Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: The Director’s Cut

Point-and-click adventures may just be the best genre ever. In what other kinds of games can you go around collecting a seemingly random assortment of crap and show it to strangers?

Take this for example: early in the game, I was exploring a Parisian sewer when I came across a soiled tissue. If this Broken Sword weren’t a point-and-click, programmers wouldn’t have even bothered adding in what for all intents and purposes is someone’s discarded trash (although it really wouldn’t be there if there weren’t some use for it later).

But given the nature of the genre, the heroic George Stobbard, American tourist-cum-amateur sleuth decided he needed it. Which meant that I could then pull it out and show it to strangers.

“What does this tissue mean to you?” George might ask a confused citizen of Paris.

“That ees degusting, m’sieur! What on earth possessed you to show eet to me?” they might cry, doubling back in horror. Not only is this hilarious (and never gets old) but it’s a good barometer of the attention to detail that this genre revels in.

As such, Broken Sword won’t disappoint. There’re plenty of these little moments in the game, which, by the way, add a healthy dose of sarcasm, innuendos and pop-culture references to its otherwise serious and conspiratorial Da Vinci Code-esque narrative, which deals with the Knights Templar.

Broken Sword was actually released 13 years ago for the PC, but thanks to the Wii’s built-in pointer feature, it’s the perfect platform for a revival, or director’s cut, as the case is here. Somewhat surprisingly, the game holds up really well despite its age, although it’s clear this isn’t exactly a straight port, but instead something that’s more fleshed out.

Although for the bulk of the game you play as George, the director’s cut expands the story with new chapters as the dry-tongued French journalist Nico Collard, which is a nice touch.

There’re a few technical inconsistencies between old and new content, like the jarring difference between new and old cutscenes and the comic book paneling for the characters sometimes obscures their actions on-screen.

Newcomers to the genre might be turned off by how slow the plot unravels, but point-and-clicks are a more cerebral experience than most other genres (though it’s standard M.O. for the genre).

But, the animation is fantastic, the puzzles solid and the conversations great and varied, though genre vets will likely breeze through the game. Of course you can cheat with its hint system, but if you’ve played any of Lucasarts or Sierra’s old PC gems, it’s unlikely you’ll get stuck. But as niche as it is, Broken Sword‘s got character.