''Broken Sword'' is a series of
adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
s. The first game in the series, ''
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars'', was released and developed in 1996 by British developer
Revolution Software
Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody.
Company history 1992–1994: ''Lure of the Temptress'' and ''Beneath a Steel Sky'' ...
. Its sequel, ''
Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror'', was released a year later, and was followed by ''
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon'' in 2003, ''
Broken Sword: The Angel of Death'' in 2006, and ''
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse'' in 2013. A
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of the first game in the series, known as ''
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut'', was released in 2009, and a remake of the second game in the series, ''Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered'', in 2010 for iOS devices; other platforms followed in 2011.
The main
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
s of the series are George Stobbart, an American patent lawyer, and Nicole "Nico" Collard, a French freelance journalist. While Nico does not appear as a
playable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not contr ...
in the original version of ''The Shadow of the Templars'', she does become playable in the Director's Cut.
The ''Broken Sword'' series was conceived in 1994 by
Charles Cecil,
Noirin Carmody and Sean Brennan, while talking about the mythology of the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
. The first three games in the series as well as the fifth game were developed by
Revolution Software
Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody.
Company history 1992–1994: ''Lure of the Temptress'' and ''Beneath a Steel Sky'' ...
, while the fourth game was co-developed by Revolution and
Sumo Digital
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
. ''The Shadow of the Templars'' and ''The Smoking Mirror'' were critical and commercial successes, selling millions. However, ''The Sleeping Dragon'' and ''The Angel of Death'' received mixed reviews and were not as popular as the first two games. This was mainly due to the switch to 3D graphics and because the third game left the "point and click" interface for a more action-oriented gameplay. The latest game in the series, ''The Serpent's Curse'', returned to the series' 2D roots. The series appeared on several top adventure game lists. A comic book was produced for each remake of the first two ''Broken Sword'' games.
Games
Story overview
In ''The Shadow of the Templars'', American George Stobbart is touring Europe. He becomes both a witness and victim of a bomb attack on a Parisian café "La Chandelle Verte", caused by a clown, later revealed to be an assassin named Khan. The perpetrator steals an old man's briefcase and sets off a bomb inside the café.
Stobbart meets a French photo-journalist, Nicole "Nico" Collard, a resident of Rue Jarry in Paris, with whom he tries to discover who is responsible for the murder of the old man, Plantard, and while doing so, end up unraveling a conspiracy relating to the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
.
[ The third and fourth game, ''The Sleeping Dragon'' and ''The Angel of Death'', follow the Templar-related storyline: ''The Sleeping Dragon'' continuing the story from ''The Shadow of the Templars'' with a number of returning characters,] while in ''The Angel of Death'', George and Nico, with a newly introduced character Anna-Maria, unravel a mystery related to the Catholic Church. Unlike the other installments, in ''The Smoking Mirror'', George and Nico unravel a Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
mystery, involving the Mayan god Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ōmeteōtl, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providenc ...
. ''The Serpent's Curse'' follows a storyline related to the Gnostic Gospels
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Thirteen leather-bound papyrus ...
.
Development
''The Shadow of the Templars'' and ''The Smoking Mirror''
Video game designer, writer and director Charles Cecil began working on the scenario for ''Broken Sword'', Revolution Software
Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody.
Company history 1992–1994: ''Lure of the Temptress'' and ''Beneath a Steel Sky'' ...
's third game following '' Lure of the Temptress'' (1992) and '' Beneath a Steel Sky'' (1994), in 1992, which would be set in Paris with a Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
storyline. After visiting Paris and reading ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' (published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States) is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh (author), Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in ...
'', Cecil was certain the Templars would be a good subject for a game. Cecil, Dave Cummins and Jonathan L. Howard
Jonathan L. Howard is a British writer and game designer, known mainly for his novels about Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. He lives with his wife and daughter near Bristol.
Work
Howard worked as scriptwriter and video game writer since the earl ...
began work on the story and design.[ Cecil and Cummins attended a film-writing course and their script was read by senior ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
scriptwriter and dramatist Alan Drury.
, who created initial location sketches for the game before working on ''Beneath a Steel Sky'',
was promoted to producer halfway through the project.