Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

The Good
Well, the most important thing about a game, at least in my opinion, is that it's fun to play, and fortunately, Broken Sword 3 possesses this virtue. Another thing of interest to most gamers these days is graphics, and Broken Sword 3 manages to deliver in this area as well. On to the core, the gameplay itself. BS3 has all the ingredients an adventure should have, interesting characters and locations, meaningful conversations, brainteasing riddles ... all this doesn't sound too bad, does it?

The Bad
Well, it isn't. But the game still offers some reasons for complaining. The most painful thing for me, an old adventure game veteran, is the absence of mouse control. Over the course of the development I've read a number of interviews with different chaps from Revolution Software in which they bragged this game was going to reinvent the adventure genre. However, you'll be hardly pressed to actually notice this. Most things have been done before, mainly by the also fully three dimensional Gabriel Knight 3. BS3 is still playable enough, even without a mouse interface, but I missed one more than once and aforementioned GK3 HAD mouse control, so I have to come to the conclusion the reason for it's absence is mere lazyness. That out of the way, the next biggest complaint, FAR less serious from my personal viewpoint, is the weirdo mixture of mythologies featured in BS3. Revolution Software did a great job basing Broken Sword 1 on the myths around the legendary Knights Templar, but the move to mixing in different other mythologies started in BS2 has been brought one step further in BS3, up to a point where it gets somewhat too much. Having a direct connection between artifacts of the Knights Templar, Old-Egyptian temples and the tale of King Arthur is a bit much for my taste. But this is a matter of personal preference, I guess. Finally, there's an abundance of sokoban-style puzzles in Sleeping Dragon, which can get kind of annoying at times.

The Bottom Line
Don't be fooled by the fact that the bad section is twice as big as the good section, despite all downsides BS3 is definitely a game worth playing, it's just not a pure blood adventure and - not uncommon amongst multi-genre adventures - a bit shallow at times. Nonetheless, the sentence I began this review with is still true at it's end.

The Good
The Sleeping Dragon is the third game of the successful Broken Sword series. It is a graphic adventure just like the first two games, but the game is combined with some action sequences, making this game better than the first two.

Vernon Blier, a young hacker, contacts Nico and tells her that he has decoded a document known as the Voynich Manuscript, which explains why many earthquakes have been occurring lately. And because of this, he believes that his life is now in danger. It turns out that he is right, because just before Nico enters his apartment, he is shot dead by someone. Now, the previous Broken Sword games have revolved around real-life ancient documents, but I believe that the Voynich Manuscript has nothing to do with earthquakes. Find out yourself by looking Voynich Manuscript up on Wikipedia and see how many instances of “earthquake” there is.

As I have just mentioned before, the game is entirely in 3D, and several locations that you visit such as the Congo, Paris, and Glastonbury are breathtaking. The buildings are well designed, with structures looking like they have been constructed a long time ago. I enjoyed walking around and seeing what's in each location, and talking to people along the way. The characters are well-drawn, especially George and Nico, as well as Beatrice, Blier's girlfriend, who just couldn't be any more sexier.

I like how the game gives you the ability to switch between the two characters; not at the same time, but on occasions. Like other games that I have played such as the last two games of the Gabriel Knight series, one character doesn't have to accomplish tasks that will help the other. George and Nico work independently as long as they are not together. Between the two characters, I found George's tasks rather interesting to accomplish.

You navigate George or Nico around and perform their actions only using the keyboard, but the controls are easy to learn. The arrow keys are used for walking around. I am familiar with this since I previously played Simon the Sorcerer 3D and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, with both games using the arrow keys for movement. The four action buttons in the bottom-right of the screen correspond with the W, A, S, and D keys; with the S key being the primary ones. The advantage of using the keyboard is that you can make the characters perform a new set of actions such as ducking, sneaking, climbing ladders, and pushing/pulling crates.

There is quite a bit of humor in the game. There is George's friend Harry (who flies his own plane in the middle of the storm on purpose) and the several disagreements between George and Nico with each other, but my personal favorite is George having to deal with the owner of the Cosmic Fairie - a shop that has nothing to do with fairies or the cosmos – and how said owner wrote a book that steals poetry from their artists.

