Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

"George get's fat and the dragon goes over the top."

Six years Goddammit!.

Six years is a long time and can do a lot of work. But it's also very disconcerting when six years is spent making a popular adventure game. The expectations rise higher by each year and by each game release. Broken Sword sparked controversy when it's plans were released to the format of playstation 2. Mainly because they were intending to destroy in light terms the boundaries of traditional adventure games. Point and click system was buried. And everybody should remember the consequence of ther actions last time they did that. Anybody anticipating the re release of In Cold Blood?.

Though the baton has dropped in terms of quality, Broken Sword 3 has enough stamina and style to wave the two fingers up at the people who gave up on it. The response:

Your loss.

Screen shots had also proved that Revolution ensured they were going to test the playstation 2's best hardware. Not just by their 3D, gorgeous graphics by fully giving the two characters a make over. George Stobbart now dons a 'pretty boy' look. And maybe it's because I'm a guy that I first found that a possible fault. Nicole also received the same treatment but also the new 'privelge' of a new actress. Whoopee.

Heights of success.

The first two Broken Sword games sold almost two million units each. They were hailed as the saviour for adventure gaming. So to uphold their reputation, Revolution promised a new age of adventure gaming. The Sleeping Dragon was the next adventure generation game. But wouldn't that be easy to say considering how Escape From Monkey Island was the only other primary adventure game released for playstation 2?. In truth, there was times I thought I was playing Tomb Raider Angel Of Darkness without guns and Lara Croft. Due to some similiarities. And I hated that game.

The Terms Of Acceptance.

In order for me to accept this game, there were only two things I cared about. The Broken Sword 'feel', which every game has. I didn't want a new feel or atsmophere to this game otherwise I wouldn't be able to enjoy this game. Secondly, I wanted it to have a forte of a storyline, like it's predecessors.

"I'd bet the wife on it. I'd even bet the dog on it."

The dialogue in this game doesn't stray very far from what it usually is. George gets the witty and sarcastic one liners and on occasions, makes funny remarks and those cross examinations that make him George Stobbart. Nico, has some sophisticated humour in this game, and more girls will relate to her sassy one liners.Unfortunately, compared to the previous games, the dialogue is very boring and bland with less gags and more grins. Not very good but still, the effort remains. However, if people thought Broken Sword II was bland, they haven't seen anything yet. Most people will be a little tense as to capture one brilliant joke or gag in this game as they would easily drag out of the previous games. It's a shame, Rolf Saxon playing George Stobbartt has a great comical reading.

Return Of The Templars.

Broken Sword had one of the best storylines in video games alongside the likes Metal Gear Solid. Broken Sword The Smoking Mirror also had a great follow up. So could this game top those?. To ensure to capture at least some of the intensity of the first game, nostalgia played a big part in this game. Characters from the first game are introduced with the same makeover and into the plot here. You'll find Flap, Ostvald, Andre Lobineau and even Lady Piermont's niece. Anyway, the plot starts off in two separate murders.

George goes to meet one of his clients in the Congo about a patent for a new invention but stumbles in on his clients murder. Nicole's career in journalism is faltering so her Boss gives her an interview with a hacker who has made a discovery in a manuscript, a woman impersonating Collard shoots him. From there on, the two characters' plots intertwine into one which reunites them and reignites their battle with the Neo Templars. Again, you travel all over the world trying to solve the mystery. It's Broken Sword tradition. With the plot, the feel is still intact but there's a much more mainstream platform approach as well. Revolution does it's best to milk the nostalgia aspect of the first game. The ending is questionable and illogical but overall the feel of the game is on and off.

Why?. Well because the previous games always flirted with fiction, but never strayed too far into the supernatural or the fantasy side of it. In other words, the plot was 85% realistic, while here, they seem to have chucked in whatever seemed appropriate. It looks like a rushed job, piled on with the dialogue.

Whatever happened to the nice people?.

The supporting characters are crucial for this game. The interaction and conflicts are half of the reason George is a raving kleptomaniac. Now, I'm dedicating this part to Nicole Collard, who's been in an ongoing debate on her character and as a sidekick. Before hand, George is his usual witty self and he won't exactly dismiss anybody with his character or his performance in the game. Anyway, la fille Nico gets another vamp. In the first game she was described as too passive and too un motivated in the plot but her image was spot on. In the second game, she had developed a more sophisticated look which set the years on her. Her character had suddenly become a feisty feline and some people then gave her the typecast of a useless sidekick despite her being a playable fixture in the game. This time round, I feel her image is a cross breed between the two previous games while her character repeats that. I still feel she isn't a great force to be reckoned with and her character can be overshadowed with her bad jokes and remarks but whence in thought, the game wouldn't be the same without her in it. But I do think she has one of the best lines in the game 'You go deal with him, I'll deal with this bitch.'.

Her downfall is probably that she is in total contrast to George, and she has nothing appealing about her to steal some of the limelight away from him. Andre Lobineau returns and gets a really bad makeover, he looks really old whereas in the previous game, Broken Sword 2, there was a hint of a reason to as why Nico could have cheated on George.

Call yourself evil?. Ha.

