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[teaser]Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
for Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003, 2003 SE and 5.0 with QVGA, VGA and 240x240 resolutions
splash.jpg 24.64K
64 downloads
It is almost a month now since Astraware and Revolution Software announced the release of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for devices running Windows Mobile for Pocket PC. The joint press release for which proudly declared that the game delivered stunning graphics, video cutscenes and text dialog along with full speech soundtrack and music. Sounds good doesn't it? Does the game live up to it in my opinion? Read on to find out...
[/teaser]
title.jpg 46.54K
64 downloads
Before we get into the review itself let me first give you a little background on Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. Originally available for PC, Playstation, Mac and Game Boy Advance, the game was probably Revolution Software's biggest selling adventure title to date. Its success on PC spawned two (soon to be three) further instalments of the Broken Sword series and a large following in the adventure gaming community. Now, having worked with Astraware to make the release of the Pocket PC version possible, Revolution Software declare themselves proud of the Windows Mobile translation. Astraware, having themselves a solid reputation for the development, publishing and distribution of games for mobile devices, seem equally proud of their work declaring it the complete PC game experience on a handheld device.
What does all this mean? Well, hopefully it means that those adventure game enthusiasts with Pocket PCs can now enjoy truly involving storyline and a fluid user interface, combined with excellent graphics and sound, while mobile. Of course, they'll need at least 130 meg free on their storage card to do so but that's a small price to pay.
So, onto initial impressions of the game which I am pleased to say are very good. From the moment you first run the game you are greeted with lilting, atmospheric music and a polished menu system. There is a full range of options, the most significant of which being language selection and orientation. Aside from English, the text dialog can be displayed in French, German, Italian or Spanish. Regarding screen orientation, although the screen will always display in landscape mode, orientation enables customisation for left or right handed use.
introa.GIF 108.75K
64 downloads
Start the game itself and you are treated to a spoken introduction before the rolling of the intro. This is the first of many impressive cut scenes that, during the course of the game, will tell the story of The Shadow of the Templars.
The story begins at the end of the last millennium with the main character George Stobbart, an American Tourist vacationing in Paris, narrowly missing an early death in an explosion at a café.
beginning.jpg 87.8K
63 downloads
You then take control of George as he becomes embroiled in a dangerous quest to uncover the mysterious Knights Templar. How dangerous? Well, let's just say that this is one of those adventure games where a wrong decision can leave you dead and reaching for the restore button. So, good job there is a restore button!
action.gif 213.16K
59 downloads
One of the main concerns of any hardened point and click adventure game enthusiast approaching such a game as this on Pocket PC will be the implementation of the game interface. They need not fear however as Astraware really have excelled themselves, translating the game to the Windows Mobile Pocket PC platform, so that the stylus interaction is natural and intuitive. By default, objects, people and locations in the immediate vicinity of the main character are highlighted on screen by a small cursor. Should the player however decide they need more guidance or want to check if they are missing something they can toggle a display of all items of interest within a screen. See the screenshots below for an illustration of this guided mode in action:
guidance.GIF 85.73K
57 downloads
As the player guides George through his investigation he visits many different locations, many of which are revisited during the course of the story. To link the locations together and maintain a sense of freedom of movement, as the investigation progresses through the locales of Paris, a map screen is used. The user only has to use the stylus to specify the location they wish to visit next. Later, as the investigation takes an international turn, a similar map is used albeit this time of Europe.
maps.GIF 80.77K
52 downloads
One of the requirements of a great adventure game is longevity, something that is helped greatly by inclusion of a wealth of locations. And a wealth of locations is exactly what Broken Sword delivers as the storyline take George around the streets (and even sewers!) of Paris before taking him to locales in other countries including Ireland, Spain and Syria.
So, we can say that Broken Sword delivers good graphics, music and sound, an excellent user interface, and a wealth of locations. What more could we ask for? How about some quality humour? After all, think back to the best adventure games of the past such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. These games didn't just keep us in our seats, they occasionally made us fall out of them laughing or smiling at their razor sharp wit! Given a large part of an adventure game is conversing with the non player characters, to obtain leads and advance, why shouldn't a few one liners be thrown in for some comic relief without unbalancing the game or distracting from the story. Well, I'm pleased to say Shadow of the Templars manages to strike a good balance on this too.
joke.jpg 67.41K
59 downloads
joke1.gif 63.98K
67 downloads
joke2.gif 209.6K
62 downloads
You've probably gathered by now that I quite enjoyed playing Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars, indeed, very much so. The game difficulty was just right, starting out pretty straightforward with logical puzzles to solve and gradually increasing the thinking necessary to progress. I consider it a triumph to have finished the game and a testament to the quality of the title that it took as long as it did! For an adventure game to take a few days to play through is a sign of it being too short and/or easy and would make it a disappointment. Thankfully that wasn't the case here and the title was able to occupy my attention for a good few weeks, through an excellent balance between difficulty and size.
spain___rainbow.jpg 76.91K
62 downloads
Having taken all of this into account it is fairly easy to conclude the review stating that this is a quality translation of an excellent adventure game. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars will hook the average gamer early on and keep them coming back until they reach the excellent ending.
splash2.jpg 16.64K
50 downloads
Finally, a personal plea to Astraware and Revolution Software. Do the decent thing and bring Broken Sword 2 to Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. I want more!
Available from www.astraware.com
Cost is $29.95
NOTE: Members of Club Astraware get Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for just $19.95.
