Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars 2002 By: BAM! Entertainment

Overview:

"Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" is a dynamic game that resurrects the old point-and-click genre brilliantly. Resurrecting a mouse directed game, and adopting it to the Gameboy Advance system seems counterintuitive, but "Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" does a stellar job of it. By allowing the player to move the protagonist, George, with the arrow pad, and enabling interaction with the environment, the gameplay feels organic and fluid. The player will explore beautifully illustrated backgrounds while trying to unfold the mystery behind a tragedy witnessed in the first few minutes of the game. The music is haunting and without lyrics, a perfect fit for "Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars". With huge amounts of dialogue and an absolutely gripping story, "Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" is a unique standout in the crowded field of console games.

"Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" is unique not only in genre, but also in content. This game is huuuuge! When was the last time you played a handheld console game that requires over 15 hours of gameplay to complete? Probably never. The story is deep, and purportedly features over 60 individual NPCs in over 70 locations. Every location has objects that need to be examined and characters that need to be interacted with. The story is driven by dialogue, and the player will have multiple response options when speaking with NPCs. The puzzles aren't especially difficult, but are fun and pertain to the story.

"Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" isn't a game that is meant to be devoured, it is meant to be digested slowly, and the storyline deserves a measured playthrough. I could see a possible critique of "Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" being that it's a very linear game in a free roam gaming world, but "Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" wouldn't have been nearly as affective if it was done any other way. Revealing the mysteries surrounding the narrative is what compels players to continue logging hours into this game, and the gorgeous graphics, intuitive mechanics, and gripping dialogue make the hours invested in this game fly by like minutes.

Directions:

Players explore environments by walking around the screen and interacting with people and things. Players can move from one location to another by walking to the edge of the screen.

Players respond to dialogue by selecting a response icon. Certain response icons can offend, or scare NPCs and cause them to walk away.

Objects must be collected and sometimes combined, then used on screens or given to characters.

"Broken Sword the Shadow of the Templars" utilizes a save feature to record progress.