Susarro and Petra make lousy bad guys in my opinion. For instance, in other games, you'd be pretty chilled if a woman pointed a magnum in your face but it happens too often and Susarro doesn't quite hit the mark, he looks like a combination of Professor Peagram and Oubier from the last games. There aren't as many characters in this game as the last (Probably due to the graphics).

Really, are you SURE my butt doesn't look big in this?.

The graphics in Broken Sword have always been successful. The last two games were graphically detailed by 2D flamboyantly coloured graphics. Broken Sword 2 had facial expressions as an improvement only and it pulled off. This game has been enhanced to 3D graphics in the facelift Revolution has under went. They are simply stunning. However, though George might have been buffed up with more outfits, Nico got the preferrential treament facially. George's distinctive looks have been put away (Hopefully into preservation) and his face doesn't look as good as some of the other characters. However, the FMV is suitable and the graphics are quite chic at times. Especially the locations. The backstreets of Paris are quite atsmopheric and you get to see Nico's apartment with a makeover. There are eerie locations such as the theatre and the Congo is quite radical. There is a real gleam of romance and love when you visit the river Seine with the Eiffel Tower smoldering in the background. Just beautiful.

But there are the glitches in the cutscenes where he character movement is sloppy, very sloppy that they have to do a stand on the spot 45 degree turn to face somewhere. They way George and Nico run also is very awkward, having to stop and turn sometimes.

Wuthering heights..

While writing this, I thought of the perspectives of the new gameplay ala without the cursor. And I think it's great. Although it might seem that some of Broken Sword's identity is being sealed with the new layout. The analog is a decent concept, the new control buttons are easy to learn and it will certainly help boost the game's enjoyment to platformer fans. But whereas the decision making, you only have to press a button to save your life which diminishes some of the suspense of the game while with a cursor, you are granted more time and tension to figure out what to do. This doesn't exactly destory the concept though because it's nice to know that your characters can frequent death.

The puzzles occur more which is a nice feature because I think puzzles sort of lacked in the previous games whilst it's main focus was item combining. But the puzzles revolve around moving boxes and other easy concepts. The items in this are few. And the combining is far too easy. The analog diagram lets you know what you can combine which becomes too easy. It almosts gets to the point of a lightweight adventuring feel.

The gameplay is divided into two parts. George gets the puzzles and most of the action while Nico only talks to people and gathers evidence. The gameplay is adequate. However, it's sudden conversion to the stealth genre is a little daunting and too fast paced to take in. The enemy AI is really strong and it seems frustrating sometimes. But the puzzles are fantastic whilst shortlived, though they seem to overide the usual item use which is lacks and disappoints.

Also, there are just too many box puzzles in this game. It's fascinating how they had the time and managed to create so many but enough is enough. Variation isn't the key. The only other criticism I can give this game is it's length, which is even shorter than Broken Sword 2.

The fall of Bazza.

Musically, the sound is from another composer but is still great all the same. However, the voice acting isn't so great. There are times when speech is cut off by a following sentence in the dialogue and the French accents aren't so good when compared to the previous games. Rolf Saxon returns and does George Stobbart proud once again and is the main reason you will ease into George's new makeover. Nico is once again played by a different actress, Sarah Crooke, who I am told (or falsely read) works in Revolution and begged Charles Cecil to audition. Her accent sounds English at times, although she does manage to have some of the French pronounciation right, there are times when her accent seems bland. Out of the three actresses who played her, Sarah Crooke just manages to oust Flamina Cinque. The sound effects are much more apparent and efficient which is nice because I feel the previous games lacked them. The soundtrack on the credits is a nice up tempo rock song which gives the sound even more recognition. Dans ensemble mon amis, this department is fine.

The Sleeping Dragon is no longer just a metaphor in the title. Sheesh.

The Sleeping Dragon was a risk Revolution were prepared to make. For that, I think that this game is allowed to fail. Though it doesn't, there is not really a hint of the pedigree that defined it's two predecessors classic status. But in proportion, this game does set new standards and new limits for upcoming adventure titles that have avoided the playstation console. It's hard to judge the game of the three, but personally, I think it's the weakest in plot and borderish gameplay terms but it suffices greatly. Let's hope that fans can appreciate them in the way they have for PC games. I do like this game but there are some parts that are too short and un-appealing. Replayability is a huge possibility though. For the next game, if there is one, Revolution needs to put their efforts in the gameplay and story texture. And let's hope it's not another six years before we see those improvements.

The biggest addition to the plans of Broken Sword IV would be the regain the hunger, the determination to thrive on being a good game that the first game shined for. This game really does seem to be cocky enough to be complacent and shallow, thinking it's good enough to get away with it. The charms of George Stobbart's humour will not work here. Neither will the bra size of Nico. Cecil needs to regain his senses, and focus on this "next generation gameplay" banner he's proposed to us. It's too late to go back to point and click now.

Buy Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon for the purpose on having it in your collection, average gameplay, reasonably funny dialogue and heartwarming uplift for George Stobbart, making his long awaited debut for the Playstation 2. Hopefully, we'll see our favourite American kleptomaniac again.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/05/04, Updated 07/30/04