Customer Reviews

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Broken Sword two follows George Stobbart and Nico as they continue their adventures. In this sequel the storyline remains equally intricate. Stobbart is your average jack-of-all-trades and he has that knack of using everyday objects to do extraordinary things. You also get the oppurtunity to control Nico, something you don't get in Broken Sword 1.

There are quite a few puzzles which are difficult to solve and require some lateral thinking. There is also an added danger factor. But the game is thoroughly enjoyable and I'd reccomend it to anyone.

Broken Sword 2, the continous story from Broken Sword 1. Broken Sword 2 was rated as either 9/10 or 10/10 from magazines all over the world from Russia to England, America and Japan. Broken Sword 2 follows on the story from the previous game with better graphics and a more trickier plot. BS2 is shorter than the previous but is more trickier and there are more ways to get yoourself killed! The game starts off brilliantly then the action starts, imagine a poison spider crawlling up your leg and a fire over by the exit while you are tied to the chair, if thats your fab dream then this is the game for you. Not for the weak minded this game sends puzzle after puzzle and none are easy to complete. But the action is there although not as good as some games but this type of action require more thought that fistes, one false move and you may set off a gaurds gun or fall into a pit, the game is very hard to complete but is very challenging.

It makes a great sequel. Lots of fans of Broken Sword say it's not nearly as good as its predeccesor but I think it's equally good. Though the graphics are a little groggy on the playstation version they still are quite nice. The game is undoubtedly an adventure and strategy type game. There is absoulutely no action or fighting. That does not automatically mean it has no suspense. To fight you have to look at your suroundings and choose what to use on your opponet. George(main character) takes it over from there. Simple?yes. It has simple 2-D graphics and point and click control. After all it was originally a PC game. Plus it is a bit old. In fact I was only 6 when it first came out in 1997. I would type more but i'm getting bored. If you want to check it out you should just try buying it from here because it's most likely no where else. You most likely won't be able to rent it from anywhere. You should definetly check it out. It can be quite hard and frustrating at times so you should check out www... for walkthroughs and hints. It also has a great forum with a lot of great people from all over the world. The game itself was actually made in Europe somewhere. Sorry I couldn't give you anymore information. Thanks for reading my review.....CU.

This was given to me as a present when I was at my parent's house. I had the playstation console with me so I popped in the game. It was a mystery game that started with your main character tied to a chair and a tranula-like spider crawling towards you. Your character watches as goones whack your girlfriend over the head and take her away. What do you do next? The graphics are great and it's in animation form. This game seems to hook everyone that watches it. It is difficult to turn off. My parents ended up buying a playstation because of this game.

This game is the best game I have ever played.Its so fun that I have clocked it About 3 Times.It startes of with u {George Stobart}trying to find your girlfriend {Nico} that some guy had poisond with a dart.You get caught up in this legend About 3 stones And how u have to find them to Save the world Against an evel spirit.U have to solve clues,Travel all over the world,save people, stair death in the face, and u even Make a few frinds along the way aswell as a few enemys.You can play as both nico and george at different times of the game.I totally recomend this game .Beleive me u wont be disapointted

This game is an excellent sequel to the first Broken Sword (aka Circle of Blood). The 2D graphics are the same, which is great. If you can find this game for the PC, then grab it!

I like this game a lot - the story about old mayan religion is very interesting and deep. You take on the role as George Stobbard who has to find his girlfriend who seemingly was kidnapped by a mayan indian. As the story unfolds you'll be tangled up in everything from drug smuggling to ghosts to the possible end of the world.

The puzzles are usually well though out, though some of them seem a little obscure. What really stands out is the voice acting and music - both very well done. The humour is also great and the graphics is classy.

The only real problem is that the story, while good, sometimes drags on a little too long and it's easy to lose interest if you're not focused. With that said though; the game is very good and there are parts of the story that are truely creepy.

I'm actually pretty new to the Broken Sword series since I never played adventure games on PC back in the day. I only played a Broken Sword game for the first time on DS when I picked up the DS port of Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templars. I enjoyed it enough to want to play the sequel, but I kept waiting for someone to release it as a DS port just like the first. Well, that never happened, so I figured I might as well pick up the sequel on Playstation 1, a console that I still own. I'm sure that the interface on DS is much better than this old PS1 game could ever be, but I was tired of waiting and I'd like to know what happens next to our plucky hero and heroine...