What good is a Broken Sword game without a bit of suspense? Every once in a while, there is a an action sequence requiring you to tap one of the keys as quickly as you can or you die if you are not fast enough. But those action sequences are nothing compared to what you will experience at the end of the game. I won't tell you what it is, but it involves a sword and a little bit of timing.

Speaking of timing, it is essential to solve some of the puzzles. In (at least) two locations in the game, you need to watch the guards patrolling a particular area and make your move when they reach a certain spot. If you mis-time yourself, it is likely that you will die. But instead of seeing a death screen, the game automatically restores you to the point before your death, allowing you to rectify the situations. This saves you from hitting the Load button then selecting a save point. It is also much quicker this way. But not all the puzzles in the game require exact timing. The developers must have played Countdown and enjoyed the way that you have to get through the catacombs and solve the “wine puzzle” that opens a secret door, because near the middle of the game, that is exactly what you do.

The music is excellent, and it is on par with the first two Broken Sword games. The sound effects add to the realism of the game. You get to hear some background noise in every location that add atmosphere. For example, Nico browses the theater's exterior in Paris, and you can just hear the sound of passing traffic. I enjoyed the soundtrack that plays at the end credits. It is called Love Us by some UK group I don't know the name of, and it sounds much better than Happiness Is Inside Job which plays in Broken Sword II.

There is no disc swapping during the game. All that crap gets done during the installation process. The disc swapping that you did during the first two games gave me a headache as the CD-ROM drive was slow at the time. My current CD/DVD burner is faster now, so I didn't have to wait long for the next scene to load. I was halfway through the game then the CDs refuse to work for no reason, so I downloaded it via Steam. Ahh.. the joys of content delivery services.

The Bad
The Sleeping Dragon uses fixed-camera angles, which I found quite annoying. When I get the characters to move in a certain direction to the point where they get close to the edge of the screen, the camera angle suddenly changes, leading to confusion about which way to go. It would have been nice if the game allowed you to adjust camera angles.

It would also been nice if the game allowed you to put proper, meaningful descriptions for save games rather than “Congo 1”, “Glastonbury 2”, “Paris 3”, etc. And you can't even store as many save games as you like. I didn't want to overwrite my earliest saves from the beginning of the game.

The Bottom Line
Anyone who has already played the first two Broken Sword games may find it annoying that The Sleeping Dragon is only played with the keyboard. I, on the other hand, have played Simon3D, so I am used to the keyboard-only configuration. The game is entirely in 3D, and everything in the game looks amazing, ranging from the characters themselves to the locations, as well as the ancient buildings that lie within them. During the game, you get to hear real-life sound effects as you walk around. As well as the adventuring aspect of the game, there are some action sequences requiring quick reflexes to get through them.

Maybe the characters on the box cover wasn't a good move. The two characters on the front cover look nothing like George and Nico respectively, and on the back cover, the character on the right doesn't look like George's arch-nemesis – he actually looks more like Darkman. If only the person responsible for creating the covers actually drew properly.

The Good
If you've read the reviews for other platforms, you're probably wondering about the problems with slow loading they all reported. So the first thing I'm pleased to report is that there is no loading delay in the Windows version. Everything ran seamlessly on my Windows XP system - from the easy installation all the way through to the fabulous finale. That said, let's pick it apart piece by piece.

