Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror

"Not as good as the original, but still very good!"

Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is the sequel to the original Broken Sword. It once again has you plaing as George Stobbart in search of ancient Mayan artifacts, in an atempt to stop the resurection of a sinister dark lord of destruction. Broken Sword 2 will take you all over the world in search of ancient artifacts, to save the world. Nico returns again as Georges love interest, and there are parts when you can actually play as her!
Broken Sword 2 is just full of homur. Not as much as the original, but it will still have you laughing out loud. It's still your standard point and click though, much like Curse Of Monkey Island and the like. The puzzles are all fairly logical, and there is not too much pixel hunting involved. The story is excellent, and really keeps you playing, right up till the end.

The original Broken Sword had some of the best cartoon animations yet seen on any system, with detailed characters and backgrounds. Luckily Broken Sword 2 also does, using exactly the same graphic style. The only problem is that Broken Sword 2 feels more like an add-on pack rather than a true sequel. There are excellent FMV's featured again, with top notch animation.

The sound in general in Broken Sword 2 is just amazing. The music is excellent, as is the voice acting. They kept the same voice actors for the two main characters as they did with the original, which is very good indeed. Some of the characters sound very exagerated, but it fits the character that they are portaying really well.

The story line in Broken Sword 2 is unfortunately not as deep as the original, but it is still very good. Its easier to follow, which i guess is a good thing. There are some other characters besides George and Nico who return, but they only have minor roles.

Unfortunately Broken Sword 2 is a lot shorter than the original, which is disappointing, but if you enjoyed the first then you'll probably like this one too!

Graphics: 10 Excellent cartoony style. Memorable charcters and animations.
Sound: 9 Good sound effects and music. Great voice acting.
Gameplay: 9 Logical puzzles. Great presentation.
Replayability: 3 Little reason to play it again after completion.
Rent or Buy? Buy. Its on a value range so it should be easy to find a copy. Highly recommended.
Overall: 9 If it was longer it would have got an easy ten. As is though it's still a fairly long game, and highly recomended for point and click fans!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/02, Updated 07/12/02