Broken Sword 1-5

OLD GAME REVIEW

            The game is a point and click adventure game that is a series called Broken Sword. There are a total of five of them at present, and I have played three of them, and not in the right order either. Two are available for the kindle fire, being the first and second ones, and frankly they seem to work better than the original pc versions of the game. The series started back in 1996 with the release of the first story about the protagonist George Stobbart, an American patent lawyer, and Nicole "Nico" Collard, a French freelance journalist.

            Now for those that have never tried a point and click adventure, they are actually quite fun. This is not one of those hidden object games. Those things drive me freaking batty after about the fourth or fifth round. I get bored to death quickly with those. These are the type where sometimes you have to combine items or know what to ask about to someone, etc. In the second one I kept trying to hand out dog biscuits as treats. (Hey, it got some interesting responses). There are plenty of puzzles to solve along the way as well. And though they aren’t super hard usually, they can consume some time.

            Now these are basically 2D games except for the third and fourth that went to 3D graphics. It was nice, but in my opinion they should have stayed with the 2D for this type of series, but I did really enjoy that one also.  It also used a different control scheme which has since been dropped again as well.

            The games themselves are listed in order as follows.

1996  Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

1997  Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

            These are the first two games in the series, and both used 2D rendering, and the basic point and click interface for movement and for object use, conversations etc.

2003  Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

            This was the third in the series, and actually the first one I ever got to finish playing.  This one went to 3D and a full keyboard type interface, using WASD for movement forward, left, back, and right. 

2006  Broken Sword: The Angel of Death     

            This one also featured the 3D graphics, but returned to the point and click interface.

2013  Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse

            This one returns to the original style of point and click, with 2D graphics, and hand painted scenes. I haven’t played this one either, yet, but from what I have read of it, they have returned to the true spirit of the story, (which only in #2 was it not somehow tied to the Templar Order in some way), and also in the spirit of the mystery involved.

            Now I am rating this series on what it is. A point and click mystery series for the most part except for three. which only has the control interface being different in this respect.  

So for numbers 1-3, I would give them an average score of 8.7, This is for some of the hand painted scenes, the story itself, the love of characters that you develop over time, (even to the point of wanting to slap Nico silly sometimes, and George as well), and for some puzzles just being interesting and kind of fun. (I will also admit that a few are enough to drive you nuts at times).

I will also go so far as to say that I believe #4 to rate a bit lower from what I have heard from fellow fans of the series, coming in I am going to bet at around a 7 or so.

Now number 5 I am guessing is going to end up the highest rated of them all, as what has been released (and is also available for download on Gog.com for 25 bucks and a 2.4 gig download), is only part 1, with part 2 due out next year.  

Folks, if you are looking for that lazy adventure, or mystery game where you lie in bed and relax and play, this is a great style for you. The story is great, and you just have to figure out how to put it together basically.

If you have a kindle fire, and want to spend 4 bucks for a decent bed game or lazy afternoon game, then give it a try. I just got it that way to play it, and will be getting my hard copies here as soon as possible.

Give it a try folks. If you are one that has an interest in video gaming, but don’t have the reflexes for what some of us play, these are great then also. Sometimes you want to chain saw a zombie, and sometimes you want to sit back and have a drink, and enjoy a good novel. This is basically that, with the addition of you also have to do some of the work yourself.

Hope you all give it a try, as it really is a great game series. 

Was going to put some scenes in here from the series, but apparently things aren’t going to co-operate tonight in that department.  Well, maybe it’ll be working again when I do my next point and click review on a double series game set I have.