Continuity
Because it's been quite a few years since Broken Sword 2 was released, I think the developers did a wonderful job bringing the player up to speed. From the main menu you can read background information about George and Nico's two previous adventures. This helps those new to the series get acquainted with them quickly. Inside the game, they will fondly remember past experiences by looking at mementos and talking between themselves. Several older characters make a reappearance in this game, and both George and Nico remember them.
5 stars for Continuity. Story
The "save the world" story doesn't jump out at you all at once. In fact, you have no idea exactly where the adventure is going for about one-third of the game. The plot line evolves very gradually. Playing George and then Nico in separate scenarios keeps you mighty busy - until all at once they're in the same place at the same time (Paris, naturally) - and working towards the same goals. Once they get together, it's magic. There are quite a few times when you must use both characters to solve a puzzle. Because of the ancient artifacts and exotic locations, it felt almost like I was playing Indiana Jones with a female side-kick. But, I don't remember Indy ever having a relationship like George and Nico's. Theirs is a deep friendship, but nothing romantic. As you play, you know solidly how they feel (or don't feel) about each other from their playful sarcasm and dry humor. And the ending is great!
5 stars for Story. Graphics
I give high marks for the characters, scenery, objects and general look overall of Sleeping Dragon. Both Nico and George are very attractive people and their surroundings are realistic and appealing. All of the artwork is cleanly depicted in natural, vibrant colors. Objects are well integrated into the surroundings, but they're not difficult to find. Those with "hot spots" do not jump off the screen at you, so you do need to do the normal amount of exploring. You find those objects by walking near them, so there's really no pixel hunting. It is difficult to match speech with lip movement, but the developers did an impeccable job here. In fact, I can't think of any other game that accomplished it better - or even equally well. In only one spot did I notice a glitch in the graphics. This came at a critical time during what some people call the "tile puzzle". Part of the scenery stretched unnaturally out to the middle of the floor! But, quitting and loading again and it was gone. I can't help but feel that it was my equipment and not the game. But I'll subtract half of a point for that.
4.5 stars for Graphics. Sound & Music
Sound effects add to the realism of a game, and the ones you'll hear in this game are really good. The most memorable ones are of George grunting as he moves yet another box into place, or the "oof" heard if one of them runs into a wall. You'll also hear soft footsteps, the sounds of doors opening or closing, keys going into locks etc. All of them sounded appropriate to the action being performed. I commend the actors and actresses who voiced the characters in the English version. All accents sounded authentic, inflections and tones were accurate for what they were saying, and dialog interchange was entertaining. Kudos, too, to the script writers for giving them great things to say. The music was mood enhancing, especially when something was about to happen or when you accomplished something important.
5 stars for Sound & Music. Gameplay & Puzzles
Some adventurers have complained about the "keyboard only" interface. Well, it did take a bit of getting used to. The arrow keys are used for movement with the Shift key used to make your character run. The space bar brings up the inventory, which is arranged in a circular manner. The Control key lets you crouch and creep (while walking) and the Escape key takes you to the menu. The main keys for interaction are all together on the keyboard (the group W, A, S, D) and their use changes depending upon what you are doing. While I wasn't sure how I'd like going without a traditional mouse, I did get accustomed to it and fared okay. The hard part was during the action segments when reacting quickly enough when the action icons appeared became a gruesome experience. Luckily the game restored you automatically to the beginning of that portion again. Walking straight in one direction caused no problems, but some of the scenes required a diagonal direction, so that became interesting. Although I didn't particularly care for the keyboard gameplay, I can't imagine what it would have been like as a point and click Windows game. There are only a few puzzles, in the true sense of the word. One involves pulling some wine bottles in the correct order (reminiscent of the old classic Countdown). Another is the recreation of a very familiar riddle. Most of the other puzzles are interaction or inventory based - including the infamous moving crates problems. (As a side note, moving crates around to reach inaccessible areas was also common in Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, which I finished a few months ago.) The only time I can remember having that many puzzles of the same type was a multitude of those tedious slider puzzles (and I can't recall which game at the moment). When you do the same thing over and over again, it becomes tiresome - although you do get better at them as you go along.
So, 3 stars for Gameplay.

**The Bad**
There aren't very many things that didn't like ... really. I've included most of them in the above section. A small nuisance involves loading saved games. Instead of getting the Load Game selection on the menu, you must first select Exit and choose whether to save again or not .. and then you'll find yourself at the Main Menu where you can load a game. Why make it so hard to find it? I also wished I could have named my own saved games instead of their "auto-naming" with the place and time. Body language is nice, yes, but Nico acted bored sometimes - reaching her arms up and stretching - even in the middle of an interesting dialog session. What's up with that? And .. who came up with that bogus front cover? Nico and George don't look anything like those people!

**The Bottom Line**
Can you tell I really, really liked this game? My average is 4.5 stars - a pretty high mark for any adventure game these days, I must say. It really surprised me. In addition to my opinions above, BS3 is nice and long .. and did I mention that the ending is great? I highly recommend Sleeping Dragon and sincerely hope there will be a BS4.

The Good
George and Nico make one great couple. The dialogues, coupled with great speech quality and the very well thought of script really get you in the game. The graphics are great, at least for an adventure game. The music is equally well done.

