Customer Reviews

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a big fan of the adventure games so popular on PCs in the 90's but somehow completely missed the Broken Sword franchise. When I learned of this game I was excited to return to this all but extinct game style but unsure of how it would work on the Wii. My concern was unfounded. This is a wonderful, highly entertaining game; perfectly suited to the Wii's unique controller.

For anyone not familiar with the genera it's definitely not standard console game fair. Game play is based on methodical exploration, puzzle solving and a fair deal of reading/listening to non-player characters for hints and clues. The best way to explain it is to say it's exactly like a good mystery novel that gives you control over the protagonist.

The graphics are wonderful; beautifully rendered, slightly fanciful, visions of Paris, highly reminiscent of Don Bluth's style of animation. In this day and age of hyper-realism it's very refreshing to play a game that takes it's own direction graphically. The Wii's sometimes mocked hardware limitations seems to be encouraging this kind of innovation and I, for one, appreciate it greately.

The Wii is considered a bastion for casual gamers, and this title proves the concept. You don't need lightning quick reflexes, or years of twitch-response training to hop in and play. Surprisingly, this makes a great family/party game. At a gathering of friends, four of us in our late 20's-early 30's -- and only one Wii remote we had a great time working collaboratively to solve the puzzles and explore the various locals. Rather than take advantage of the built in multi-player option, we found one Wii remote got passed around quite a bit.

If I could say anything negative about this game it is the one constant strike against any game of this type. While I haven't played it though to the end yet, I imagine, given the highly linear story-driven narrative, there will be almost no replay value. Or, rather, it will have the same replay value as any good mystery novel has re-read value.

Despite that, I think it's well worth the purchase price, if only to send a clear message that more games of this quality greatly desired.

I was surprised how much fun I had playing this - I kept losing track of time. This is all puzzles, no fighting - just thinking. Some of the puzzles are sort of order of operations - asking the right people the right questions in the right order. There were some word puzzles, some picture puzzles, some number and one chess! One of the best benefits of the game was that my husband and I could solve the puzzles together.

The Wii controller was a bit klutzy (for me) with some of the lining-things-up puzzles and it was really tough on rotating things but the game lets you try again until your hands and eyes are coordinated. I also liked that you could save at almost any point in the story in case someone else wants to use the Wii for a while.

The ending was a bit of a let down. The quality of the images degraded and the scripting felt rushed. Still, I am glad I played it and we definitely got our money's worth of fun.

I've just finished playing Broken Sword and loved the game. I never played it on a PC so this Wii version was my first introduction to the game (which I guess is a classic). I enjoy games with little or no fighting and lots of exploring and puzzles so this was perfect for my tastes. The story was interesting and kept me looking forward to seeing what came next.

The hint system was good and I used it in the beginning a bit and then when I got really stuck (in hindsight, I wish I had used it less in the beginning of the game). One of the cons of the game for me was that sometimes you had to do something non-intuitive to figure out a puzzle (like talk to a specific person a 6th time after looking at a specific object, etc.) But once I got the hang of that and with the help of an occasional hint, it was fine. The Wii controls are great for exploring although on some of the puzzles that involved precisely moving things they took some getting used to.

I only recently purchased a Wii and this was one of my first games. I enjoyed it so much that it has sent me on a quest to find similar titles that include this type game-play. Which leads me to my other con...I felt the game went by too quickly. I spent a lot of time looking around and felt I was taking my time with it but it was over before I knew it and there is little replay value as the puzzles are all figured out. I would have liked a longer game for the money. As the title of my review states, I am anxious for a sequel and hope that it includes more areas to explore and maybe some non-linear story lines to increase the replay value.

In sum, I gave it 5 stars as I couldn't wait to play it every time I had some free time, enjoyed the story and puzzles, and was sad when I finished it. If you like a lot of action, this game isn't for you. But if you like point-and-click type adventures and puzzles, I think you will really enjoy Broken Sword.

I was looking for some inexpensive Wii games and found this one on Amazon. I had never heard of the original game, but after reading the description and the reviews, I was excited to find a new (to me) game of the same style and era as Monkey Island and Loom (two of my all-time favorite games).

Story: 4/5. It is a modern-day murder conspiracy that involves the Knights Templar and the Assassins. It requires finding clues and deciphering puzzles that are several centuries old. I guess that description along with the title make it sound like "The Da Vinci Code meets Assassin's Creed," but no. Thank goodness it is very different.

Characters: 3/5. One thing that I think is essential to a good video game is that the protagonist(s) is/are likable. My main gripe about the characters is that around 3 hours into the game, one of the main characters, George Stobbart, was really getting on my nerves. VG characters can be cheesy and still be likable, but the voice acting was over-done and I think the game would have been more enjoyable without it.

Graphics: 3/5. The graphics were...interesting. Knowing that the game is mostly a port from the original version, I wasn't buying the game for the graphics. What made them a little weird was that you could tell that certain things were touched up or added to this version and other things were not. I don't think the graphics make or break the game, but the inconsistency was a little distracting.

