Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon review by Al Giovetti

 

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By Al Giovetti
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Release:November 17, 2003
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Developer:Revolution Software Limited
Director:Charles Cecil
Head of Development:Francesco Iorio
Artistic Director: Steven Gallagher
Lead Section Design and Implimentation: Steve Ince
Audio Director: Ben McCullough
Project Management:Richard Lilley
Section Design: Charles Cecil, Ross Hartshorn, Jonathan Howard, Dale Strachan, Tony Warriner
Implimentation: Ross Hartshorn, Jonathan Howard, Dale Strachan
System Programming: Andrew Boskett, Francesco Iorio, Patrick Skelton, Chris Steward
Tools Programming: David Sykes
Audio Systems Programming: Jonathan Mitchell
AI Programming: Tony Warriner
Effects Programming: Laurie Cheers, Francisco Viciana
Lead Artist: Sucha Singh
Artists: Jason Haddington, Michael Montecchio, Emanuele Salvucci, Gurmita Singh, John Stopforth
Lead Character Artist: Demis Trevisson
Animation: Michael Ryan, Mark Thackeray, Veno Prendergast, Steven Gallagher
2D Artists: Allan Bednar, Linda Smith
Technical Art, Research and Development: Emmanuele Salvucci
Concept, Visualization and Storyboarding: Allan Bednar, Oscar Chichoni, Ros Allen
Supporting Art Direction: Allan Bednar
Story and Game Design: Charles Cecil, Neil Richards, Steve Ince, Tony Warriner, Jonathan Howard
Dialogue: Neil Richards, Steve Ince, Jonathan Howard
Story and Script Editor: Neil Richards
Sound Effects: Michael Kelly, Stuart Rimell, Ben McCullough
Music Assistant: Elliott Rush
Public Relations: Simon Byron, Barrington Harvey PR
Voice Director: Dirk Maggs
Voice Actors: Rolf Saxon, Sarah Crook, Alison Petit, Andrew Secombe, Bob Golding, Jay Benedict, John Bull, Laurence Bouvard, Peter Marinker, Rachael Rogers, Rachel Preece, Simon Treves, and Seamus O'Neil
Quality Assurance Coordinator: Darrell Timms
Quality Assurance Testing: Matthew Lee, Ben Haddock, Luke Robinson, Kevin Craven, Tom Robinson
Business Affairs: Noirin Carmody
Administration: Louise Cooper
Plastic Wax Animation Pty:
Assistant Direction and Lead Animation: Phil Lukasz
Animators: Peter Spinaze, Hugh Carrick-Allan, Aaron Grove, Glenn Wilson, Christopher Harris, Damien Mahoney, Stephen Casey, Matthias Reiche, Maximillian McMullin, Michael Allison
Character Artists: Shamus Baker, Guy Robinson
Artist Support: Tyrone Maddams, Kris Pedlow
Composting: Clayton Diack
Special thanks to: Adam King (Systems Administrator), Sotiris Bakosis (Lip-synching)
Project Management: Phil Lukasz, Anthony Pittorino (Commerical Director, Business Affairs), Roger Maddams (CEO)
Sumo Digital Ltd. Consultant: Steve Lycett
Additional Programming: Chris Rea, Tom Sedden
Six by Nine Limited Consultant: Sam Brown
Babel Media Limited:
Quality Assurance: Babel Media
Technical Quality Assurance: Jonasson Lochner, Chris Goldsmith
Programming Tool: RenderWare, Cannon Inc., Criterion Software Ltd., Bink Video by RAD Game Tools Inc.
Thanks To: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Alias Systems, ATI Technologies Inc., NewTek, nVidia Corporation
Publisher: The Adventure Company
President: Richard Wah Kan
VP Marketing: Marshall Zwicker
Executive and Line Production: Robert Stevenson
Acquisitions Manager: Annette Bechamp
Product Managers: Byron Gaum - XBox, Renata Richardson - PC
Graphics Department Manager: James Meecham
Creative Director: Desmond Oku
Graphic Design and Layout: Edward Hatim
Lead Illustrator: Russell Challenger
Director, International Communications: Nick Malaperiman
Public Relations Coordinator: Tara Reed
Quality Assurance Manager: Mike Adams
Quality Assurance Lead: Mike Mitres
Quality Assurance Staff: Dan Sawang, Matthew Dickson, Chris Elliott, Aldo Fazzari, Anthony Finelli, Ryan Gavel, Yohany Lee, Nick Mucci, Chris Nesbitt, Shing Pang, Matthew Richarson, Matthew Szymanski, Justin Wah Kan
Phone: 416-638-1170 (USA)
Website: The Adventure Company
Requirements:Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Pentium III 750 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM Drive, DirectX 8.1 Compatible 64MB GeForce 2 or equivalent video card, DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card, GeForce 2 64 MB or equivalent, 1 GB free hard disk drive space, keyboard, mouse or analog controller, speakers
Recommended:Pentium III 1.2 GHz, Sound card with 5.1 surround sound support, GeForce Ti 4200 or equivalent,
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Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

