Summary
TheBroken Swordseries helped define the point-and-click adventure genre with its accessible games, loveable characters, beautifully drawn worlds, and great stories. The globe-trottingIndianaJones-style — minus the action — adventures and mysteries that George and Nico embark on are always compelling as they merge humor and mystery into uncovering murder mysteries and conspiracies.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templarsstood among the best in the genre alongside Lucasart’sMonkey Islandseries and even proved that the point-and-click genre could work on consoles with the first two games in the series launching on the PS1 and considered among its classic titles. Fortunately, fans can experience the remastered first game,Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Reforged, tailored for a new audience. How does it compare to the rest of the series? Let’s take a look at this ranked list.
7Broken Sword 4: The Angel Of Death
A Solid Adventure With An Excellent Story But Fiddly Controls
Broken Sword: The Angel of Deathis the fourth title in the series and the second game to use 3D visuals instead of hand-drawn backgrounds. It uses a combination of keyboard controls for movement and point-click, but they don’t always mesh well causing issues moving George around and interacting with the environment. Moreover, the animations and movements are dated even by 2006’s standards and haven’t aged as well as the first two games in the series. The biggest disappointment is Nico’s role is limited to much later in the game while Anna Maria takes center stage.
Yet despite its flaws,Broken Sword: The Angel of Deathis a joy to play, withexcellent voice acting from series regular, Rolf Saxon, George who’s now working as a down-on-his-luck bail bondsman, being drawn into another adventure where he must prevent the guys from getting their hands on mysterious ancient artifact that can end the world. The puzzles are tricky and it feels closer to the first two games.
6Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon
A Good Entry In The Series But A Departure From The First Two Games
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragonis the third entry in the series and is a departure from the first two games regarding art style and controls. It was launched on consoles and was designed to appeal to a different generation of fans. The graphics didn’t age well on PS2, but look cleaner on a PC platform, and the cinematics almost make it feel like an entry fromtheUnchartedseries, minus the violence if it was on the PS2.
The biggest downside toBroken Sword: The Sleeping Dragonthe puzzles and stealth sections. Like so many games in the early 2000s, they involved awkward sneaking missions and moving crates to reach higher places. That said,The Sleeping Dragonfeatures an excellent story, brilliant dialogue, and another welcome return for heroes, George and Nico.
5Broken Sword: The Shadow Of The Templars - Director’s Cut
Nico’s New Prologue Was Fun But Broke The Pacing Of The Original
Broken Sword: Shadows of The Templars - Director’s Cutwas a remaster that created a new prologue for Nico providing some backstory on her investigations into the costumed assassin before the explosion. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of the series' most iconic opening scene narrated by George and interrupted the pacing of the original story.
While it was great to play as Nico, the extra content feels like padding and breaks the pacing of the original game. Additionally, the art style introduced in the new content featuring Nico clashed with the original game’s aesthetic. The Director’s Cut offers an intriguing take on Nico’s story, though it doesn’t quite match the cut of the original game. Nico’s story may have been better if she had her own spin-off/prequel leading to the events of Templars.
4Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse
A Return To Form With A Blend Of Old And New
After the divisive 3D takes on the series,Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Cursewas a return to form capturing the look and feel of the first two games while using 3D character models against stunning hand-drawn backdrops. Following a cutscene that offers historical context about a painting called La Maledicció, the narrative unfolds with a murder, the theft of the painting, and more globe-trotting adventures involving George and Nico.
Broken Sword 5is set several months afterThe Angel of Deathwith George now working as an assessor for an insurance company asked to attend an art gallery. He’s reunited with Nico after the painting is stolen in a robbery that ends in the art exhibitionist’s death. It’s everything aBroken Swordfan wants from the series,point-and-click controls, international conspiracies, mysterious artifacts, and memorable villains.
Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirrordoesn’t waste any time with cutscenes showing an ancient Mayan sacrifice and then moves to George and Nico being ambushed by villains at an archaeologist’s home. George is left bound to a chair in a burning house, facing a venomous spider, while Nico is taken captive. The story may not be as great as the original, but fans who loved the first game and its art style will undoubtedly enjoy joining George and Nico on another adventure around the world. They will solve puzzles, explore ruins, and prevent the bad guys from using an ancient artifact to free an ancient Mayan god and bring about the end of the world.
LikeShadows of the Templar,The Smoking Mirroris full of charm, beautiful art, great dialogue, returning characters, and an adventurous story that more than holds its own today. There’s a remastered version on the PC and mobile platforms. Owners of the Steam Deck will enjoy an optimal experience with excellent performance cleaner visuals than the original PS1 classic.
As mentioned above,The Director’s CutofBroken Sword: Shadow of the Templarslost some of its magic with the additional scenes and the loss of the original introduction sequence. George’s opening narration of the game remains intact and still feels special, as he says, “Paris in the fall. The last months of the year, at the end of the millennium. The city holds many memories for me: of cafes, of music, of love… and of death.” This sets the stage for the stunning Disney-like animated sequence that unfolds across Paris and outside the café before the explosion.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Reforgedis faithful to the original with upgraded visuals that look more like a cartoon with animations and reactions closer to the studio’s original vision with more detail than ever. With a click of a button, the game can be switched between classic and updated visuals which shows the work that Revolution put into reworking the already beautiful artwork for modern audiences.