Graphics (score 7/10): Well, maybe these were good graphics back in the day. I'd say for PS1 era and the time that this game was released as a whole, the graphics are average. I know some people would say that the cutscenes look great for PS1, but bear in mind that everything is 2-D animation, which is easier to do than 3-D models. I would say that the 2-D animation has allowed it to age well (the art style bears a striking resemblance to Dragon's Lair). On the downside, the in-game environments are a bit fuzzy. This normally wouldn't be much of an issue, but since this is a point and click game where you are expected to pick small objects out of the environment, it is troublesome. Since this is a PS1 game, though, I'm not sure how much they could've done this better or if it's merely an insurmountable limitation of the system. Oh well, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was a hardware limitation.

Music (score 6/10): Well, the music itself is decent, but it suffers from the same problem the original Broken Sword did: it just fades in and out randomly. I feel like the music never sticks around consistently for an area (it just appears, then leaves in silence). Some people may not be annoyed by this, but it bugs me. Oh well. The other thing of note is that this game is fully voiced! Yes, it's very rare to have a voiced PS1 game. Of course, there's a reason for that. The voice acting seems decent, but the sound quality makes all the voices sound muffled and fuzzy. This problem is so bad that I had to turn on the subtitles to make sure I didn't miss any dialogue. I guess I should give them credit for trying...

Characters (score 7/10): Your main characters are George (an American tourist) and Nico (a French journalist and George's somewhat girlfriend) who were featured in the first game. You'll mostly be controlling George. He's a decent protagonist, and often has something witty to say about things (a bit like a milder version of Phoenix Wright) that will keep you playing. Nico is a decent and believable in her role as well. There's also a whole cast of side characters that are rather amusing (my favorite being Duane, the man who may or may not be working for the CIA). Overall, the characters are decent and likable, but not extremely memorable.

Story (score 7/10): The game starts you right off with George and Nico getting back together (about six months after the events of the original game). They go to visit some archaeologist (Nico's idea) and she's immediately kidnapped. George winds up tied to a chair with a giant spider coming towards him (and the room's on fire to boot). What a great way to start off your story with excitement! Anyway, I'm not going to spoil all the rest of the details but it basically involves them globe-trotting and solving mysteries related to Mayan mythology... All I can say is that the plot, while good, does feel like it's too rushed to properly build up to the epic ending they go for. In fact, I think the humorous aspects of the game will keep you playing moreso than the overarching plot.

Gameplay (score 5/10): This is a bit of a catch-all category for me. In case you have no idea what you are getting into, this is a point and click adventure game. The gameplay is based on the idea of solving problems by examining things in your environment and coming up with creative solutions. As a whole, I like this genre, but this game has several gameplay issues that mar the experience. First off, there is no tutorial at the beginning, they just thrust you into the game (with a giant spider coming toward you, no less!). Once you get used to the icons and what they mean, it isn't a problem though. However, the save menu is a complete nightmare. This is literally the most backwards and stupid save menu I've yet seen on the system. Basically, it loads and brings up ALL the save data on the card, then you have to scroll down (every time!) to an empty slot to save. Then, when you try to save later, it won't let you - you literally have to manually delete the original save data, and then save a new one. That is madness. There's also an option to format the memory card, which is a terribly dangerous thing to have in-game. There's also the issue I touched on in the graphics section. You basically a very hard time seeing certain items because they are almost invisible in the background graphics (it took me forever to find the light switch in that warehouse). I also take issue with the icons that are used for items and dialogue. The item icons are rather hard to tell what exactly they are meant to be, thankfully, when you push the O button, it gives you a description of what it is. There is no such description for dialogue, so you never quite know what you are going to talk about. Could it have killed them to put a bit of text on screen when you select each icon? Sigh. Another issue is that some of the puzzles are a bit difficult to solve, and I often resorted to a guide (often the problem was based on the graphical issues I mentioned earlier). Furthermore, there are certain segments in the game where you literally must figure out what to do in a short amount of time or you will get an instant game over. I do not like this feature - I feel it is really not fun in a game of this sort of genre. A game like this is about patiently solving problems methodically, and timing based stuff really should not be part of the experience. Lastly, this game is also rather short - clocking in at 8-10 hours (but with all these gameplay issues, perhaps it's for the best).

Overall (score 6/10): NOTE this score is not an average; it's my subjective overall score. This could have been a decent point and click adventure game, but not on this console. I feel like the PS1's limitations really hamper this game and keep it from shining. It's an awful shame, though, as the dialogue is quite good. I'd love to see this game ported to the DS like the first one was, but as it is, I really can't recommend it on the PS1. The only way I'd encourage anyone to buy this game on this console is if they played the first one and are just itching to know what happens next...

Broken sword 2: The Smoking Mirror is a creative and unique experience, from start to finish. Everything from the gripping storyline, and cartoonish style of graphics, makes this one a delight!
I would personally reccomned the entire series, for gamers looking for something fresh and new to experience.

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
Very cool game if you like games with alot of clue finding!