broken sword 2 review

broken sword 2 review

The ability to play as Nico in off-setting chapters is also a nice feature, and would have been a great way to drum up suspense with the cliffhanger endings if the game had been more intriguing as a whole. It's Circle of Blood with new characters, a new storyline, and a new threat to world harmony. Toggle SlidingBar Area Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means, that at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and purchase a product. While there are tons of items and puzzles in Broken Sword II, you won't find yourself stuck in any scenario for any lengthy amount of time. Walkthrough . The sense of urgency that it maintains during the opening parts drops drastically towards conclusion, and the solutions to some mysteries are either lacklustre or come along like lightning from a blue sky, which makes the finale feel weak and forced. Because of her striking cartoony curves, men are more apt to help Nico, but she has a more difficult time doing physical tasks. Broken Sword 2: Remastered Description Plunge into a shadowy conspiracy world where the schemes of a mad drug kingpin and the prophesied return of an ancient Mayan god clash in … The game may have stood the test of time, it's a shame that the looks couldn't do the same. Indeed, this story is about more than just girlfriends and poisonous spiders - you'll run into CIA agents, cocaine lords, power-hungry dictators, mysterious scientists, Mayan artifacts, fallen priests, powerful shamans, and other oddball characters who are all extremely good at muddling the plot. Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is a point-and-click adventure video game originally released on Microsoft Windows and PlayStation in 1997. It was re-released on Microsoft Windows, OS X and iOS as a remastered edition in 2010 and on Android in 2012. This time, Nico receives a mysterious stone and contacts George to join her for a meeting with an archeologist who might be able to reveal its secrets. The horrendous loading times that … by syd. Warning for the faint of heart: May contain spoilers for a 20 year old video-game. … But more importantly, you must figure out exactly what's going on. Here is my reviews of the first three games. 3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first, but still a good game. Earfuls of only semirelevant conversation and the digital pad's inability to properly replicate a mouse make Broken Sword II tedious at times. Instead of spending all your in-game time as Stobbard, there are parts of the game where you assume the role of Nico herself. It is the second installment in the Broken Sword series, and the first game in the series that does not follow the Knights Templar storyline. And while the original Broken Sword was held back by its difficult interface and almost unbearable loading times, the sequel makes point-and-click adventures seem almost doable on the PlayStation. The majority of puzzles are painfully easy to the point where when I reached the endgame, I began to wonder if I’d somehow missed part of the story. Like all good mysteries, once you think you've got a good handle on exactly what's going on, the game yanks your theories out from under you and tosses you back to square one. Good voice acting and decent background music. This makes the gameplay almost tedious, because you spend plenty of time listening to people ramble and significantly less time figuring out how to do things such as start a fire with a bank statement and stone figure. There's a good sense of humor in the voices chosen to represent each character, and more importantly, they make sense. I recently got into the Broken Sword series when i purchased the new Nintendo DS version. Publisher: Virgin Interactive. Still, the backgrounds are well detailed and creative, and the graphical style is a refreshing break from the recent uprising of polygons. But while Broken Sword II certainly isn't revolutionary, it's still refreshing to see a game of this nature done well. Are you tracking down a cocaine empire in the hopes of turning it into the authorities, or are you trying to stop a maniacal Mayan priest from resurrecting the god of chaos and evil from his spiritual prison? Cyberpunk 2077 Class Action Lawsuit Is Happening, CDPR Will Defend Itself, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart: Everything We Know, These 9 Things Will Totally Happen In Gaming In 2021 (Maybe), By The sound really makes the game. Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror 1997 - Revolution Software/Virgin Games 3rd … Genres such as shmupps (Gradius), beat-em-ups (Turtles in Time), run & gun shmupp (Contra), shooters (Half-life, System Shock) and horror games (Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Amnesia and so on). Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is a loose sequel. Not so with The Smoking Mirror. A compelling story full of plot twists, offbeat humor, great graphics, and solid sound makes Broken Sword II a game with great aspirations. But though the loading times have been trimmed and the interface has been fixed, it's still the PlayStation's limitations, not the compelling storyline or the game's quirky sense of humor, that keep Broken Sword from achieving its potential. Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is Revolution Software's follow-up to the extraordinary graphic adventure Circle of Blood (called Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars in Europe). The horrendous loading times that plagued the original have been trimmed a great deal, and the animation runs a whole lot smoother. This time, the two reluctant adventurers must travel the world in a race to stop the return of Tezcatlipoca, the legendary Mayan God of Death. Revolution I had forgotten how much fun the adventure game genre was! Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Broken Sword 1 & 2 (PC) at Amazon.com. While Circle of Blood was hardly an Einstein-level challenge, it was intricately plotted and thought provoking, and most puzzles required a degree of consideration before the answer became obvious. Broken Sword 2 - the Smoking Mirror, the original game that released in 1997, emulated using ScummVM. Despite several attempts by game developers to prove otherwise, the PlayStation controller doesn't do well in place of a mouse. Similar in look and feel to its prequel, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars, all action is played in the third person, with cartoon-style figures moved around on detailed, hand-drawn backgrounds.A perception of depth is added by multi-plane animation effects when backgrounds are panned. See all games in the Broken Sword series. Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror is a wonderfully-crafted adventure release from 1997. With all the time you spend talking to people, it's essential that Broken Sword II feature tons of speech. Still, the game is not for everyone. The first game in the series, called Circle of Blood in the US and Broken Sword: Shadow of the … This version does not contain the enhanced content or hints from the Remastered version, but offers an authentic experience for fans of the series. There's also a lot of pixelation around the edges of objects that can easily confuse you as to exactly what it is you're looking at. It’s time to experience George and Nico’s worldwide adventure in a whole new way, with brand new puzzles, hilarious new jokes, and the distinctive, rich story that made the series so deservedly renowned. I found myself checking the volume on my TV several times to make sure I hadn't accidentally hit the mute button. While Circle of Blood featured a sprawling story of mystery and wonder, offset by George's timely wit, The Smoking Mirror relies almost entirely on poor jokes to hide its somewhat thin plot. In this sequel the storyline remains equally intricate. on May 5, 2000 at 2:40PM PDT. The hand-drawn backgrounds and witty dialogue put the point and click transe on me again. If you're looking for a really great graphic adventure game, give Circle of Blood a try, but resist the temptation to pick up its sequel. This is adventure gaming at its very best. Every bit of conversation is voiced out, and the voice acting is actually quite good. Review. Game Review: Broken Sword 2.5 Although I consider myself a gamer-grrr l (yeah, I went there), there are very many game genres I love in theory, but suck at and hence very rarely play in practice. Even though point-and-click adventure games have been around for years on the PC, the PlayStation has been fairly devoid of them. These two classics are a treat to play. Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2001. Also, while the game does feature music at certain points, most of the time you're simply wandering around in silence. Unfortunately, the sound effects are incredibly simplistic, and they leave more to be desired. Stobbard, however, hasn't changed a whole lot since he had his fun in the original Broken Sword. Scarfulhu and Caddicarus both really like Broken Sword 2. All smoke and mirrors, and very little substance. 2.0 stars: "There are some good elements that shine through occasionally, but generally the game is not a positive experience." Genres:Action, Adventure. It's hard to know quite how to take Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. Rachel Penny . Broken Sword II is a wonderful throwback to the classic Sierra-style adventure game and is a great adventure for fans of the style. Read reviews and ratings of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars from our experts, and see what our community says, too! Like the game's title implies, it’s all smoke and mirrors, and very little substance. PC Requirements: Win95/98/NT, Pentium 60, 2xCD-ROM, 16 MB RAM, SVGA card, 1MB video memory. This makes the game more interesting, as Nico has an entirely different way of dealing with people and situations. The left analog stick controls the fast movements, and the d … In Broken Sword 2, you join American tourist George Stobbart and French photojournalist Nico Collard on another globe-trotting adventure. The game starts in Paris, moves around France a bit, then it's off to Mexico, the Caribbean, London, and back again. Full Game Details Broken Sword two follows George Stobbart and Nico as they continue their adventures. After all, he has saved the world. CHECK OUT SCARFULHU! Details such as faces are rather smudged and difficult to make out, and sometimes the game looks like the screen has been squished into a different size than originally intended. Like its predecessor, the graphics are impressive, as are the animated cut scenes that pop up as the story progresses. Broken Sword II is a wonderful throwback to the classic Sierra-style adventure game and is a great adventure for fans of the style. GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers. Read our review policy. Like its predecessor, the graphics in Broken Sword II are all hand drawn. Although the game begins on an exciting note—Nico is kidnapped, and George finds himself tied to a chair in a burning house—it quickly deteriorates into a series of brainless puzzles and mostly humorless gags. He's still a quirky, cynical bastard with an aspiring MacGyver-like talent that lets him do remarkable things with everyday items. The Broken Sword brings ancient prophecies, changeling children, cursed swords, elves the likes of which modern authors shy away from in favor of crafting long lived humans who are good with bows, ancient deities whose time passes but has not yet passed! Fortunately, it does. The Verdict. Broken Sword II manages kill both problems with a feature that should be in EVERY console p-and-c: dual controls. Whatever your goal, you'll do plenty of traveling. Metacritic Game Reviews, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon for PC, The murder of an underground hacker in Paris is just the beginning of this extraordinary adventure for … Missing is the real sense of depth and intrigue that made the original so exciting, and gone too are the more challenging puzzles. In the first game, George provided the comic relief against a serious and intriguing backdrop; here, the backdrop itself tries for humor but instead falls flat. 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