Broken Sword is a standard inventory-based adventure game, as exemplified by LucasArts who produced the classic Monkey Island series. The user controls George Stobbart, an American tourist accidentally entangled in a plot to take over the world (sounds terrible, doesn't it?). George is moved around by clicking on the spot where you want him to walk to. In addition, many of the beatifully drawn locations scroll horizontally, so George can walk beyond the display visible at any one time. As you move the cursor over the screen, it will change its appearance depending on the object it points to. This allows things to be 'picked up', 'used', or 'examined'. And that's it! The controls are as simple as that. At the top of the screen is your inventory (in iconised form) at the bottom there is space for a set of conversation topics, which you can use to interrogate the 40 or so NPCs.
The plot may sound hackneyed and juvenile (a cross between Foucault's Pendulum and Indiana Jones) but the fact that it is grounded in some kind of historical reality certainly gives it an edge over the usual dull sword-and-sorcery setting or cliched sci-fi environment. Much of the plot exposition actually comes during dialogue as opposed to the cut-scenes, which are generally used as a linking device as George Stobbart jumps from one part of the world to another (the settings include Paris, Ireland, Spain, Syria and Scotland). The game effectively recreates the feeling of doubt over the nature of the NPCS: are they in on the Templar conspiracy, or just innocent bystanders? Unfortunately, the resolution to all this is simplistic and rushed, leaving many unanswered questions.
Compared with other adventure games, Broken Sword verges on being easy. Personally, I think this is a great thing: adventure games are much too hard! Monkey Island 2, for example, was ruined by its excessive difficulty. If a game wants you to appreciate its story, it should let the game flow, not obstruct you with artificial barriers that leave you kicking the machine in frustration and quitting the game in disgust. Broken Sword deftly avoids that trap: I was able to solve most of the puzzles without any outside assistance, and only peeked at the walkthru about 6 times, which is pretty good for a game of this size (incidentally, it should take about 30 hours to complete). There are a few awkward moments requiring you to scan the screen pixel-by-pixel, and other times where randomly using inventory items suddenly brings unexpected success, but generally the puzzles are logical and well thought out.
Presentation is first-rate: everything about Broken Sword is beautiful to look at, listen to, and use. The installation is a doddle, changing options is a breeze. The stunning backdrops are like watercolours, the animation is smooth and cartoon-quality, and the background music is very atmospheric.
So far, so LucasArts, right? What makes Broken Sword different is the conversation system. A set of topics will appear at the bottom of the screen when George starts chatting: you simply select a topic, George will ask about it, and the NPC will respond. You don't select the exact phrase George will utter, just the general topic. Often, you can ask about the same topic many times, for a more detailed interrogation, going deeper and deeper until they reach breaking point and spill the beans (hopefully). This works surprisingly well, allowing pretty good character development in even the most minor characters, and also giving George a well-developed personality (even if it is a bit too similar to Guybrush Threepwood). At times, the relentless attempts at humour in the conversations can be wearying (this is, after all, supposed to be a 'serious' adventure, not a comedy), and dodgy accents abound, but the dialogue is one of the highlights of the game for me.
Broken Sword is certainly the best game of its type I have played (although I haven't played many). It ranks alongside Monkey Island 1 in terms of gameplay, and naturally it looks and sounds much better. There can't be a more glowing recommendation than that. The difficulty level is pitched just about right, the user interface is clean and simple, and its cheap! Broken Sword comes on 2 CD's (you are required to do about 6 disk-swaps), and has a small but informative instruction pamphlet that gives some background detail and a short walkthru for the early puzzles. As well as the PC, it is also available for the Mac and Playstation. In short: brilliant stuff.
