Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

Review

by Cal Nguyen

Crave Entertainment has put out another intelligent story in Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror for the PlayStation. The interactivity and multiple choices you are allowed to execute work well to involve you in the game. The animation is very much the same quality as many television cartoons. However, the fact that the engine is behind its time and the somewhat slow responses keep the game from standing above other adventure games. As well, the long loading times and voiceovers that ramble on could turn off those less patient players.

Controls take a bit of getting used to but the addition of analog control makes things convenient, which the original Broken Sword game lacked. Of course, mouse compatibility has returned, which is even more convenient if you own a mouse. Unfortunately, it's pretty tough to get precise since the analog control is not as accurate as a mouse pointer would be. Also, there isn't much vibration feedback at all in this game.

As aforementioned, the graphics are behind the times as its 2D cartoon drawings and animation may be colorful but they are definitely bland. There isn't much going on except for movement of the characters, which doesn't capture a more realistic environment. Although there is some parallax scrolling and a few layering effects, the game is just not visually appealing. Even Fear Effect surpasses this game's graphical presentation. As well, the animation matches those of many cartoons yet the frame rate is somewhat choppy. There aren't exactly any special effects, either.

The story is pretty involving and superbly told, although in a past tense kind of way. The narrator (George Stobbart) recites the action as if things already happened. This takes away from the feeling that you are in the moment, making the game seem more passive rather than active. There is little you can do with your surroundings, such as objects that are recognized by your character; he just describes them. In essence, most items that you see are useless. However, those that are important to the story are sometimes hard to spot onscreen. Perhaps that lends to the difficulty level (which there is only one).

Speaking of difficulty, the game can get pretty hard as you'll be stuck not knowing what to do in certain situations that are required to be completed in order to move on to the next "big" thing. For this you'll more likely need a strategy guide of some sort, as a lot of things about the game aren't obvious. Much of this is due to the camouflaged visuals but also because a lot of backtracking is necessary. Even if you try everything in a location you may still need something from somewhere else to trigger the next subplot; this happens a lot in the game. As for the general gameplay and interactivity, it's obviously better than Dragon's Lair, but it borders on the brink of boredom.

The characters tend to be too casual and not very excited, although natural-sounding. The voices are acted out very well, but there's too much talking in this game. A lot of voiceovers are good, but this is overdoing it! When you want to get to the point, where does it end? The characters ramble on forever it seems. The mild language is interesting to say the least. They did cover all bases however, since all items you present to most of them will spark a reaction of some sort; sometimes George will just tell you that they're not interested, however.

Sound effects are few and far between in Broken Sword II. The only time you hear any effects is when something "significant" happens, such as the slob in the gallery who drops a vase -- you hear the vase crashing to the ground, but that's it! There aren't any footstep noises or anything else that would be considered common for an adventure game. There are some ambient sounds such as the birds chirping and the breeze during the café scenes, but that's about the limit of this game. The music is composed with some nice orchestrated drama but is only present when something "significant" occurs. Otherwise it's a silent and boring game.

The game's interaction is basically one-on-one with the characters. So with a well-written story narrated in the past tense, and good but overdone voiceovers, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror leaves little to be desired even by adventure aficionados due to the bottom line -- it's a boring game with an old game engine! Be prepared to sleep.