Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Reviewed by MaxH
A good story, well told can captivate just about
anyone. However, finding a good story on the GameBoy
Advance, or even one you haven't heard before, is a
tricky (probably impossible) task. Or was. Now that
Revolution Software has ported their excellent
PC/Playstation point and click game to the GBA,
people looking for something beyond SNES ports and
side scrolling dross can finally be satisfied. In
fact Edge magazine tells of one games journalist who
was so captivated by the game's plot, that she
decided to write a book on the subject of the game's
focus, the Knights Templar. And it isn't hard to see why.
George Stobbart, an American, is travelling in Paris
one summer. One day, outside a cafe, he sees a
nervous man with a briefcase enter the cafe, followed
shortly by a clown. The clown steals the briefcase,
and then runs out of the cafe, just a few seconds
after the cafe explodes, killing the man inside. And
so you, Geroge Stobbart, set out to discover what
exactly is going on and why with the help of a French
photographer you meet outside the cafe, Nico (A
woman). That's all I knew before going into the game,
and that's all you need to know now.
The first thing you will notice is that, unlike it's
PC and Playstation brothers, Broken Sword is NOT a
point and click game. In a adjustment similar to the
one the Monkey Island series has recently made, you
now have direct control over your character and can
move him freely about the screen. Move near a 'hot
spot' (Something that can be used/picked up/looked
at) and the appropriate use. Pick up/look at symbol
will appear over it. You can use the A button to
activate these events (To actually pick up the object
or use the thing for example) or you can press the B
button to have George make an observation about it
(This will sometimes bring vital clues to light).
Pressing the R button will cycle through all the hot
spots on the screen, making sure you don't miss
anything. This makes for a more fluid and friendly
interface that makes the game a tad more enjoyable.
There are no real innovations or revolutionary ideas
here, but I can't see what expansions such a
straightforward genre would allow anyway. The real
drawing factors of the game are the tense,
exceptionally paced plot and the odd, endearing and
downright fascinating characters.I t's rare that a
game has you desperate to explore all the avenues if
only to come across another humorous conversation.
The writing is witty and very human, some of the
touches and points made you'll never have noticed in
a videogame before. It's quite a slap in the face to
see such realistic characters.
Perhaps the best character of all though is George
himself. Usually in these types of games you get a
bland, generic idiot to be who doesn't say much aside
from 'this is strange' or 'I can't use that here'.
George however, is sarcastic, wary, obnoxious and
extremely proud. He has some excellent lines and
thoughts which he shares with you, and is a perfect
main character, and one which motivates you to
progress further in the adventure just to see what he
has to say.
And the twists and turns the plot takes are also
based on characters. There are only a handful of
important characters, making it a lot easier to
recognise and react to them. 'Kahn! What is he doing
here?!' and 'Why is Andrew Lobineau in Nico's
apartment, are they having an affair?' are just a
couple of little thoughts that cross your mind. It's
a truly compelling engrossing game in this manner.
But perhaps the most satisfying part of the game are
the puzzles. All of them make sense and are perfectly
logical. but it's the actual way you work them out
which is so rewarding. It's not just a case of
desperately using every object with every piece of
scenery you find. A lot of the game is spent
searching for clues of the reasons for the
disappearance of the Knights Templar, so you spend
quite a while searching through dungeons and murky,
undesirable places like that.
And to uncover the secrets of these places you have
to think to what you've learnt about the Templars,
what you've seen on their Manuscripts, what you've
been told by Parisian locals, whatever knowledge
you've scraped together. Apply it all and you'll
eventually discover the method to what may have been
a seemingly impossible puzzle. The game's manual
encourages you to take notes while playing the game,
and I did. Sometimes to answer to a puzzle would come
to me as an epiphany as I read over my notes. It's an
immense feeling of triumph I can tell you, I felt a
bit like a detective who just worked out 'who dunnit'.
And it's this level of depth, this requirement to
research every avenue in the game, to grill every
character until they have nothing left to say, that
creates a truly convincing adventure. You'll get to
travel to a range of location, mostly within Paris,
but you'll also get to see the sights of Ireland and
the deserts of Syria. In all of these places you'll
meet such strong, hilarious characters that you won't
be able to resist being trapped by the game until
it's done. Meet the Syrian taxi cab driver who offers
'Much good magical taxi cab ride around the ancient
nature of beauty' and other amusingly structured,
cheesy suggestions.
