the player can unlock and each serve a different role in combat. It is highly recommended to at least unlock every class as a starting goal and then in the early stages get a feel for what type of playstyle suits your needs.

Alongside the the tech tree, each Templar has their own attributes that the player is free to assign and strengthen when they level up from missions. It is recommended to have an idea what role a Templar is responsible for and attempt to level up attributes and unlock gear that best suits its role. The game does allow the player to respec their templars though so it allows experimentation to get an idea whats works best.

This said the game can be challenging and knowing your battleforce well and being able to call the right templar for the job at hand can make time-sensitive objectives a lot more manageable as well as being the difference between a mission being a protracted slog or a fluid tactical strike.

Added to the complexity, the leviathans generate heat with movement and action, the heat dissipates with inaction but if it is not managed your templars will accumulate damage from the over-heating. 

Another action that is important is the securing and capturing of outposts as these are the means to call in reinforcements, usable healing and buff items and outposts upgrades. The more outposts captured the more templars can be called in and increased resource generation to call them.

These things culminate into a system of play that forces the player to weigh up risk and reward as enemies continuously spawn in and risk capturing your outposts. So the player must decide whether to rush objectives and leave outposts to the mercy of capture in search of a better mission payout or do they play slower, reinforce their positions and move in a methodically manner to be able to advance and capture objectives from a position of strength at the cost of ignoring the timed goal multiplier.

The mission variety does try and shake things up and forces to the player to be adaptable and to try and mix and match different tactics to achieve the goal with even throwing the odd surprise or two in service of the narrative.

The game's story does its job in selling the setting and between missions your character can talk and discuss the state of events with a few other characters aboard your command carrier. There is also elements of choice sprinkled in between campaign missions and they mostly allow the player to choose an approach to a mission in a more desired manner. 

After you complete the main campaign the player has a choice to either try their hand at New Game+ to take your combat-harden battleforce into a higher difficulty level to try and fill out the tech tree or the player can try do the post-campaign mission arc.

The music does a satisfactory job in setting and although a bit lacking in variety it works in service of the setting and the sounds on display have variety and ,although somewhat muted in effect, do convey the necessary intent when it comes to relevant feedback

I do think those that enjoy turn-based squad tactics games will find something to enjoy with enough difficulty settings to find a suitable level of challenge. It treads on familiar footing in terms of backdrop but uses it as a means to ease the player into it. The simple graphics convey the effects and details well and it doesn't take long to get into the feel of the game especially once one gets into the various class gears and abilities one unlocks.

 Images Source:

 

IGDB Templar Battleforce

PCGamingWIki Templar Battleforce

 

Video Source:

 

Templar Battleforce Extended Trailer