You can join Club Astraware FREE by registering here.
for Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2003, 2003 SE and 5.0 with QVGA, VGA and 240x240 resolutions
splash.jpg 24.64K
64 downloadsIt is almost a month now since Astraware and Revolution Software announced the release of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for devices running Windows Mobile for Pocket PC. The joint press release for which proudly declared that the game delivered stunning graphics, video cutscenes and text dialog along with full speech soundtrack and music. Sounds good doesn't it? Does the game live up to it in my opinion? Read on to find out...
[/teaser]
title.jpg 46.54K
64 downloadsBefore we get into the review itself let me first give you a little background on Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. Originally available for PC, Playstation, Mac and Game Boy Advance, the game was probably Revolution Software's biggest selling adventure title to date. Its success on PC spawned two (soon to be three) further instalments of the Broken Sword series and a large following in the adventure gaming community. Now, having worked with Astraware to make the release of the Pocket PC version possible, Revolution Software declare themselves proud of the Windows Mobile translation. Astraware, having themselves a solid reputation for the development, publishing and distribution of games for mobile devices, seem equally proud of their work declaring it the complete PC game experience on a handheld device.
What does all this mean? Well, hopefully it means that those adventure game enthusiasts with Pocket PCs can now enjoy truly involving storyline and a fluid user interface, combined with excellent graphics and sound, while mobile. Of course, they'll need at least 130 meg free on their storage card to do so but that's a small price to pay.
So, onto initial impressions of the game which I am pleased to say are very good. From the moment you first run the game you are greeted with lilting, atmospheric music and a polished menu system. There is a full range of options, the most significant of which being language selection and orientation. Aside from English, the text dialog can be displayed in French, German, Italian or Spanish. Regarding screen orientation, although the screen will always display in landscape mode, orientation enables customisation for left or right handed use.
introa.GIF 108.75K
64 downloadsStart the game itself and you are treated to a spoken introduction before the rolling of the intro. This is the first of many impressive cut scenes that, during the course of the game, will tell the story of The Shadow of the Templars.
The story begins at the end of the last millennium with the main character George Stobbart, an American Tourist vacationing in Paris, narrowly missing an early death in an explosion at a café.
beginning.jpg 87.8K
63 downloadsYou then take control of George as he becomes embroiled in a dangerous quest to uncover the mysterious Knights Templar. How dangerous? Well, let's just say that this is one of those adventure games where a wrong decision can leave you dead and reaching for the restore button. So, good job there is a restore button!
action.gif 213.16K
59 downloadsOne of the main concerns of any hardened point and click adventure game enthusiast approaching such a game as this on Pocket PC will be the implementation of the game interface. They need not fear however as Astraware really have excelled themselves, translating the game to the Windows Mobile Pocket PC platform, so that the stylus interaction is natural and intuitive. By default, objects, people and locations in the immediate vicinity of the main character are highlighted on screen by a small cursor. Should the player however decide they need more guidance or want to check if they are missing something they can toggle a display of all items of interest within a screen. See the screenshots below for an illustration of this guided mode in action:
guidance.GIF 85.73K
57 downloadsAs the player guides George through his investigation he visits many different locations, many of which are revisited during the course of the story. To link the locations together and maintain a sense of freedom of movement, as the investigation progresses through the locales of Paris, a map screen is used. The user only has to use the stylus to specify the location they wish to visit next. Later, as the investigation takes an international turn, a similar map is used albeit this time of Europe.
maps.GIF 80.77K
52 downloadsOne of the requirements of a great adventure game is longevity, something that is helped greatly by inclusion of a wealth of locations. And a wealth of locations is exactly what Broken Sword delivers as the storyline take George around the streets (and even sewers!) of Paris before taking him to locales in other countries including Ireland, Spain and Syria.
So, we can say that Broken Sword delivers good graphics, music and sound, an excellent user interface, and a wealth of locations. What more could we ask for? How about some quality humour? After all, think back to the best adventure games of the past such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. These games didn't just keep us in our seats, they occasionally made us fall out of them laughing or smiling at their razor sharp wit! Given a large part of an adventure game is conversing with the non player characters, to obtain leads and advance, why shouldn't a few one liners be thrown in for some comic relief without unbalancing the game or distracting from the story. Well, I'm pleased to say Shadow of the Templars manages to strike a good balance on this too.
joke.jpg 67.41K
59 downloads
joke1.gif 63.98K
67 downloads
joke2.gif 209.6K
62 downloadsYou've probably gathered by now that I quite enjoyed playing Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars, indeed, very much so. The game difficulty was just right, starting out pretty straightforward with logical puzzles to solve and gradually increasing the thinking necessary to progress. I consider it a triumph to have finished the game and a testament to the quality of the title that it took as long as it did! For an adventure game to take a few days to play through is a sign of it being too short and/or easy and would make it a disappointment. Thankfully that wasn't the case here and the title was able to occupy my attention for a good few weeks, through an excellent balance between difficulty and size.
spain___rainbow.jpg 76.91K
62 downloadsHaving taken all of this into account it is fairly easy to conclude the review stating that this is a quality translation of an excellent adventure game. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars will hook the average gamer early on and keep them coming back until they reach the excellent ending.
splash2.jpg 16.64K
50 downloadsFinally, a personal plea to Astraware and Revolution Software. Do the decent thing and bring Broken Sword 2 to Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. I want more!
Available from www.astraware.com
Cost is $29.95
NOTE: Members of Club Astraware get Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for just $19.95.
You can join Club Astraware FREE by registering here.
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