Gameplay: 2/5. I like this style of game. It's nice every now and then to play a game that is more about problem solving and telling a story than boss battles and repetitious action. Unlike most games like this that I have played, it has a hint system, so if you are stuck, you can get some help. There are usually 3 or 4 hints per puzzle/objective, increasing from subtle to blatantly explaining what you have to do. Along with time spent playing, it keeps track of the number of hints that you have read. While cursor precision may not have been a problem when using a mouse for the original version, keeping aim and combing the screen for targets with a Wiimote is a little more difficult. What was aggravating was that I had the right idea on several occasions but after they didn't work, I reluctantly looked at a hint that only reaffirmed that I was correct. If I knew these things up front, I probably wouldn't be complaining about them:
- In many cases, you have to use an item that you possess on another object on the screen. For me, this often took more than one try. Sometimes, the area that you act on is so small that pressing the button on the controller may move the cursor enough to miss your target. That means bringing up your item screen again, picking the item, and trying to click on your target again. I actually had to move closer to the screen than normal to avoid that from happening.
- One item may have multiple target areas that are indistinguishable from one another. The screen may have something like a statue. You can hover your cursor over the entire statue and it looks like one continuous target. However, inspecting/acting on one part of the statue may have different results than another part.
- The object may be a target but the target area is only a small portion of the object. For example, if there is a pile of coal, the target for that pile of coal may only cover 25% of it.
- There are a few puzzles in the game that are analogous to cracking combination locks and require you to press and hold a button on the controller as you twist it clockwise or counterclockwise. The game will hint to you when to stop turning by making a certain sound and making the controller vibrate. So the idea is to turn slowly. Well, the control has the "ice dispenser" effect. You twist it slightly and it either doesn't move or it starts to move and stops. You twist it a little bit further and the object on the screen spins way too much. If you turn too far, that means starting all over again.

Value: 4/5. This game took me about 10 hours to finish. For what I paid (under $10), I consider it a good value.

The day I got this game I played it for 10hrs straight! I am a big fan of the old PC RP point and click games from the 90's...which I grew up on and this game happily brought back those memories!
This game's story is addictive and the puzzles interesting and fun. If you are looking for kill 'em action this is not the game for you...it is strictly a game of logic and deductive reasoning! You can't even get killed if you tried! ;0) You can only get stuck and even if you do they have helpful hints to get you unstuck if you chose to use them.

Hurray for UBIsoft for putting out this game and I hope there is a sequel...and many other games to come in this genre of Point & Click/Logic Role Playing!

I can't remember when I enjoyed playing a game so much....and my only regret is that I finished it so quickly because it was so addicitive!!

Keep em coming UBIsoft! I can't wait to see what you do next!

If you have always had an inner "detective" hidden in you...you will be hooked on this game!

I am a big fan of mystery games, and this one begins really great. The problem for me was the dialogue- there was waaaay too much. It got to the point where I became uninterested in the storyline due to all the unnecessary talk, much of it could have been eliminated to keep my interest level up. Additionally, when you talk to the characters there are so many options of things to talk about it, when you go back to requestion I would get confused on what I had already asked him.

The only other thing that would have made this game better is extra puzzles, there really weren't too many, I would have liked more.

Overall, I gave it 4 stars because I did think it was a pretty good game.

I spent HOURS playing this game the first day I got it, and confess that, even though I'm finished playing it and pretty much can't do it again, it was a LOT of fun! Even though there aren't as many puzzles as one would want, there were always options to do or say different things, and get some weird comments in return. Or trying to figure out what to do before the hint icon started dancing around like a Mexican Jumping Bean.

How do I find more games in this vein?

This was a fun game and gave quite a challange. It has great sceens and proved to be a great game.

OK, so if you are a fan of the modern 3d looks, swordfights, actions and nerve-wrecking controller-button-combos, this game is not for you.
But if you are like me, and prefer oldschool text-only adventure games, adventure games, where time is not sensitive and you can go any time to have a cup of tea, where you can try all options out without the risk of having to die and restart the game for the hundredth time, go ahead. And if you like the kind of games where you need to "give the raven a ring, and then he will give you a torch, with which you will be able to find the squirrel's nest..." etc etc, this one is for you. Seriously. The graphics is pretty good, surely not like the flashiest brand new action games, more like a peek in the past, but who cares as long as I dont have to swordfight with aliens.

What I like:
many many characters to interact with
pretty good story line
funny conversations
lots of extra puzzles, where you may need to use your brain too - not overly difficult though
lots of scenes to explore
fun story
no need for fighting or quick, time-sensitive actions (there are a few scenes where quick action is needed, but it is all easily doable - even for me, who is miserable in Zelda / SuperMario galaxy)

What made me giggle:
well, ok, the fake accents are sometimes over the top
and the conversations can be way too cheesy
and sometimes characters speak way too much

But overall a good adveture game, and gives you a good 30-40+ hours of enjoyment without having to master pushing the controller buttons in the right time/way

I loved the original games in the series and I'm so glad to finally see the first one re-released for the Nintendo Wii. It's just as great as the original and I really like the new Nico storyline.

There's just one problem, I want more! I hope they will re-release the rest of the games in the "Broken Sword" series. Be aware of the Nintendo DS version though, since it doesn't have any voice acting.

I would love the game re-released for the Playstation 3 too, in high definition, since the Nintendo Wii isn't known for good looking graphics.