Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon brings an entire new meaning to Adventure Game. Combining some pretty sharp story telling with very intuitive controls, you guide Nico Collard a French investigative reporter, and George Stobart, a not so run of the mill patent clerk. Powerful events are in motion and threatening the world. An Ancient Conspiracy and a fiendish source of pure Evil are responsible... From the jungles of the Congo to the streets of Paris, from underground pyramids in Ethiopia to gothic castles, Nico and George may be the worlds last hope. A slick graphics engine and facial expressions add to the detailed and well thought out epic story. Adventure fans will relish the deep mystery and puzzle solving being thrown their waywill the average gamer feel the same?
The adventure begins with our two saviors George and Nico. The opening of the game starts with George flying into a severe storm and crash landing in the Congo. With half the plane dangling over a cliff and the pilot out cold George needs to find a way out. Nico on the other side of the globe stumbles across a murdered hacker that she was to meet regarding some secretive information. And so it begins, look for clues, information from witnesses and passer bys. Use your wit to get out of sticky situations and live to see tomorrow.
The controls are very simple to understand and carry out, an Action icon appears on objects that can be interacted with, while one button commands to climb, jump, pick up, are indicated during game play by a control diagram in the lower right corner. Multiple options may present themselves in certain situations such as doors, where you can listen at the door before deciding to enter. The characters are move freely with the left thumb stick, and certain items can be pushed or pulled to help your situation.
Broken Sword is a mystery/puzzle game, but it also seems a little to scripted, by this I mean if you miss a clue, or find clues or information in the wrong order it tends to get a little tedious. The camera has its problems at times making your search for clues a little difficult too.
Broken Sword does offer some impressive visuals and almost seamless transitions from real play and cut scenes. During game play you may come across situation that require some fast reactions on your part, exampleyou have a gun pointed at your face, but you notice a frying pan just within reach of your right hand, this all being played out during a cut scene, as the cut scene ends your Action cursor appears on the frying pan. A slow reaction on the action button will meet with certain doom, on the other hand time it right and you pick up the pan and the bullet ricochets into the wall. This continues through areas, as you complete areas (basically by finding out everything you need or Solving the way out of a situation) you move onto new areas.
All this is tied together with some slick cut scenes and dialogue to help not only move the game along but help tell the story. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is a cool little game, but you need to really be a fan of this genre to enjoy it to its fullest.
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