Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (PC CD)

This is an excellent game and is recommended to anyone who likes adventure games.

People have reported that the game is not compatible with Windows XP but it is only the installer that will not run properly. You can however get round this by running the installer in Windows 95 or 98 Compatibility mode (look it up in Windows help).

This was the first adventure game I ever played on the PC and it still remains one of my favourites. You are George Stobbart, an American on holiday in Paris, who stumbles on a deep and gripping conspiracy-based plot involving, among other things - assassins in fancy dress, medieval artifacts and manuscripts and that old stalwart of adventure games, the Knights Templar (yes, this game predates Gabriel Knight 3 by a number of years). The cartoon style graphics are good and the characters can be genuinely amusing. There is a great score courtesy of Barrington Pheloung (of Inspector Morse fame) and hours of involving gameplay. I was really enamoured of this game, not least because I managed to complete it without resorting to a walkthrough. There may be fancier games on the market now, but in my opinion this still remains one of the finest adventure games ever made. Buy it and see.

We seem to take the phrase `Adventure Game' for granted these days. `Adventure' refers to a journey or quest, usually beyond what an average citizen in this world is likely, and lucky enough to experience.

With the whole world conquered, and only 1 in every couple of billion likely to shoot off into space, the only chance many of us have to reaching an adventure of our own is to follow the protagonists in the world of movies and computer games.

So when you open up you're newly bought `adventure game' only to find that it's a 1st person game requiring you to stalk lonely in a lowly lit mansion in the middle of nowhere, you may be disorientated as to why the game has been filed under this genre.

So what do publishers and gamers need to do to understand the true term of `adventure game'?

They play Broken Sword: The Shadow Of The Templers

George Stobbart, a young-professional American, is touring Europe. Stopping at a small café at the end of a quiet road in Paris on a beautiful sunny day, a clown enters the café, switches an old man's suitcase for an accordion that proceeds to exploding, destroying the café, killing the old man, and leaving nothing but a handful of obscure clues in its wake. As Stobbart picks himself up from the wreckage, he proclaims "the busy streets of Paris continue around me, but the explosion would change my life forever". It would be safe to say the story I was about to witness would change mine as well.

It quickly becomes apparent that the police are in no situation to be solving the case any time soon. And so Stobbart takes it upon himself to crack the case. Soon acquainted and aided with the hard-headed French freelance journalist Nico, Stobbart tracks the killer from various parts of the world, including Spain and Syria. And it soon becomes apparent that the man in the café's death is just a single jigsaw piece in the overall picture of an elaborate plot of something dating back to the historical Knights Templer centuries ago.

The game is followed by Stobbart's narration. Throughout, the dialog is mature, funny and clever. This is one of the best scripts you will ever come across in a game. Not once does it miss a beat or misplace. However, my only slight problem were the stereotypes pointed at various countries. The French are often seen obtuse, British visually humorous and Syrians slightly uncivilized. However, this isn't emphasised much and really they are there as a better indication that our hero is meeting exotic people from around the world.

Broken Sword is a cartoon graphic adventure. But before accusing Broken Sword of being more of a children's game, I can assure you this game, both in terms of narrative and visuals, is mature beyond that of, say, Monkey Island.

The great thing about cartoon animation in games of the mid - late 90's is their distinctive yet timeless quality. Despite pixilated around the edges, drawings are crisp, detailed, atmospheric and compliment the story and locations perfectly.

Throughout adventure game history, games before have felt secluded due to their lesser graphical engines. Games since Broken Sword have been restricting due to their narrative - even games such as Still Life. `Shadow of the Templers', however, has score after score after score of brightly lit, colourful, vibrant and spacious locations throughout that emphasis the sheer ambition of this game. That granted, there are a few occasions where the picture is just too detailed, and it takes a little pixel hunting to get to the exact spot of an item. However, Revolution games has pined an almost perfect balance of detail that neither relies on usable items lighting up on the screen like a sore thumb but not too obscure to find as to spend ages finding.

Characters blend in equally as well, characters may seem a little expressionless because of their small size, however, Stobbart' narration of various characters reactions are even better than visuals - "He gave me a cold, shocked stare as if I'd just farted at a funeral".

The music in Broken Sword perfectly fitted like a hand in a glove. Adventurous as it is film quality orchestra, violins, drums, synthesiser and flutes. The music is more a compliment to the game rather than standing out as separate. When either we, the gamer, or Stobbart is feeling anxiety, we are indicated it by the music. When action or the need to make pace occurs, we hear it in the rushing violin chords. Never dull, never depressing, there is a blissful eminence throughout. Music is minimalist at times, but the more so, the more rewarding it is.

The voice acting is superb throughout. There is always a feel of interaction, and never does a character feel offbeat, under or over performed. Characters that are meant to be sinister are made sinister, comical ones are comical, and etc.

Broken Sword is a landmark game in the adventure field. This is a quality game which is just as playable and enjoyable now as it was back then, and will be decades on. You will come back to this game again and again over time to revisit those beautiful landscapes and memorable characters. And even though it is not essential to play the first to play the others in the series, it is seriously advised.

Broken Sword is also a mammoth game to complete. Switching between two discs, this is everything epic a game of this ambition needs. This game is quite simply a must own for all adventure gamers, serious or humour.

A fine blend indeed!

[NOTE: This game works on some Windows XP machines but not others. Because of this, it may be required to download SCUMMVM in order to play - but it'll be worth it]