After we looked at the two grandiose first two parts of Broken Sword in the last post, today we are going to talk about parts three and four. These are summarized again because of their similarity – we can see what similarities they are here.

You’ll get the first surprise in the first few minutes: we’re playing in 3D now! In this world, we no longer move around by pointing and clicking, but use either the keyboard or a controller to move freely and interact with the world (part four allows point and click again, in some places you have to directly control the figure though).

Of course, at first such a complete change in gameplay was strange, but I have to say that it worked out better than I thought. I got used to the new principle relatively quickly and was able to concentrate on the essentials again: solving a new puzzle. In the third part there weren’t too many problems with the controls, in the fourth one unfortunately got stuck on a corner more often. Considering the age of the games, it was okay overall.

However, a much bigger hurdle was working with the fixed camera. This worked in most cases, but in some it gave you such an odd perspective that it took me forever to find specific passageways or items, or to tell when a guard could and couldn’t see me. Not well resolved in both parts and quite annoying.

But now we get to the most important part of both games: the puzzles. Here I have to say that the name “crate pushing simulator” suggested by the chat fits quite well. An excessive amount of the puzzles involve pushing heavy boxes (or box-shaped bricks) around to clear a path or build a staircase. It’s funny the first and second time, but gets annoying at some point.

The other puzzles ranged from very good to “Huh?”. The latter title goes to many puzzles for which I couldn’t even find any explanation in walkthroughs online as to how the solution should have been found – I think it’s a shame. It doesn’t have to be obvious, but many puzzles should probably be solved simply by trying things out. That’s not my thing at all.

But what is the point of solving all the mysteries? What big goal are you pursuing? Well, in part three you have to deal with the templars again. These weren’t completely destroyed in the first part and are now trying to seize power with the help of lines of force – a nice idea in itself, up to the point where you fight a dragon in the grand finale. Yes, that’s how I looked, too.

In the fourth part you have to stop a group of madmen from summoning the angel of death – alright. A lot of strange plot twists and developments, overall both stories are rather mediocre.

What else is there to say? Not much. Technically, both games went okay. The humor I celebrated so much in the early parts gives way to an unnecessarily sarcastic George, who picks on just about everyone he talks to. Overall also rather lower level. Since we played the third part in English this time, we finally heard Nico’s original voice – the fact that we switched back to German in the next part should say everything about it.

Overall, I’m sadly disappointed in both parts. While the transformation into the third dimension was weird, it had potential that was definitely wasted here. I started both games quite positively, but I felt the need to finish them relatively quickly. If you’re considering playing it, don’t.

That leaves only part five, which we’ll discuss next time. But what do you think of parts three and four? Do you share my opinion, do you think differently about it or did you notice things that I didn’t even mention? Let me know and discuss it with me on Discord!