In this article I am going to write about Broken Sword, specifically the first two parts. Since parts three and four work completely differently mechanically, I’ll split them up. So this is about the – in my opinion – best parts of the series.
I think one of the things about the first two parts in the “Broken Sword” series is that I can’t really write too much about them. They’re just really good point-and-click games. Especially the first part has a strong story that is connected a lot with religion and the Knights Templar. This is grist to my mill, I personally like such connections and confusions very much.
The story of the second part is more based on Central American religions and therefore doesn’t really do justice to the name (In German, the game is called “Baphomets Fluch” – Baphomets curse. Baphomet is an invented god that the Templars are said to have worshiped. This justified their extermination by the Inquisition). But we’re playing the same characters, the style and mechanics work pretty much the same – it’s okay.
The controls are classic point-and-click. You point and click, either left to interact or right to examine. You can quickly switch from scene to scene with a quick left-right click. In my opinion, it could have been explained and solved a bit better (I know the classic double-click), but once you know it, it works very well.
Otherwise there is not much to say. The graphics are typically not very high resolution, but still very detailed and nice to look at, both the scenes themselves and the people and animals. All in all beautiful.
One thing I really liked was the humor in the games. He is (sometimes very) sarcastic, exactly my style. In contrast to later parts, I did not find it excessively frequent or strong, but very on point. Mixed with some social criticism, the mix worked very well for me.
“I’m innocent! I’m american!” – “Can’t make up your mind, huh?”
George and an officer, my favorite quote to this day
The only point that might be worth a bit of criticism are the puzzles. There were a few in both games that were really good, but most of them were too easy in difficulty. As a result, some passages felt more like running back and forth than a puzzle. At least, however, there was no puzzle that was unsolvable or completely illogical.
Overall, I’m very happy that we played those two games. I had a lot of fun and I would have wished that the following parts reached exactly that level – but more on that in another post.
How did you like the games? Was it fun to watch or do you have any criticism or comments that I forgot? Discuss it with me on Discord!