'Broken Sword: The Director's Cut' – A Point-and-Click Classic Made Even Better
posted by Ryan Rigney on January 25th, 2010 4:22 PM EST in $6.99, 5 stars, Adventure, Puzzle, Reviews, iPhone games, iPod touch games
From Revolution Software, the same people who brought the iPhone the fantastic remake of Beneath a Steel Sky, comes Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: The Director's Cut [$6.99], a remake of a point-and-click adventure from '96 that many consider to be one of the greatest games within its genre. As we covered in our preview two different versions of this remake were already published on the DS and Wii in March of 2009, and the new iPhone version is a bit of a mixture of the two, adding full voice acting and other features that the DS version lacked.
Broken Sword, which was renamed Circle of Blood for its release in the USA, has been given a significant facelift. Whereas the original version of the game focused almost solely on the male character, George Stobbart, The Director's Cut does a better job of fleshing out the back story of the game's female protagonist, Nicole Collard. The game opens as Nicole prepares for an interview that unexpectedly becomes a murder investigation when the man she was set to interview is shot by a mysterious mime. Other modifications to the game include new puzzles that are specific to the iPhone platform and new art and animation from Dave Gibbons, who you might be familiar with through his work on Watchmen.
The story in Broken Sword, as in most point-and-click adventure games, is the most important element of the game, so those who haven't played a version of the game before will be pleased to find that Broken Sword's writing is excellent, and the story is quite gripping. I particularly enjoyed the self-depreciating sense of humor that Nicole occasionally displays with her commentary, and George is a comedic parody of an American from a European perspective, making him a fairly amusing character as well.
For a point-and-click adventure, Broken Sword does a lot to make itself easily accessible. In an intelligent move by the developers, a simple finger swipe will reveal everything that George or Nicole can interact within a single screen, preventing players from having to poke around the screen randomly until they find something that they can interact with. The game's many puzzles range from brain games wherein an abstract combination of collected items must be used to progress to a lock-picking game that's nearly identical to the iPhone's own Blocked to a ridiculously complex cypher that players must harness incredible code-breaking skills to crack.
Luckily, the game has a built-in walkthrough in the form of a hint system that can be easily accessed if players want to give up and find the answer to a puzzle. For each puzzle there are several hints, each one more explicit than the last, with the last one usually being a straight-up answer to the puzzle for players who just couldn't figure things out. The genius of both the "swipe-to-reveal" mechanic and the hint system is that it's possible to never use either if a player doesn't want to. Some of the hardcore fans of the original PC version of the game that're picking up the iPhone version will want a more "pure" experience, and that option is available to them, but softies like myself can still enjoy the game without having to resort to an online walkthrough.
Broken Sword's creative touch interface works like a charm on the iPhone screen, but it was the one-two punch of the game's fantastic soundtrack and art that really hooked me. The piano-heavy orchestral soundtrack is so good that I purchased it from the iTunes store so I could listen to it later, and the fact that every line of dialogue in the game is voiced makes this a game that must be experienced with headphones. Dave Gibbon's contribution to the art and animation was an invaluable addition, as the painted backgrounds and the fluid animation adds a certain appealing touch to the game.
Even though I've never been a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, the story and all around high-quality production values of Broken Sword sucked me in like a good book. Whether you're an old fan of the original game, a newcomer to the series, or even someone who's never played a point-and-click adventure before, Broken Sword is a game with mass appeal that will draw you in.
App Store Link: Broken Sword: The Director's Cut, $6.99
TouchArcade Rating:
It was already a great game but this version is so beautifully updated, well produced and with such a seamless UI that I am truly blown away.
Easily the best adventure game on the app store!!!
Agreed. Beneath A Steel Sky is great, but showing its age more. That game was released before Broken Sword, of course, but the improved graphics put it even more in the modern age. I hope that every adventure game to come will be using this interface. It's simply perfect in every way.
