While there will be elements of a traditional first person shooter, Cleric is not intended to be a high body count or "twitch" game, neither will Cleric be a game in which you can modify your character like a traditional RPG. There will be a great deal of interaction with NPCs using conversation trees that actually affect the outcome of the game as well as your standing with the gods.
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There will also be innovative puzzle solving as well as traditional FPS-style action. The story behind Cleric has taken a year to write and has multiple endings. We're not saying how many at this point. Many of the conversations in the game and how the player responds may directly influence major events in the game as well as the game's ending. The player will have two primary weapons with subclasses of those weapons. These weapons are his holy symbols, which are powered by the player's faith, and the miracles granted him by the gods. But the player won't be able to just run around using miracles like crazy. There are restrictions. One of the player's gods does not permit killing living creatures with his own hands (i.e. weapons). Doing so will cause the player to lose favor with that god, while another god demands the player make regular sacrifices to keep her happy and does not permit healing. Using one god's powers will upset another. The player will need to find a comfortable middle ground managing to keep all the gods happy if he wishes to use their powers. The player may, however, decide to devote him or herself to one god, choosing to use their miracles more frequently than the others. While this will give the player certain benefits, this will increase the difficulty of finishing the game while not making it impossible. It is up to the player. Devoting oneself to a particular god will increase the power of the miracles granted by that god.
While Cleric was designed as more of an immersive story, there will be plenty of "hack and slash" for you diehard FPS fans. The player may, if he or she so chooses, use traditional weapons that he finds or purchases from the town merchant. Some of the weapons the player will encounter in the game are swords, maces, scythes, ancient muskets, and wheel-lock pistols. Whether or not these weapons have an effect is another matter all together.