Summary * History * Company Line * Game Play * Plot * Graphics * Animation * Voice Actors * Music Score * Sound Effects * Utilities * Multi-player Features * Cheats, Hints, and Walkthrough * Journalists * References * Letters

History

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars and Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror are great games in their own right that preceeded the third installment of the Broken Sword games. It appears that the third game of the trillogy will be the final chapter for the Grand Master who was apparently killed in the first game.

The series has enjoyed exceptional success and is marked by quality Walt Disney style animation and background art. The games have always been well scripted and based in the ever popular mythology or real history surrounding the Knights Templar, a sect of knights established to protect visitors to the holy land during the middle ages.

Summary

The production quality of this game rivals that of the best graphic animated adventures. This title is right up there with Cyberia and the Myst series of games. If you like the Sierra, Lucas Arts, Microsoft or Westwood style graphic animated adventures, you are in for a real treat. European and Canadian game companies have been keeping this type of game alive and have updated the games with real three dimensional animation sets and characterization.

I enjoyed playing this game as much as I have enjoyed playing any of the games that I have played

Company Line

Many have touted this new adventure game as a true epic, and a game that is likely to change the face of adventure gaming as we know it. The series itself has drawn critical acclaim from hard-core and adventure gamers alike for many years. With its revolutionary interface, strong story-line and superb graphics, the game is turning a few heads.

The story revolves around the adventurous duo of George Stobbart and Nico Collard, as they fight sinister forces, an ancient conspiracy, and a fiendish source of pure evil (We all want to fight pure evil.), as foretold in an ancient manuscript newly deciphered: The Voynich Manuscript. Fighting through the steamy jungles of the Congo, eerie castles in Prague, the chic back-streets of Paris and the historic village of Glastonbury, the duo must unravel the secrets of an ultimate evil power and save mankind. (We always have to save the earth, the solar system, the galaxy or sometimes just the country in these games. What is the point otherwise?)

Written very much as an exciting and suspenseful thriller, with the look and feel of a Hollywood action film, players will face new and unique challenges as they explore a whole new world full of exotic locations. Head to www.brokenswordgame.com for the full story.

Game Play

All in all this is a very well designed game. The game designers do not violate any of the cardinal rules of game design. The game play is almost perfectly controlled so that the experience is gaming not many of the foolish devices game companies use to force the gamer to spend time playing rather than gaming.

The interface has some nice features to it. Most jumping games allow you to jump from one location to another and if you miss your jump you die. Most Jumping games are simply anoying, you jump wrong and you die, requiring you to repeat the same sequence over and over again in a nearly impossible or impassable situation. This game is much more forgiving.