The Bad
As others have already pointed out, there are a few interface issues here and there. They are not really that troublesome; its more of a problem getting used to the new (innovative) interface. Not using a mouse for an adventure game is sort of awkward, but it works nevertheless. The damned crates problem is another story. Just like the jump and hung mechanics, it seems the Revolution team got too excited with the new mechanics they were able to introduce to the game so they put puzzles related to them just about everywhere.

The Bottom Line
The game is nothing short of amazing. Sure, they are are some minor problems here and there, but don't let it stop you. If you like adventure games, you must play this game.

The Good
When I discovered that the Broken Sword series would go into its third iteration, I was enthusiastic, only to become depressed, once the game makers made clear that it wouldn't be a classic adventure.

So what did they deliver instead? It's a puzzle focused narrative with action elements. Sounds like they stuffed a lot into that one, eh? And you're right: The best about Broken Sword 3 is probably that it relies heavily on storytelling. It is one of the most intriguing plots within all games of the past few years.

Moreover, the graphics are quite good, while sound and voice acting is as professional as in the first two parts of the game.

The Bad
Broken Sword 3 changes camera angles quite often to push suspense. However, the controls react depending on the camera angle, not depending on the player. This can get quite on your nerves, because you have to rethink the direction controls all the time. And it will surely kill you a few times in time critical situations...

The puzzle design is usually logical and interesting, while not very hard. From time to time (and much too often) the game features box moving puzzles. These are clearly designed to stretch the overall playing time. Although in most cases you will be able to figure out how to solve these puzzles in a matter of seconds, you'll have to move boxes around for another five...

The Bottom Line
In the end, Broken Sword 3 is an interesting approach to renovate the adventure genre, blowing quite some dust of it. I'd love to see other games follow this approach with a strong narrative, good graphics and voice acting, thoughtful puzzles, but with better controls and fewer boxes.

The Good
I personally liked the HUGE ENTHUSIASM before the release of the game! Adventure Gamers from all over the world were expecting this game from the day it was announced that "BROKEN SWORD 3" is in the making. Previews and interviews with the game designers and creators started taking place long before a release date was even announced!!! An so it landed in stores, on a November day in 2003. Even if it was very clearly stated in interviews and previews, that the game wouldn't follow its CLASSIC predecessors in interface, graphics and gameplay, I was anxious to see what did REVOLUTION SOFTWARE create. I had pre-ordered my copy from the "ADVENTURE COMPANY" website and I received the game 2-3 days after the official release date in the US, which was November 17, 2003. When I first got the game, I noticed the nice artwork on the front and inside cover of the game box, not the screenshots, just the artwork. The game is rich in storyline and dialogues, which is always a big plus for any adventure game. Action sequences are spreaded here and there in the game, a very nice touch. The puzzles were rich and reminded me a lot of the puzzles in "GABRIEL KNIGHT 3", but I will talk about the puzzles later. Excellent characters were created by the REVOLUTION SOFTWARE'S team and you get to control two(2) of them, which I think is always a plus to a game, too. And not to mention the graphics! Sometimes stunning and very very graphical presentation of places like the Castle in Prague and the airplane hanging from the edge of the cliff in Congo at the beginning of the game. It was a game full of suspense and overall REVOLUTION STUDIOS presented a UNIQUE, NEW approach to ADVENTURE GAMING and I liked that.

The Bad
Overall, it was a well designed game, with the only blemish I' ll say being the MOVING BOXES PUZZLES!?! In the beginning it was OK, but by the end of the game I think there were at least ten(10) if not more puzzles based on moving boxes/items!!! It looks like the designers run out of ideas and trying to stretch the game by just inserting these puzzles all over the place. It was a considerably irritating experience, especially because it was to EASY!!! And I continue from where I left above, the game in general was very EASY to complete. It took me around 25-30 hours total to finish the game. That is nothing compared to CLASSIC adventure games like "BLACK DAHLIA" (it took me days) "INDIANA JONES AND THE FATE OF ATLANTIS" (it took me weeks) and "GABRIEL KNIGHT 3". Other than that I don't think I found anything else that is bad.

The Bottom Line
It is definitely a MUST HAVE for ADVENTURE GAMERS. I think that with this release REVOLUTION SOFTWARE established itself as a benchmark company for this Game Genre, for the beginning at least of the new millennium!!!