Dom Robinson reviews

for PC CD-Rom

Distributed by
Virgin Interactive

Price: £39.99

System Requirements - Minimum (Recommended) :

• Windows 95, NT 4.0 or above
• 486 DX2 66Mhz (Pentium)
• 16Mb RAM
• 1Mb DirectX 5.0 Compatible SVGA Card (2Mb Card)
• DirectX Compat. Sound Card
• 2xspeed CD-ROM (4xspeed)
• Hard Disk Space: Install 66Mb or 260Mb version
• Control: Mouse

Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror is Virgin Interactive's sequel to the smash-hit Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, which introduced us to the reluctant but resourceful hero George Stobbart - an American caught up in an explosive plot involving the legacy of the Knights Templar.

Tragedy follows the triumph of that tale, with George forced to leave his new love Nico in order to tend to his dying father in America. Now back in Paris for a reunion, it's not long before George finds out that his headstrong French girlfriend has led them into mortal danger once again.

Photo-journalist Nico has been doing her best to expose a drugs smuggling ring, but inadvertantly stumbles upon something far more sinister when she gains possession of a mysterious obsidian stone. Visiting the house of Mayan archaeologist Professor Oubier in the hope of discovering more about the artefact, the pair are attacked.

Nico is kidnapped, and George left to be bitten by a deadly tarantula. This brush with death is the first of many for our hero, in a race against time to prevent a criminal mastermind from fulfilling an age-old prophecy to bring about the destruction of mankind.

Installing and Running the Game

The first time you insert the CD-ROM into the computer you will be asked for the option to install Broken Sword II, along with another option to install DirectX 5.0 if you do not already have it on your PC.

When installation is complete you can then choose to play the game, view the credits, see the demo for the original Broken Sword game, visit the Broken Sword Website or uninstall the game completely.

Playing the Game

In order to move George around you simply move the cursor to the position of the screen you want him to move to, then press either mouse button to move. If the screen is wider than one screen, then as you move to the side a beckoning hand will indicate this. Again press either mouse button to pick the exact spot you want George to move to.

If the cursor changes to a pointing hand this indicates an exit from the current location. The LEFT mouse button makes George leave by that exit, while pressing the RIGHT button makes George give you a description of what awaits you.

If the cursor changes to a grabbing hand as you pass over an object, then George can pick it up by pressing the LEFT mouse button. The RIGHT button makes George give a description of said object. If you move the cursor to the bottom of the screen, George's possessions are shown. Pressing LEFT on one of these picks the object, while RIGHT causes George to examine the object. Objects can be used to interact with other possessions of yours, or with various objects and people in the current location. You can also interact with objects there on your own by clicking LEFT on them to use, or RIGHT for a description.

Talking To Other Characters

You can also talk to other characters onscreen by clicking LEFT on them, or RIGHT to give a description of that person. When chatting George will handle the general chat, but will need prompting on the subject matter. A series of objects will appear under the location. Clicking LEFT on each will bring these up in the conversation, and will disappear when all the information has been divulged. If they're still there after you've been given the info, then there's more to be found out about this particular item.

You can discuss the items in any order you choose. It might be best to ask all questions available to get the full story. You can later go back to that location and ask more questions after visiting new places or collecting new items which are applicable.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

The SVGA cartoon graphics are very colourful, and interact very well indeed as you point and click your way around the various locations. Also in the game are superbly-animated sequences.

The sound comprises of three things. 260 sound effects from time to time which are functional; voices, as the characters talk, which are crystal clear; and the best thing going is the music: over 2 hours of it, and all written by Britain's premier composer, Barrington Phelong, craetor of the music for the ITV series, Inspector Morse, starring John Shaw as the eponymous character.

Playability is pin-sharp accurate. You move the mouse to position your pointer over the item required and click. Couldn't be simpler, and functions without a hitch.

Overall

Overall, if you're a fan of the original you're going to want this. Not having played the original I can't comment on the advancements made with this release, but the demo of the first game accompanying this has the same feel about it, and it's generally assumed that the sequel to a hit game, be it action or adventure, will feature more characters, locations and objects to interact with. After all, that's what people will expect and as I understand it, that is what Virgin Interactive have supplied here.

At times the game feels that during certain scenes the action is led towards the obvious conclusion within that room or location, but I feel that for a beginner like me this is certainly a welcome trait.

I'm not usually a fan of point-and-click adventures, usually instead favouring shoot-em-up's or fast driving games. However, one game which recently awakened my interest in adventure games of sorts was Resident Evil, released last year for Playstation, and recently for the PC from Virgin Interactive. That game had a different style of graphics as it's 3D world took on a far more bloodthirsty tone than this game. In each game though, you have an aim which you must apply logic to in reaching it.

While I prefer the 3D world found in that game, upon playing this one, I still found myself drawn into the story which begins with your attempt to free George from the reach of a deadly spider. This was helped by the fact that the manual gives you picture-by-picture assistance in completing the first scene - something that was necessary for me (!) and as such I would recommend this game to anyone from those who were fans of the original and in need for another fix in the adventures of George and Nico, to those who want to get into this genre with a well-made and compelling adventure.