Omohide.com

I’ve said before that I’m not really much of a gamer.  Beyond the fact that I’m fairly busy with educational, internet and piano related endeavours, I don’t really have much interest in playing most games either.  However, due to the fact that I now have a 2 hour total commute each day on a shaky bus where I won’t be getting much work done regardless, I decided to buy a Nintendo DS.  Although I use it to watch films or other media occasionally, the reason I chose the DS in particular was because of the new Pokemon games, which I’ve been a fan of since I was in elementary school.  Soon, though, I started looking around to see if there were any other games that I would like.  That eliminates most action games, but I thought that the Nintendo DS’ unique controls would have spawned some unique or challenging games.

As a matter of fact, while I did find some great Japanese-learning software, chess games, and etc, my most surprising find was a DS version of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars.  This was a game I had played a long time ago when I was much younger, and it was a huge source of nostalgia in my mind.  I could just remember how excited I was to come home, turn on the computer, and play this game.  Of course, I was a kid and some of the sections were very difficult, and I don’t remember if I ever finished it, but it was definitely of the best things I’d ever played.  While most of my friends were playing games like Doom or Quake at that time, I was into adventure games (well, along with the similar childhood obsession with Super Nintendos and such) and the reason for that was primarily because of this game.

And now it’s back for a new generation of kids.  I wonder, though, how well this game is actually selling and whether most of the players are new or simply people like me who were once fans of the game on the PC.  Regardless, I’ll describe the game itself and also the changes on the DS:

Broken Sword is a point and click adventure game in the tradition of the Monkey Island games.  You control a character who you see in the third person view by clicking on parts of the screen, causing him to move there.  You can inspect objects on the screen or use them by this method as well.  The emphasis is on examining your surroundings, finding things, having discussions with characters, and then using items and manipulating your environment to progress.  Puzzles are commonly described as being the definitive element of adventure games, but the word puzzles may be a bit misleading.  Some games have actually puzzles involving levers or buttons that must be solved, but others, like Broken Sword, have puzzles involving items you find and how they interact with the world.  For example, in one scene, you must use things in the environment to flatten a metal bar you have in order to use it to force a door to open.

The story in Broken Sword is really one of the highlights.  One of my favourite things about Broken Sword is that it really lives up to it’s title as an adventure game.  As a kid I loved travelling to all kinds of different places solving a very large-scale adventure-mystery, kind of like those from Indiana Jones movies.  In between, you meet plenty of interesting and entertaining characters.  Now, the one downside of this DS rendition is that it lacks any voice acting.  The voices in the original game were very good – and it’s hard to play through a Broken Sword game without hearing George Stobart’s sarcastic remarks.  Although it’s sad to not hear the others as well, it’s slightly different because Nico, for example, had a different actor each game, so I hadn’t really become attached to her voice.  George, on the other hand, was voiced by the same actor throughout each Broken Sword game and the sound of his voice has become attached, in my mind, with the game and story itself.  It’s a shame, but I suppose it’s hard to fit all of that audio onto a DS cartridge.

Even though it is over ten years old, the visuals in Broken Sword remain one of my favourites in all time.  To be honest, I’m not much of a fan of 3-D visuals which are basically all that is used nowadays.  I look at games like Broken Sword and find them so much more appealing, creative and unique than all the new games like “Crysis” which boast ultra-realistic graphics and lighting that need a supercomputer to run well.  Broken Sword boasts hand-drawn artwork of various exotic locations and smooth animation of the cartoon-like characters and environment.  It is a treat to watch such carefully designed visuals.

There used to be an abundance of creative and interesting games like this, but nowadays it seems as if everyone just pumps out the same action titles with the same premises and dull, cliched stories.  I remember playing another adventure game, this time a first person game, called The Last Express. It was a breathtaking game which took place entirely in the Orient Express, a train through Europe, which took place in the final weeks before World War 2 broke out.  The atmosphere, the setting, the characters, the authenticity, everyone was just fantastic, and it’s another one of my absolute favourites.  Unfortunately, it was a financial failure.    The publishers didn’t think it woudl sell well.  After all, the game required you to have some knowledge about history, as well as actually read subtitles when foreigners spoke (gasp!).  So naturally, I doubt such a game will ever be made again.

Well, at least there’s Broken Sword.

If you need, convincing, just watch the fantastic opening sequence to the game:

*Screenshots from Broken Sword page on Mobygames