Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

"This is a great game, but it's the worst of the 3 versions."

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is a port of the PSOne/PC hit by the same name, although the PC version in some areas is known as ''Circle of Blood''. You play the role of George Stobbart, an American vacationing in Paris who is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

--]Gameplay: 6
The game is, essentially, point-and-click, except you can move around like you would in Tomb Raider. When you're near something that you can interact with, one of a number of various icons will appear. You can inspect (magnifying glass), move (hand pointing in a certain direction) and use (cog wheels turning). If you're not sure if you can interact with something you can press the R button to cycle through all the things you can do on screen. The L button let's you access your inventory. Probably the thing you'll be doing the most in Broken Sword, besides solving puzzles and murders, is talking to people.

--]Sound & Music: 8
Wow, Revolution did a REALLY good job with the sounds and music in this game. You don't hear any footsteps usually, but the bomb blasts and gunshots are all pretty clear. The music is especially good, considering that the game is on the GBA. There are quite a few different songs that work well with scenes to evoke suspense and interest, among other emotions.

--]Graphics: 7
Up close, George can look pretty pixilated, but since you usually see him along with other characters farther away, it isn't so bad. You also don't get to see the full-length cartoon segments, only slides. :- The backgrounds, on the other hand, are very easy on the eyes. Very good artwork.

--]Story: 10
This is where the game truly shines. As stated earlier, you play the role of George Stobbart, on holiday in Paris. He's drinking some coffee outside of a shop one day when a strange clown runs into the store. He comes charging out seconds later with a briefcase. Moments later, the shop explodes! And since the police on the crime scene don't seem to be doing too much, George decides to solve the case on his own. What starts out as a random bombing soon evolves into something much larger.

Now, the reason why I decided to give this version of Broken Sword a 6 is because of two reasons. One, there are certain spots in the game (like in a hotel room, or in an alley) where George walks up to something and just keeps walking right into the object. The second reason is a glitch of sorts about halfway through the game that can cause you to come to a screeching halt and have to start the game all over. If these two problems had been resolved, i'd easily give the game an 8 or 9. But, as it stands, i'm giving it a 6.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/03, Updated 05/30/03