In this game you jump from one location to another using an icon activated by pressing one of for keys on the keyboard (AWSD). Usually the S key on the keyboard is the action key. You only fall if you do not press the buttons quickly enough if there is a timed sequence. In most cases the jumps are executed perfectly when you press the button. I found the process less anoying than most of the jumping games that I have played.

One aspect of the game is the puzzles. The most popular physical puzzle is pulling and pushing blocks of stone, stone flowerpots, or boxes made of wood to make a platform to climb up so that the hero or heroine can get over obsticles in the game. Once you learn the rules of moving the blocks most of the puzzles become obvious and there is a forgiving nature to the puzzles so that you can work out any errors you make.

Other puzzle types include working your way around physical obsticles by jumping up and holding onto drainpipes and ledges to move from one location to another. You also have to move your character close to the wall to move along thin ledges high off the ground without falling.

The other popular type of puzzle is to watch the movement of armed guards and dogs so that the hero or heroine can move from one location to another without being spotted by guards and shot. This was the most difficult of the puzzles in the game since when you were shot you had to start over.

The game observes the most effective and pleasant of solutions when the hero or heroine dies. The game resets to the sequence just before the death of the hero or heroine giving you a chance to try the sequence over without having to manually reload a prior save game or go back to the beginning of a long and anoying sequence that you already completed. The whole process was very pleasant and time efficient making the repetition less than that in most other games.

One of the cardinal rules of gaming is to eliminate repetition when and where ever possible. Repitition of game sequences is a lousy way to try to extend the hours of game play. Most game players are offended or bored by repetitions to the point that they may stop playing a game that requires them to repeat the same sequence over and over again. The Broken Sword series of games does not resort to such devicive and annoying means to add gameplay to their products.

Travel from one location to another in this game was very well controlled. The game player did not have to go back and forth from one location to another to complete the game. Progression from one location to the other was linear. If the game player is observant and picks up items while travelling from one location to another there is no need to backtrack repeatedly in most situations.

Many items picked up are of no use to the game player. There is a piece of coal, string and other things just not needed in the game. These items do not encumber the inventory as they do in some games.

Plot

For 350 years an ancient manuscript was undeciphered until now. The ancient manuscript takes or hero and heroine, George Stobbartand Nico Collard on another wonderful adventure. You play both George, an american attorney, and Nico, a french reporter, in alternating chapters

The locatons include the apartment of the translator, an old theatre, and catacombs benieth an old church in Paris France, A ruins in the Congo on the continent of Africa, a ruins in the valley of the dead in Egypt, and a tor in Glastonbury, England.

All good games, as all good stories, have humor, wit, some puzzles, and a lot of exploration. The game provides suspense in many of its aspects where the avatar (the game player) of the hero and heroine must push buttons very quickly in order to survive.

Graphics

These graphics are some of the most beautiful graphics that I have ever seen in a computer game. Graphics are not a matter of the number of polygons. Everquest has taught us that you can do wonders with just a few polygons. Art is art. If the computer artist has the skill and talent, some of the most beautiful things can be done.

Animation

Animation of characters and backgrounds is first rate. The animation rivals that used in the best animated movies. The game has high quality animated characters with full development of expressions and personality.

Voice Actors

The voice actors are first rate. Professionally done with the best acting talent. Voice Actors include Rolf Saxon, Sarah Crook, Alison Petit, Andrew Secombe, Bob Golding, Jay Benedict, John Bull, Laurence Bouvard, Peter Marinker, Rachael Rogers, Rachel Preece, Simon Treves, and Seamus O'Neil.

Music Score

Music compliments the game play. The music is well written and fits with the game.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are high quality.

Utilities

The controls in the game are a bit awkward to learn. It took me forever to figure out how to access the inventory. Only after I figured out the space bar activated the inventory did I see the "Space" on page 7 of the little manual which said "display inventory / hide inventory."

Multi-player Features

This is a single player game. The game is best played by one person running the computer and a group of friends gathered around enjoying the story as it unfolds.

Journalists

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    References

    Letters

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