Lucasarts was the undisputed king of point-n-click adventure game; it's a fact. Count five heavyweight titles in the first three Monkey Islands, Sam & Max hit the Road and Day of the Tentacle under their belt, as well as lesser-knowns like Full Throttle. While Sierra had the numbers (the Space Quest, King's Quest and Police Quest series), Lucasarts has the recognition. And with the funeral rites for point-n-click having been seen to some years back, it looks like it'll stay that way.

So when another company can put out a game which is an even match for any of their titles, it just puts a big smile on your face. Revolution's Broken Sword (aka Circle of Blood) is pretty much an adventure masterpiece, boasting a finely crafted story, strong memorable characters, hilarious scripting and some of the most beautiful backdrops ever.

George Stobbard is an American vacationing in Paris, and has the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - specifically, outside a cafe when a clown plants a bomb inside to assassinate one of the patrons.

What follows is a web of conspiracy dating back to medieval times, involving groups of very strange and unique people who I will not elaborate on, as it's pretty much a major spoiler.
You soon find yourself teaming up with a French journalist, Nico Collard, who happens to be investigating the scene of the crime. The game uses Paris as the hub, and has you jetting to some beautiful locales in between - an Irish village called Lochmarne, a villa in Spain, a settlement in Syria and a castle in Scotland.

First off, the graphics. I've used beautiful twice already to describe them. But somehow it doesn't seem to do it justice. I don't know, maybe I'm biased, but outside of Monkey Island 3, there isn't anything I've played that can touch this. The backdrops are eye-poppingly gorgeous, and the cel animation smooth and fluid. The animated cutscenes, in fact, seem to be a bit more polished than MI3, even. And that's saying a lot.

And then we come to the make-or-break of it, the gameplay. Now, I'm not a fan of ball-busting games, but if the game is quality enough, I can rough it. MI2 is a classic example. Broken Sword is pretty much perfect in that respect for me - not too hard, not too easy, and you won't complain that it's taking too long because you're enjoying every step of the way. The interface is remarkably intuitive, and in a break from traditional adventure standards, while in a conversation with another character, topics of conversation that are available are represented by graphic icons on a bar at the bottom of the screen. Streamlined and efficient. You've got to play it to believe it. And you'll be doing some pretty amusing stuff on the way, too - stealing a toilet brush from a kabab seller, posing as a doctor, out-thinking a goat (hopefully)...again too many to do justice to here.

Due thanks can be given to the fact that the characters are some of the most well fleshed-out ever. Nico, for example, is one of the most appealing women I've ever encountered in a game, and you get to see her close-up less than five times. It's just that she feels so much like a real person, with all the added baggage, that you can connect. Otherwise, there are too many memorable characters to list completely - the pompous Sergeant Mou, the street worker with a gambling problem ("Bah! Bleeding heart liberals. "Save the Dolphins!" Kill em...and eat em, I say." ), the tourist couple from Ohio that you meet in Syria, the whackjob Syrian taxi driver Ultaar, the compulsive little liar in Ireland, the crabby old gardener in Spain...I could go on, but you get the idea.

The dialogue is also some of the best ever. Observe:


George Stobbard: Top of the morning to ya!
Irish bartender: Excuse me?
GS: Uhh...that *is* what you say around here, isn't it?
IB: Do ya want something, or are ye just here to flaunt yer xenophobia?

Police Desk Receptionist: Ah, Sergeant Mou. He ran a strict ship, but his heart was as warm as a bag of fresh cat urine.

Ultaar: You see the tourists? They come to Ultaar. They tell me, "We want to see something very old." I say, "Nature is very old." But they say, "No, we want to something old made by man." And Ultaar say, "Have you seen taxi? Fan belt older than Ozymandias!"

And to top it off, voice acting is top-notch and the background score is remarkable. One of those games where you search the web, trying to find programs to extract the audio files. Pity I didn't succeed.

So, in case you didn't get the general gist, this is a game that any adventure fan should definitely make it a point to find and play. Much to my shame and disgust, I have not been able to play either of the sequels, The Smoking Mirror and the recently released The Sleeping Dragon. I did play a bit of Sleeping Dragon (not point-n-click) on the PS2, but my CD fucked off terribly early in the game. Well, shit. Will hunt for the PC version, make no mistake. Full marks for Broken Sword/Circle of Blood, without even thinking about it.

Developer:  Revolution Software

Publisher: Virgin Interactive Entertainment

Platforms: PC, Playstation, Game Boy Advance, Palm OS, Windows Mobile