Oh man, Im so glad that the I-platform is getting a more "serious" platform to develop for! The first time I think that the price is actually to low! This is pure Quality with a capital Q
This game was pretty good, I definitely played this to the end on my Palm, and certainly was entertained by it… I remember it seeming relatively easy, compared to say Monkey Island, and so it may appeal to more people as a result.
Instant buy. Even though I bought it and the other two games on special through Steam a short while ago, $9AUD is a cheap price for a brilliant game, especially redone and modernised nicely like this! Worth every dollar.
I played the orginal when it first game out many years ago, it was a great game then and the directors cut for the iPhone has made it even better. Despite one or two minor cutscenes that have been removed from the orignal game which I found odd the game has a great story great characters . Hopefully they are going to make broken sword 2 directors cut too!
Bought it this morning, finished it this evening.
I'm so happy there's been these good point and click games coming to the App Store.
Hi bought broken sword for iPhone but for the life of me can't
solve the puzzle to open the door in the well even with all the
hints. I must be doing something wrong but I have tried everything.
Any help appreciated.
Steve
I have the same problem, I have tried the lock each and every way humanly possible… either we are missing something or there is a rather annoying game glitch just when it looks like we are getting to the end!
Ok so im completely stuck in the pub in Ireland
I ahve the wire, the beer washer is broken and everytime i try to drag the wire over the washer or the plug my guy just shrugs at me…
Ive spoken to everyon e in the room… and cant get into the cellar..
ive spent about an hour dragging the wire over the screen to no avail…
seriously irritated !
pls help someone
I got stuck there too, but you are doing everything that you can. Just be patient. Also, try to not get him to stand to close to the door.
Stuck in exactly the same place (pub), seriously ruining what had been a great game experience, spent 90 minutes across a couple of sessions trying to make it work
Hi:
I also can't solve the puzzle to open the door in the well. Have tried to follow the hints and different combinations and still haven't got the correct one. The numbers are XIV and XXVII right, VI and LXXXI left, III and I right and XVII, XII and XXV (left or right??) and one should add the new number to the last result, taking out the hundreds.
So the sequence is supposed to be:
XIV and XLI right (clockwise)
XLVII and XXVIII left (counter clockwise, taking out a hundred to CXXVIII)
XXXI and XXXII right (clockwise)
LXIX and LXI and LXXXVI left (counterclockwise…also tried clockwise)
What I'm doing wrong?
Any help appreciated.
Philip
X1V – XXV11 – V1 – LXXX1 – 111 – 1 – XV11 – X11 – XXV
AND THE DOOR WILL OPEN
I thought the same, but authors did quite a confusing job with that hint "27 right wont work, TRY ADDING each new number to previous total blablabla"…took me a day, there is NO any kind of adding for anything.
Instead of that, they should say; "Try counterclockwise" direction after first XIV Clockwise entering (both for read and yellow numbers)…so Wilderness is right but forgot to tell you KEY, and that is; Go right for XIV, but for XXVII go Left, etc etc.
Hi
This is a great game but I'm stuck very early on
- using the iPhone version.
How can you proceed if you can't solve a problem?
I can't open the secret door despite having squashed the
canister and putting it in the gap.
What else do you need to do?
Door/crushed cannister is were I am stuck too! Ack – tried going back to game five times now trying different things – To no avail!! She bends over sticks crushed cannister under door then stands up and repeats – I need a gap for leverage! Frustrating to be stuck like this
@jl elliot
I had that problem too and it frustrated me for ages, it's been a while since I completed it so my recollection might be a bit fuzzy, I think you need to make sure that the door you entered from is closed.
You may have had to use the cylinder in the panel a second time too
This was the only place that stumped me for a while, so when you get past it you should have a relatively frustration free journey to the end of this excellent port.
Gotta admit I think I fell in love with Nico again!
Just started a new game to check this, if you prop the cross up with the crushed shell and put the artifact in the slot panel the second time, when you remove the artifact and then the shell the cross doesn't drop allowing you access to put the shell under the door to lever it.