Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (released as Circle of Blood in the US) is a point-and-click adventure game released to the PC on November 5, 1996. It was released on the PlayStation in December that same year and on the Game Boy Advance March 19, 2002. It has also been released to the Mobile phone, and re-released to the Wii, PC, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS and iOS as a "director's cut". According to Charles Cecil, it sold around a 1,000,000 copies in the mid-1990s. The game follows George Stobbart - a young American patent lawyer, who is a eye witness and victim of a bomb attack on a small Parisian cafe.
In 1994,Charles Cecil, Noirin Carmody and Sean Brennan invented the game while having dinner together and talking about the mythology of the Templars. The game is serious in tone, but also has plenty of humor and graphics animated in a style of classic animated movies. The game takes place in both real and fictional locations. The Shadow of the Templars was the third game built with the Virtual Theatre engine.
Critics praised The Shadow of the Templars for its story, puzzles, voice acting, dialog and gameplay. The Game was spawned by a number of sequels. They are known as the Broken Sword series. Cecil also led the development of the sequel, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror. Revolution released a remake in 2009, which also got very good reviews from the gaming press.
Gameplay
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is a 2D adventure game played from a third-person perspective. Through a point-and-click interface, the player takes the role of George Stobbart through the game's world. A player interacts with the environment by selecting from multiple commands.
Players must properly construct action combinations between commands and the world's objects in order to successfully solve puzzles and progress in the game.
While talking with other characters, the player can choose between topics for discussion, such as objects from your inventory (on top of the screen), or other (on the bottom of the screen).
The in-game action is often interrupted by cutscenes, non-interactive animated sequences that are used to provide information about character personalities and advance the plot. Like other Revolution Software's Games, in The Shadow of the Templars, the player character's death is possible.
The audio of the game includes recorded sound effects, orchestral music and recorded voices of voice actors. The game graphics are animated in a style of classic animated films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whatculture.com/film/broken-sword-the-movie.php|title=Whatculture!: Broken Sword: The Movie|date=22 May 2007 |publisher=Whatculture!}}</ref> The game was directed by Charles Cecil and the original score was composed by Barrington Pheloung.
Synopsis
Setting and characters
Judging by the likes of the surroundings (and the opening quote: "Paris in the Fall. The last months of the year, and the end of millennium..."), They started talking about the mythology of the Templars, and what rich historical background it would create a game. And so, "Broken Sword was born". Charles Cecil convinced a layout artist, Eoghan Cahill to join the project. He and his friend Neil Breen, who had both worked at the Don Bluth studios in Dublin, drew all the backgrounds in pencil, and the team then digitally colored them in Photoshop.
The development process was very exhilarating, but often fraught. On its release, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was received very good both critically and commercially.
Revolution already cast Hazel Ellerby as Nicole Collard, but had trouble finding an actor for George Stobbart. Hazel, who went to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, suggested her former schoolmate from Guildhall, Rolf Saxon as George. Charles offered him the job and he accepted it. However, according to the credits, they were 2 actresses voicing Nico - Hazel Ellerby, and Rachel Atkins. The rest of the credited voice actors in the original are David Bannerman, Rosy Clayton, Jack Elliott, Steve Hodson, David Holt, Peter Kenny, Richard Mapletoft, Matthew Marsh, Colin McFarlane, Don McCorkindale, Gavin Muir, Paul Panting, and Andrew Wincott. In the German version of the game, George Stobbart is voiced by Alexander Schottky.
The Director's Cut
On March 21, 2009, Ubisoft released a special edition of Shadow of the Templars for the Wii and Nintendo DS. According to Charles Cecil, The Director's Cut came about, thanks to a group of Broken Sword fans, who started an online petition, beging him to bring the series back to the Wii and the Nintendo DS. The special editions are extended versions of the original. The game was programmed by Tony Warriner and Joost Peters. In The Director's Cut, Hazel Ellerby returns to voice Nicole Collard in the new sections, for the first time since the original. Rolf Saxon, like in every sequel, also returns to voice George Stobbart.
After releasing the original game to the GBA, Cecil thought it was time to reward fans with something new and different by making The Director's Cut. So, he decided the game would start a day before the famous Parisian cafe explosion in the original game, and it fills in some of the back-story of Nicole Collard, a pivotal character in the game. To this end Charles Cecil also drafted in the acclaimed comic book artist, Dave Gibbons, with whom Revolution worked previously on their 1994 cult classic adventure, Beneath a Steel Sky. In edition to working on the visual references for the game, Gibbons has also produced a comic book, to accompany the game's DS release (see Comic). Gibbons said that he decided to return to work on this video game, because he knew producing character shots with a range of expressions would be a challenging thing to do, but he knew he would enjoy it because of his involvement in the past.
Unlike in the original, players control Nico in some parts of the game. New puzzles were designed for each platform. Besides the new character artwork by Dave Gibbons, The Director's Cut also had a new first person view for certain puzzles.
Unlike the original game, the updated version also allows for multiple solutions to puzzles and a new co-operative mode for two players. In the DS version, there is no voice acting, only subtitles. A version for iPhone and iPod touch was released on January 20, 2010. In May 2010, a version with higher resolution and a digital comic was released on the iPad. A PC version was released on August 27, 2010 on various digital distribution services.
Marketing and release
Revolution made a comic book for the DS release of The Director's Cut in 2009 (see Comic), and also a launch trailer. On the release of The Director's Cut on iPhone and iPod touch on January 24, 2010, Revolution released the launch trailer on their YouTube channel, revolutionbevigilant. On the 8th day of Apple's 12 Days of Christmas, Revolution made The Director's Cut free for download for 24 hours.
