Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (review)

[Ferran]

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

Developer: Revolution Software
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Release Date: 1996 (Win, DOS), 1998 (PS), March 2002 (GBA)
Platform: PC, PS, GBA

Review by Bob Freese
February 6, 2003

Ah, you’re kicking back at a quaint Paris sidewalk café. Life is sweet. You’re George Stobbart, a tourist from California enjoying some autumn Parisian ambience when out of nowhere, a guy dressed as a clown runs into the café and makes a hasty retreat. Somethin’ ain’t right here, man. You first feel the concussion, then the intense heat – the café has just been bombed. So much for ambience.

Revolution Software has developed a very worthy point and click adventure game entitled Circle of Blood (in the USA) and Broken Sword (elsewhere) and it is definitely worth your look. The game allows three install options – small, medium, or large. Spring for the large install. You’ll encounter the voice of a lovely British lady leading you through the install and options selection processes. Very nice touch!

Circle of Blood is designed with a third person perspective and presents the usually expected ubiquitous hot spots and morphing cursor. The game presents many scrolling perspectives as the characters move about. The inventory interface couldn’t be easier – left click an item to “use” and right click for a verbal explanation of exactly what the item is. This is very, very nice!

Okay, back to Paris. Being the stalwart hero that you are, you (as George) dart into the burning café in order to render aid to the injured. The gendarmes soon arrive and seem to focus their interest on you! Bad news. The good news – after your interrogation, you exit the café and meet a lovely young photographer, Nicole. Get to know her as she will assist you in your efforts to solve this dastardly crime. This is a sprawling adventure that whisks you to varied sites such as Spain, Syria, Ireland, and Scotland.

The story line is very well written and ultimately leads to your discovery of the involvement of a secret order – the Knights Templar. You journey deeper and deeper. Then Nicole is kidnapped. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Can you rescue Nicole and solve the crime? The resources are there and you’ll encounter many plot-relevant puzzles in your quest.

Each locale is rendered with realistic and beautiful artwork and the animation is consistently above average. The music scoring is excellent – matching the tenor of the plot lines. As you play this game, you will notice a special attention to detail. This is a quality game.


The only downer for me was enduring the sometimes endless dialog. Kinda verbose. But, hey, solve the puzzles, the crime, rescue Nicole and just maybe there will be a romantic payoff at the end. Don’t you love it when that happens?


Screenshots:














Final Grade: B+

System Requirements:

* Windows 95+
* 486DX2-66
* 8MB RAM
* 2X CDROM drive
* 18MB free hard disk space

[Rusalka]

This was undoubtedly one of the best games I've played , and plot-wise better than the second Broken Sword. Later Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned came out and surpassed every other game that came before it in that genre.

[Awar]

My local pirate just got that oldie game. Since Pigsquash likes it so much,
I decided to try it out. She can't be wrong. I noticed

[Rusalka]

Originally Posted by Awar

My local pirate just got that oldie game. Since Pigsquash likes it so much,
I decided to try it out. She can't be wrong. I noticed

Which one, Shadow of the Templars or GK III? In either game, I think one of the best plot points is the (sexual) tension between the male and the female protagonists. Jane Jensen, Gabriel Knights series' writer especially has a great literary sensibility when it comes to that.

And, no, of course I can't be wrong.

[Awar]

He got the entire series. This guy gets some old games.
Currently, I'm working a lot, but sometimes I take a break and play Fallout2.

[Rusalka]

He got all three? The second one, being six CDs, is extremely hard to find, so don't miss it! Even if you don't have time to play it right away. The first one is now freeware on abandonware site but it's without the music and sounds, so if he's got it on CD, get that too. Try to play them in order when you can, it's not that you can't, but it's more informative if you do. Gabriel Knight III has its own neat little encyclopedia embedded within the game by the way, which I'm sure you'll appreciate.

Fallout series was also great, ah the good old times when they had proper adventure games. I also like the Monkey Island series although the fourth one was a bit awkward being 3D. A good and stylistic 3D, but still 3D.

[Awar]

Monkey Island... I played and finished the first two, which were 2D,
the 3D that later came was stylish, but, somehow it didn't pull me to play.
I loved those games then, and I love them now. Also, the Indiana Jones adventures
are great.

[symmakhos]

Lucasarts were the absolute masters of this genre. Also very good are "Grim Fandango" (extremely stylish 3D) and "Day of the Tentacle" (vintage, 2D).

[Awar]

Let's not forget 'Full Throttle' and 'The Dig' also great adventures,
which I didn't get to play for some reason

[Ferran]

Originally Posted by Pseguash

This was undoubtedly one of the best games I've played , and plot-wise better than the second Broken Sword. Later Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned came out and surpassed every other game that came before it in that genre.

I become "enchanted" by this game since I checked the demo on 1997, its own style and interesting touch surprised me really much, the athmosphere was so well done too, so the acquisition of the complete game was inevitable, and then I already could add that the game plot was brillantly developed too.

And hey, seems that everyone who played Broken Sword series also played the Gabriel Knight ones , I finished "GK1: Sins of the Fathers" some time ago, and definitely was the best adventure game I have ever played, I hope to take a look to second and third sequels when I could have more free time. In fact I also thought to post about GK in Stirpes, as I did here some months ago.

Originally Posted by Awar

Let's not forget 'Full Throttle' and 'The Dig' also great adventures,
which I didn't get to play for some reason [img]images/smilies/stirpes1/frown000.gif[/img]

And "Loom", another must-have.