Adventure games are perhaps one of the most unique genres in the videogame industry. When I think about that genre, games like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis come to mind. These were all blockbuster games made under Lucas Arts. So you can say, that Lucas Arts was basically proclaimed the king of adventure games, as other products were either just a copy of this design, or not good enough. However, there was one adventure game, that went toe-to-toe with these giants, and that game was non other than the excellent, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars! In fact, this game was so good, it not only stood out from the crowd, but also engraved its name in adventure gaming history.

Now, fast forward more than a decade, and we have the latest installment in the series, “The Serpent’s Curse“. In this chapter, when a mysterious painting is stolen during an armed raid on a Paris gallery, George Stobbart and Nico Collard are thrown, seemingly by chance, into the investigation together. From Paris to London and beyond, the trail becomes a race against time as dark forces from Europe’s turbulent past are woken from their slumber. Broken Sword characters old and new are encountered – but who can George and Nico trust? The journey they are on reveals a conspiracy as old as the written word, whose ancient heresies will cause innocent blood to spill once more…

If I was to describe the classic Broken Sword experience with one word, it would be “charming”! Everything from the music, through the visuals and the dialogue was very light hearted. Everything came together perfectly to showcase a beautiful and memorable experience. I am very happy to say, that the same is with Broken Sword 5. I will admit, that in the beginning, I was a bit cautious on getting my hopes up as I really didn’t think they could recreate the experience that was The Shadow of the Templars and The Smoking Mirror. However, I am glad that I was proved wrong as everything in this game is reminiscent of the classic games, and the same amount of effort put forward by the developers is visible here. 

The way the game began made the fanboy inside me squeal, as it threw me right back to the first time I played from the Broken Sword series. The first thing that came up, was Barrington Pheloung’s memorable main theme that was prevalent in the original series; it then accompanied the close up of a majestic eagle, who led us through the mountains and over to a beautiful, and lush valley. We are in 1937, Spain. The calmness of this moment is soon shattered by the firing of gunshots. A group of people are huddled behind a small fountain for cover, firing in the direction of a huge and beautiful looking villa. Inside, the gunshots are being responded to and a family is hurrying with their belongings, presumably trying to escape. To avoid spoilers, whatever happens after this, paves the way for the modern adventure of our two protagonists, George and Nico.

In my opinion, the way the story is presented is absolutely entertaining, and neither drags or rushes through. The animations and the dialogues are the clear reasons for this. Like the old games, if you speak to someone while that person is doing something, he will complete his animation cycle before paying attention to you, similar to what you’d do in real life. You’d finish what you were doing, and then you’d look at the person speaking to you. This adds a nice bit of authenticity in my opinion. Furthermore, there are several animations for several scenarios and they are all crisp and polished. They never feel out of place from their surroundings and their pacing is just right. Most of the voice actors have come back to reprise their original roles and are just as good while the new additions have done a great and authentic job themselves. You’ve got British sounding people playing British people, French sounding people playing French people… and you get my point.

Another thing that stands out during the gameplay, is the beautiful scenery which is all hand drawn by some really talented artists, some who had even worked on classic Disney movies. Also, every setting is unique and varied according to their surroundings. So for example, you’ve got beautiful and open spaces in France with some really nice looking buildings, while in London, you’ve got very industrial looking streets with houses that are churning out smoke through their chimney by the gallon. You really feel the difference in the ambiance and vibe, which are also set by the breathtaking sound effects and the game’s beautifully synthesized original music that all play a key part in how different scenes look and feel.

To talk about the gameplay, it is basically reminiscent of the classic games where you use your mouse to move your character around to interact with different objects and talk to different people. Then, you’ve got further options on how to interact with different items/people, whether you’d talk to, look at, pick up or etc. Simply put, the game is still easy to control, and doesn’t take too much time to get used to, but the way you can interact is varied and deep. Furthermore, you’ve actually got an option to change the way the UI (User Interface) looks like. You can either use the new design, or you can go to the classic one where the save and other function buttons are on top of the screen and the inventory items show up at the bottom. Technology wise, the one thing that truly stands out is how seamlessly you can save your game and change the audio language. If you save your game, it picks up either from, or moments before the scene you saved at and if you change the audio settings, the change is brisk. You don’t need to restart anything for the settings to take place, and once you go back to the game and a new sentence is spoken, the audio would have changed. I can’t pinpoint why exactly this is good, but it should be mostly due to excellent coding and organising.

Now, lets talk about the puzzles in this game, as puzzles are usually the backbone of any adventure game. If the backbone is strong, it will support the entire body, otherwise everything else will collapse. Like the previous games, the puzzles aren’t insanely difficult and can easily be solved with constant logical thinking. However, if you do feel the need to get some help, you can always refer to the help section which, depending on how many times you use it, either gives you a hint, or outright tells you what to do in that particular scene. This is a great feature in my opinion as it keeps you invested in the game, since you don’t have to keep going away to look at a walkthrough or guide. Still, I would encourage players to pay attention to every detail in a scene, and talk to different people about different subjects as to get a clue about what to do next. Speaking of detail, every scene is packed with immense detail. The items you need to pick up won’t be standing out due to a different color template or art style, but will instead be integrated with the overall art style. It is a good thing, as illuminated objects just make it feel like someone is holding your hand.

Lastly, lets talk about one minor annoyance. As good and straightforward as the story is, it doesn’t do much to introduce new players to the central characters, and the events that have transpired before. More often than not, you’ll hear characters talking about past events, but it really won’t make sense to any new players as they didn’t play the previous games. Of course, it would be a cool reference for old players, but it would be nothing more than a few empty dialogues for new players alike.

All in all, Revolution has done a masterful job in recreating the essence that was the original Broken Sword. Everything from the music to the storytelling is as charming as it should be, and the mechanics are simple as one could hope. I was captivated right from the beginning of this game, and reminded of what it felt like playing a classic adventure title. Both old and new fans will love the first episode to this Europe-trotting classic adventure, and will have a healthy amount of playtime as it is not too long or not too short, but just right. I would advice new players to try out the previous games first though, as a few cool references might fly over their head! Well, BRING ON THE NEXT EPISODE!!!

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