Purchase
The original is currently available from Sold Out Sotware and Good Old Games (if you buy The Director's Cut).
The iPhone version of The Director's Cut can be purchased from the iPhone/iPod Touch AppStore. The iPad version is also available on the iPad AppStore. The Mac version is available from Steam and the Mac AppStore. The PC version can be purchased from Intel Appup, Steam and Good Old Games, and also as part of the Broken Sword Complete package from Mastertronic. The Wii and DS versions are currently available in stores.
Downloadable content
The Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut Original Soundtrack was released on the iTunes Store on December 28 December, 2009. If you buy The Director's Cut on Good Old Games, you also get the original game, original manual, HD wallpapers, the soundtrack, 11 avatars, and the comic book.
Comic
The comic book of the same name was created by Charles Cecil and very well known artist Dave Gibbons for the DS release of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut in March 2009. The short comic provides a further glimpse back into Nico's past, leading readers right up to the events of her playable segments in the game.
Reception
Sales
The game was a commercial success. Charles Cecil said that it sold around a 1.000.000 copies in the mid 90's. He also said that the sales of Revolution's games are going slightly back up again.
Critical response Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars got very good reviews from critics. Adventure Gamers praised the game's story, puzzles, art, voice acting and interface, and called it a true masterpiece and adventure gaming at its absolute finest. However, the magazine stated that long conversations may put some players of. Joe Antol of Adventure Classic Gaming stated that it's one of the best adventures he has played in a number of years, and that it's a "must play and experience" adventure title for any adventure game lover. Game Over Online praised the GBA version, saying that Revolution did a great job redrawing the game's visuals, and that its patience, maturity and depth are some things that are rarely seen on the GBA. RPGFan stated that even if the GBA version can be buggy at times, it's still a worthy addition to any GBA library, and is one of the finest examples of how a well-crafted graphic adventure should be done. James Gordon of HonestGamers praised the games graphics, sound and story, and even called it one of the best GBA games to date, he stated that you may not want to play it more than once, even though he did. PC Gamer praised the game's story, puzzles and art. However, unlike most critics, the reviewer has criticized the voice acting, saying that it is not quite professional, and at times annoying. He also criticized the puzzles, stating that they were good, but some required to much pixel-hunting. "Mr. Bill and Lela" of Mr. Bill's Adventureland stated that it's a "winner" and a totally addictive game, which combines the very best aspects of traditional adventure games and mystery thrillers, with even a little romance thrown in for good measure, and a suspenseful and slowly evolving story that will keep you glued to your seat.
The Director's Cut
Like the original release, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut also got very good reviews from critics. App Spy praised the game's great looking visual presentation, excellent touch screen controles and challenging puzzle gameplay, and called it a must own games, even for newcomers to the genre, but stated that the hint system can make things too simple, and that the auto-save function is not the greatest. Touch Arcade said: "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" and called it "A Point-and-Click Classic Made Even Better". Slide to Play gave both, the iPhone and iPad a 4 out of 4 stars, and called it a real winner, even among other classic adventures. Nigel Wood of Touchgen praised the game's great visuals, sound, and well implemented interface, but called story the winner in the game, as it can "like a good book, keep you glued to your little screen". LEVEL stated that even 13 years after its first appearance, Broken Sword lost nothing of its powers, and called it a fantastic adventure game with lovely characters, strong story and DS-enhanced puzzle solving. Just Adventure stated that the game consists of a rich plot, fun characters and puzzles, and great art and soun. Francis Rizo III of Video Game Talk stated that Broken Sword with its engagingly deep storyline, gorgeous art, fun writing, entertaining puzzles and terrific vocal cast, just raised the bar to a level that will be incredibly hard to meet for any game, and that people should buy it, as it is fun and its success may spur developers to take another look at this somewhat dormant genre, supplementing the wave of Wii ports with something new and original.
Awards Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut was nominated for a British Academy Video Games Award 2010 for Story, but lost to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. In 2010, The Director's Cut won the award for Best European Adventure at the European Games Awards.
Legacy
In 2004, Adventure Gamers ranked Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars at #4 on their list of Top 20 Adventure Games of All-Time. Adventure Classic Gaming ranked it at #3 on their list of Top 10 retro graphic adventure games of all time from PC to consoles, in 2006. Metacritic ranked it at #9 on their list of 25 Best iPhone and iPad Games of 2010. In 2011, Adventure Gamers ranked it at #4 again on their list of Top 100 All-Time Adventures. In 2011, the first two Broken Sword games have been downloaded by over 4 million people.
Sequels Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars spawned three sequels. The first, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror was released in 1997 and is the only game in the series that does not follow the Knights Templar story line. It uses the same engine as the first Broken Sword game. Six years later, Revolution released Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, which moved to 3D graphics, and is the only game in the series that uses a direct control mechanism. It uses the RenderWare engine. In 2006, the company Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (released as Secrets of the Ark: A Broken Sword Game' in North America), which returns to the point 'n' click system used in the first two games, and is the only game in the series not released on any console. The game uses Sumo Digital's engine. In 2009, Revolution released a director's cut of the first game, named Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut. The company released a remastered edition of the second, named Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered, in 2010. Revolution has confirmed that there will be a new Broken Sword'' game in the future, and in 2D, but did not confirm they are currently making one.
References
Other websites
Broken Sword: The Shadow Of The Templars GameSpot profile
Broken Sword - Official on Facebook
Revolution Games on Facebook
1996 video games
Game Boy Advance games
MacOS games
Nintendo DS games
PlayStation games
Wii games
Windows games