It has been exactly 28 years since the battle between the Templars and the Assassins for a long-lost sword, and it is not about any Assassin’s Creed series. This title, originally dating back to 1996, is a product of a studio called Revolution Software. Hailing from Britain, they started their work by creating games for Atari ST, Amiga, and DOS platforms. Despite the success of their previous games, such as Beneath a Steel Sky, the first Broken Sword is the game that brought them the most notable commercial success. It was available for PC, PlayStation, and later for Game Boy Advance.
The story of Broken Sword begins in Paris as an American tourist named George Stobbart. You are casually enjoying a café when a bombing interrupts the atmosphere. His curious character decides to find the attacker and discover why the attack happened in the first place. During his investigation, he encounters photojournalist Nicole Collard, and the two decide to join forces in search of the truth. The clues ultimately lead them on an adventurous journey they could never have imagined, from Europe to the Middle East, and in their quest for the truth, they fight against a mysterious and dangerous cult that wants to find a long-lost treasure. All of this is, of course, accompanied by a love story between the two that still feels rushed and forced, but that was a trend in stories of the 90s, so we won't nitpick too much about it.
The beginning of a wonderful adventure
Broken Sword - Shadows of the Templars Reforged is essentially another remaster of the original game. Let's recall, the first remaster was released in 2009 in Director's Cut form. And now comes the answer to the question that all players are interested in – what is the difference of this edition compared to the previous two? Basically, the game is still a 2D point and click adventure from a third-person perspective. The characters and animations were handled by artists, just like in the older versions. The background art has been optimized by A.I. for resolutions up to 4K, and parts that still did not function at the mentioned settings were simply redrawn by artists. What is somewhat unsatisfactory is the sound of the dialogue, which in some parts sounds noticeably poor, with a lot of noise and compression artifacts. Speaking of the gameplay itself, Reforged is truer to the title from 1996, where you start the story with George. The entire additional playable section with Nicole from the Director's Cut has now been removed. The developers made this move because, as they say, starting the game with an explosion and George makes for a better introduction to the story.
The goat still causes us problems
Unlike the censored Director's Cut, Reforge allows you to make fatal decisions again, followed by a vivid depiction of your death and burial. The game gives you the option of how you want to play it, meaning you can play it the old way like previous versions or opt for a casual mode designed for a younger generation of players and those who don't have much time to complete the game. This last option allows you to activate hints for solving a specific problem. They are divided into two categories. In the first category of hints, you can choose how often you want them to appear on the screen. If you choose a medium interval, hints will only appear when the game "realizes" that you haven't made progress for a long time. The instructions will be in the form of an item in your inventory flashing that could be important in the current situation or will direct you on the street or map to the next location to visit. The second type of hints is always present, and you can request them at any time. They are in the form of textual instructions that become more specific the more you ask for one task. After the first activation of the textual hint, you must wait at least 30 seconds before the option to request the next one unlocks. The UI interface is kept to a minimum, and you have several options available for interaction: the character can only comment on the object of interest or potentially interact with it. The inventory, as well as the main menu, only appears when you reach a certain position with the cursor on the screen. You can either combine items in the inventory to perform some interaction or use them directly in the scene. This part is a classic aspect of "old school" point and click adventure. If you choose the casual style with moderate hints, it will take you about 10 to 12 hours to finish the game, and during gameplay, you also have the opportunity to achieve achievements.
This doesn't look good to me!
The current remaster of Broken Sword is certainly a decent release of an adventure game that can be loved by both new and old audiences, and with a 4K screen and A.I. assistance, it looks very refreshed. Unfortunately, this release is not without flaws, as the previously commented dialogue sound issues have not been resolved. Despite everything, it is a solid release that proves it still has something to show and offers a decent amount of intrigue and entertainment at a price that is quite fair, around 30 euros. The game is available on Steam and GOG for PC, MacOS, Linux, and Steam Deck, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, and on the official Facebook page, they announce that it will also be available for Nintendo Switch in October this year.
A copy of the game for review purposes was provided by the developer Revolution Software.
