Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

"So Was the Leap To 3D a Catastrophic One? Nope, Quite the Contrary..."

The first two Broken Sword games have quite a fan base, but the idea of the 2D cartoon style being booted in favor of a more mature 3D design struck fear into the hearts of many a player. I was never one of them. I am one of those lucky few who are equally adept at playing fast paced, button mashing action games or a more leisurely paced, puzzle driven adventure game. I don't get frustrated by reflex sequences in games, nor do I fear keyboard or gamepad controls. I was raised on Mario, Zelda, and Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Then I discovered adventure games with King's Quest V in 1990, and I remember my new addiction; ten years old and playing hours on end at the keyboard of my parent's stone age computer. So you see, I grew up with both kinds of games. This review will reflect that mindset. I can't promise that the timed reaction scenes or other fast paced sections and 3D design won't bother some players who have only played adventure games all their lives. Nor can I promise the console gamer or first person shooter PC gamer that they will like the adventure game pace and puzzles of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (no, George does not get a grenade launcher, and Nico doesn't have an unlockable dominatrix outfit). All I can say is this: Gamers who don't have any prejudices against a hybrid adventure with a little bit of action and 3D exploration will have a great time.

This game is, in many respects, a direct sequel to the first Broken Sword game. It begins with George on a plane to the Congo where he's to meet with a scientist seeking a patent for some kind of energy harnessing invention he's cooked up. Of course that would be a little too easy for a Broken Sword game, so the plane runs into a storm and proceeds to crash land into a mountain. George is luckily not far from his meeting place with the inventor, and he arrives just in time to see him murdered in cold blood by the henchman of a pale looking man named Susarro. Meanwhile, in Paris, Nico is set to meet a hacker who wishes to tell her what he's been working on, and how the end of the world may be involved. She arrives to find him murdered in his apartment, and then discovers the killer is disguised as her. They have a little cat fight, and the killer escapes. Eventually George and Nico's cases will collide in an epic journey across France, England, the Congo, and Egypt; that again involves the Neo-Templars.

Visually, the game isn't anything spectacular, but it does indeed look very good. The 3D environment and character designs add a whole lot of depth to the experience, and open up entirely new possibilities for puzzles. Charles Cecil even appears obsessed with the possibilities for block puzzles, which have been complained about endlessly in games like Soul Reaver, Tomb Raider, and Vagrant Story, but have really never bothered me much. I enjoyed the more mature style of this game in all aspects of the graphics, voice acting, and writing. Even the music was very nice. Unfortunately the plot itself isn't as detailed as the original game in the series, but it's actually better paced and more exciting. Also, though I very much enjoyed the humor of the first two games, I appreciated the fact that The Sleeping Dragon was more serious overall, while not entirely bereft of humor.

So how does the game play? Well, you control your character (George or Nico, depending on the area) manually with the keyboard, and you also have keys you press to interact with things in the environment, climb ledges, push or pull boxes, or use inventory items, combine items, etc. It's all very well handled and easy to use in my view (I felt the same about Grim Fandango, which also kicked the mouse out the window). As I mentioned earlier, there are a few fast paced scenes where you'll be forced to react quickly with the press of an action button when prompted on the screen, or you'll have to run from danger. I didn't find this particularly difficult, but the cameras aren't really all that perfect for these scenes.

That brings me to what could have been improved. There should have been a manual "look around" function. This would have made some puzzles, particularly the block puzzles, a bit less frustrating. It makes more sense in a 3D world to be able to view your surroundings freely, and get a feel for what to do next. Also, the changing cameras make control more difficult than it needs to be at times. You could be pushing left to go left, then the camera changes to where your character is going down, but you are still holding left... The Resident Evil games have had this problem forever, but I must say, the control is a bit better in those games. Frankly, in The Sleeping Dragon, it's only a problem in the fast paced scenes, and even then the control is sufficient to easily escape your enemies. Being an adventure game, first and foremost, this game can be more readily forgiven its flaws which would be a great deal more damning in an action game.

So, the final word from me on the third Broken Sword game is this: It's as good as the original game, but for different reasons. It's not as funny, nor does its plot measure up to the first. But it's better paced, it has a greater sense of adventure, it allows you to play Nico (like in the second game, The Smoking Mirror), and it's more serious. I think it's a winner. It has its flaws, but most games do, and in The Sleeping Dragon the flaws are crushed by the strengths.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/04