The Retrospective 09.06.07: Broken Sword (Part 2 of 2)
Posted by Sean McCabe on 09.06.2007
This week, it’s all about Bioshock, Metroid and Broken Sword, come on in and enjoy!
I must apologise for my absence last week, a Virus afflicting my computer on just the wrong day completely offset the writing of this article, and by the time I had the issue sorted, I just didn't feel it would be worth putting in the article so late.
The Introspective
Bioshock. Yep, that's all I'm going to say.
Um, that and it is fucking awesome. Not decided yet on whether I will be posting a review on it or not, as I'm sure if I don't, somebody else will.
In other news, Metroid Prime 3 should be out in the US, and Gamespot once again seem to think it's beneath them to give a Wii game it's due. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, however, opinions should be taken with a grain of salt, especially when they are as inconsistent as Gamespot's, a site which seems to punish some games for lack of originality yet ignore that issue with other games because they happen to have blindingly flashy graphics, an observation I can't help but make. They maybe right on the overall quality of the game, I myself wasn't fond at all of Echoes as opposed to the original Prime. It's not their assessment of MP3 I take issue with, but compare it with assessments with other games (quite often by the same reviewer) and I just don't think there's much consistent logic in assessing games, and it's a problem I see a lot. I myself try to, if nothing else, be consistent.
In other news, I think I'm really starting to get into Guild Wars. So I thought I might as well share my characters names in case anybody wants to hook up. My Factions campaign character is a Mesmer/Necromancer named Kasumi Masters (I pretty much named and modelled her appearance after my principle female CAW character) and my PVP character is an Assassin/Necromancer named Aria Kaosru, who I just make look like a Ninja, using colour schemes that resemble Jade, Mileena and Kitana from Mortal Kombat. I'm not on very often right now as I can only play it on a friend's computer, but that should change when I have a new one inside the next few weeks or so.
Super Metroid
I've covered the game before as part of the Metroid Retrospective, however, that doesn't mean I can't shill it a little more, to anybody who has yet to play this legendary game. It's become available on the Virtual Console lately, and with that it's more available than ever. I know quite a lot of people will be downloading the game, just for the reason that well, it's Super f'n Metroid. If you have never played Metroid before, this is the place to start.
VG Babe of the Week: Zero Suit Samus
heh, thought I might as well keep with the Metroid theme. Whilst I think it would have been nice if they simply never revealed Samus, nonetheless, she is not disappointing.
The Breakdown
Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon
Developer: Revolution
Format: PC/PS2/Xbox
Release:
Notes: Broken Sword 3 would be the first game in the series to movie into the world of 3D, and as a result, would add new mechanics to it's gameplay, but it's still a good old point'n'clicker at heart.
Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon sees George and Nico once again thrusted into a dangerous adventure, which begins with George crashing in a Central American jungle to meet with an Archaeologist who turns out to be less than alive when he finds him, and then followed Nico being framed for the murder of a genius computer hacker (and complete nerd also by the looks of it) by someone disguised as her. Thus as Nico tries to discern who framed her, George investigates the individuals who murdered the archaeologist, and when they meet up, it becomes clear that the incidents are linked, as they are also linked with the events of the first game.
This game I enjoyed very much, although it does have a few issues. The main one is the inclusion of stealth sections. Yep, they work about as well as they sound. Some games really shouldn't have stealth sections, and point and click adventure games are one of them. There's actually an awful lot of "instant death" situations in this game compared to its predecessors. On the whole, it doesn't damage this great game much, but it is rather annoying. The ending is a little bit silly in some ways, let's just say that "The Sleeping Dragon" subtitle turns out to be quite literal, but then again, it was still quite an entertaining route to go with the story, and there's a lot of nice references to numerous real legends for people into that sort of thing.
In Retrospect: Very enjoyable game, and was a solid move into 3D for the series, as well as receiving good ports to the consoles that allowed for it to reach a wide audience. It was quite successful overall.
Broken Sword: The Angel of Death
Developer: Sumo Digital
Format: PC
Release: 2006
Notes: Broken Sword IV's soundtrack would be the first game soundtrack to be sold through iTunes using a password directly from the game disc.
I have yet to play Angel of Death, but what I know is that it takes place a year after the events of The Sleeping Dragon. George's relationship with Nico has failed, and his career as a lawyer has stalled, however he meets a mysterious blonde woman by the name of Anna Marie. She carries a manuscript which she is attacked by thugs for, but saved by George, who becomes embroiled once again in a mass conspiracy involving the Vatican.
The game's reception was critically somewhat mixed, however most of what has been said suggests it is a solid game and still proves there's life left in the old point'n'click. Most of the complaints stem from the puzzles being rather obtuse, although the story is critically lauded once again.
In Retrospect: A modest entry for being PC only, thus not open to everybody to play it. I hope to sometime soon, as I'm getting a new computer in the near future.
So, what of the future of this venerable series? Well, Revolution are giving some thought to developing the series further on the DS. Help them think faster here. This petition has been posted by staff at Revolution, so it will make a difference with enough attention.
And that is all for this week. Next week, I am unsure what I will cover, but it always comes to me. Keep things in perspective, and always remember, Old school adventure games rule!