The pace of the game is quite slow and relaxed. You
can get killed in certain places, but it's not
something that happens often enough to worry about,
it's more a method of forcing you to think of
alternative solutions. The depth of the characters
also allows for some interesting remedies to your
troubles. In one scene we have a rather timid hotel
clerk and a snooty, arrogant, pushy English lady
playing the piano in the lobby. Speak to them both
for long enough and you'll work out a way to
manipulate the lady into helping you with your
problem with the clerk. There are less object-based
puzzles than you'd expect here, it's more learning
about the character's traits and using them to
further your quest to discover what happened to the
missing Templar knights and the questions surrounding
the exploded cafe and the dead man with the
briefcase. And because it's about characters you care
that much more about the next stage of the story,
which is excellent.
The pace does quicken up by the end of the game
though, the final part containing several attempted
murders, a couple of successful ones and even that
action move trademark: crawling on top of a speeding
train. This brings the game's moody, thoughtful plot
to a head using some dazzling scenes which are full
to the brim with quick thinking, action and
revelations a plenty. My only problem is the ending
was a bit rushed and I didn't quite understand who
was who and what was going on.
This, by a long shot, is the most beautiful game
available on the GBA. It isn't the most impressive
aesthetically, but it's just so gorgeous. The
finely detailed, superbly styled backgrounds that
create the atmosphere of Paris in summer (Without
using any obvious landmarks) have been scaled down
from the PC version perfectly. The resolution is a
little lower obviously, but the impressive
architecture and rusty, summery colours still manage
to stun even on this dark screen. The character
sprites are a little fuzzy and have no faces, but
you'll be surprised how much personality they can get
across. The shock in some of George's reactions is
clear, and the camp swagger of some of the more
haughty French people is absolutely hilarious.
The sound is absolutely fantastic. Never have I heard
such rousing, tense and relaxing music all in one GBA
cart. The score will help intensify the mood of ANY
situation, the calm streets of Paris or the
comfortable pub of Ireland seem even more authentic
when there are tunes to match. And the dramatic and
scary bits actually DO seem dramatic and scary thanks
to the sounds coming out of that tiny GBA speaker. An
amazing acheivment. The sound effects are limited to
absolute necessities (including a pretty laughable
kissing effect) but they do the job.
The game should last you a few hours providing you
resist the help of an FAQ or anything else (Which I
managed to. Just), and I hear there's an easter egg
(For all those who don't know the term: A hidden
surprise put in as a treat by the developers)
somewhere in the game. Otherwise, you probably won't
play it after it's finished. I, however, played a
little longer as I hit a glitch near the end of the
game which meant I had to restart and play through
ALL over again. I hear there are a few glitches in
the game, such as randomly corrupting save files and
puzzles that will malfunction, meaning they can't be
solved no matter what.
Overall Broken Sword is a fantastically scripted,
thoughtfully crafted graphic adventure. It rewards
the player for natural ingenuity and attention they
have paid to the game. It's spectacular blend of
exciting storytelling and deep, intriguing characters
hasn't been bettered yet by any game. And all of this
comes with artistically splendid graphics. Games like
this however, can't afford to have fatal glitches, so
I am going to deduct one point, as when I hit one it
was incredibly frustrating. Despite that though, this
is a game well worth investing in.
You live by the sword
+ Instantly engrossing plot
+ Absolutely fantastic level of detail on the characters' personalities
+ Dramatic and funny throughout
+ Clever, but not unfair puzzles, and the way it has
you solve them is admirable and enjoyable
+ Lasts for a reasonably long time
+ Handsomely detailed, stunningly authentic backdrops
and flexible character sprites
+ Evocative sound
You die by the sword
- Nothing revolutionary
- Awful glitches!
- I was sorry to see it end
If you like this....
Escape From monkey Island - PC/PS2: Nowhere near as
involving as this, but if you like games where you
have total control over the character (While sticking
to the basic genre) you'll love this.
The Other Monkey Island games - PC: There are three
of them, and all are better than the one I just
recommended
Broken Sword 2: The smoking mirror - PC/PS: I haven't
played it yet, but how could I not recommend it?
Could be coming to the GBA soon too, if this
conversion sees success.
Overall: 8 out of 10