ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | I was eager to play this after I played the original Broken Sword and BS3. Here's why I'd place it last in the trilogy (yes, behind BS3...):
Story
It's ok-ish, basically divided into 3 parts representing the search for 3 stones, once again driving George and Nico (after he finds her) around the globe, including France, London, Mexico and the Carribean. I'd say it's better than BS3's and not as epic as the one in Broken Sword, which - while at the heart another templar-story in fashion of Indiana Jones - was engaging and just fun to unravel.
Gameplay and Style
At the first glance it's the same as in Broken Sword. The interface didn't change much, standard p&c in which the right mouse button examines and the left button takes action. If an object can be taken, the mouse cursor changes to the familiar "pick-up hand". The "wheel icon" which was used in BS to represent physical tasks has vanished completely.
Quite soon it becomes apparent that there is more (silly) humor in Broken Sword 2 than in its predecessor. I don't know if it's because of the localisation (played the German version, but I played BS in German, too), but some of the jokes are not that good and BS2 is on the edge of becoming a full-blown parody more than once.
Characters
George and Nico are great as usual. There are many new characters and some old friends met along the way. There is obvious play on names in some parts.
I think my favorite are the non-cardboard natives in the Mayan village.
Graphics
The graphics are really strange sometimes. In some parts (prominently the Carribean) you can see several layers of graphics clearly distinguished scrolling by in paralax. It could be a neat effect, but looks a bit awkward more often than not. Definitely a question of taste.
Dialogue and Synchronisation
The German synch is a mixed bag. The characters with accents break in and out of that accent. Some actors are definitely worse than others, although they seemed familiar to me and have done better jobs in other games. I can't say anything about the English synch. As it stands, the synch ruined the game quite a bit.
The dialogue menu is again replaced with icons that suggest the topics you want to talk about. As usual, you have to talk about everything in order to not get stuck and quite a bit of puzzling is done by talking. Personally, I was later on annoyed by not-that-interesting conversations, it was funnier in earlier parts.
There is some profanity in this game compared to Broken Sword which might be a German feature, but I guess not. Often times the profanity doesn't seem in place and just there for the hipness-factor or something.
Puzzles
BS2 is awfully linear. There is never more than one or two screens to work on. Here is something I really like to complain about a lot. Keep games a bit non-linear, please! I don't necessarily ask for wide-open plots like in MI2 or KQ6, but being limited to not even one handful screen and very few hotspots becomes boring quite soon.
The puzzles are mostly MacGuyver-ish, logical and easy to solve. But you might get stuck anyway, because there are parts in which you have to repeat an action to gain a result (felt very uninspired) or talk here and there to get the plot moving. And there is another of those mazes every adventure game (apparently) needs. It's not that bad, though. Not really necessary, but not complicated, either.
All in all Broken Sword 2 is only slightly above average. Which means I'd rate it 6/10. Quite a disappointment compared to the original Broken Sword which is in my top 5 list of all-time favorites and which I replayed a couple times. Something I'm not tempted to do anytime soon concerning BS2.
BS3 had more charming dialogue and some innovations on its side, that let it beat this rather pale sequel.
That's it for the review. Some spoilers regarding the ending and such follow.
!!!SPOILER CORNER!!!
Broken Sword 2 has possibly the most non-interactive ending I've ever seen (which I said earlier about BS3, but compared to this, that was a true stand-off). The game ends with a lever-pulling challenge, pretty much. After that you walk down stairs, pull another lever, walk down more stairs and the rest plays out in front of your eyes without anything to do for you. There doesn't happen anything you wouldn't suspect to, it's like watching the credits roll far too quickly.
In fact, the real finishing puzzle is the Maya-wheel which brings Nico to the Smoking Mirror. Anything else is torches and levers.
There is a nice running gag in the game in form of an "exotic panty" sent to Nico by Lobineau. You find it in the very beginning and keep it to the very end. You don't actually need it. But you can have a lot of funny responses if you present it in conversations. I almost expected it to be "worthless".
There are a couple more items you'll never need:
The chocolate bar Nico can pull from the vendor machine in the London Underground. The coin you need will come back, anyway. You can offer the bar to Titipoco, but he will respectfully decline to eat such moldy chocolate.
The underpants Nico finds in the jungle is equally worthless and might be a counter-gag to her own panties...
When George has to make a tribute to the Shaman try to put each and every item into the dog cracker box before you put the stone in it. There are individual responses by the guards.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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