For those of you who weren't aware Broken Sword 1 (Shadow of the Templars) is coming to the Nintendo DS and Wii this Friday. The announcement was made just before Christmas and is now the release date is finally upon us. For those of you who are interested here is the official press release snippet :D
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"SAN FRANCISCO - DECEMBER 18, 2008 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced a publishing agreement to release the special edition of Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars on Wiiâ,,¢ and Nintendo DSâ,,¢ systems.
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Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - The Director's Cut is scheduled for release on Wii and Nintendo DS in March 2009. "
Link to full article here (http://www.revolution.co.uk/_display.php?id=87)
So I know what I'll be getting on Friday, 20th March! My DS is feeling very lonely since I completed Chrono Trigger and as it's a director's cut it features new story elements, settings and puzzles.
Edit: All you people who live in the states will have to wait for next Tuesday for this (24th March).
Oh poo, I knew a I'd miss a new release to order in my shop with my internet down at work. :(
And Ubisoft belong to the smallest distributor out of the major three so I never called them this week. Oops.
That is great actually! :D
Thanks for that. I just got Broken Sword 2 on GOG.com this morning, and I am loving it.
So I am looking forward to the first.
Jesus, I thought the subject line read, "By the Sword (for DS and Wii)"...!
That's great, maybe we'll see some more adventures on the Wii.
I've got ScummVM on my DS and have recently played through Beneath a Steel Sky and Flight of the Amazon Queen both worked extremely well on the DS and were great fun to play when out and about. As for Broken Sword, I hope this is a sign of more good things to come.
I've been playing this a little today (only about half an hour) and can say I'm really enjoying it. The first part of the story is a completely new story about Nico trying to piece together the clues in a murder.
My biggest thing to say about this is the interface, which is fantastic and, in my opinion, is so well suited to the DS and an adventure game. You drag your cursor around the screen using the DS stylus, as you get closer to an interactable item or character a small friendly flashing circle appears to let you know when you're getting close to something. Moving the stylus over this circle it will get brighter and display context sensitive actions for the object much like a verb coin; such as look, pick-up or interact with.
Dialogue uses a similar system to the PC version with images of people and objects displayed on screen to ask about.
All in all I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far :)
Glad to hear about this one! Played Broken Sword (the first game) on PC (via ScummVM) and (the abridged version) on the GBA - classic gaming memories!
I don't think I could bring myself to play BS on a wii. DS possibly though. Maybe if it's a success the profits will persuade them to make BS5, hopefully lol.
Coincidentally I started playing BS1 again the other week and I'm now playing BS2 and I'm sure they must be some of the best games ever created.
Revolution went bust a few years back. The owner's keeping the website up, and essentially is a one-man band.
Wow I never knew that. Damn no chance of bs5 then. Who made this new ds one then?
Umm, Revolution made the game. I didn't think they went bust although I believe the game is published by Ubisoft and I'll assume they're the big fish with the wads of cash that got this made.
Lol yeah I see what you mean. Well I hope one day they'll make another broken sword, unlikely as it may seem.
Revolution Software is currently, as you've pointed out, a one man band. However, it hasn't stopped Charles Cecil from progressing in development. What he does now is something along the lines of work-for-hire, and basically, gets team members as and when he needs them on a project/contract basis.
He did mention on this month's gamesTM magazine that the possibility about a sequel to Revolution's other Adventure Game marvel, Beneath a Steel Sky though.
If I could get hold of a scanner, possibly next week when i'm at college, I'd upload it to this post. However, here's a short abstract,
GamesTM: Now that you've reignited your partnership with Gibbons, does this make the Beneath A Steel Sky sequel any more likely?
CC: Absolutely, although I have kept in touch with Dave since the original BASS, and we have often talked about a sequel. Dave has been great to work with again. All we need to do now is find some time when we are both reasonably free...
He also goes on to mention that he believes that the Renaissance of Adventure Games is beginning because of the Wii.
Quote from: J-MAN on Mon 23/03/2009 23:30:25
Lol yeah I see what you mean. Well I hope one day they'll make another broken sword, unlikely as it may seem.
why is that unlikely? There was a 3 year gap between 3 and 4, so that puts the development cycle starting about now, doesn't it?
Is this DS version the same as was on the gameboy? or is it a whole new game?
It's basically BS1, but it adds an arch with regards to Nico which occurs before the start of BS1. Also, I believe they've added facial animations, some new cutscenes and changes to the original BS1 story arc.
Quote from: Zooty on Thu 26/03/2009 18:02:38
Quote from: J-MAN on Mon 23/03/2009 23:30:25
Lol yeah I see what you mean. Well I hope one day they'll make another broken sword, unlikely as it may seem.
why is that unlikely? There was a 3 year gap between 3 and 4, so that puts the development cycle starting about now, doesn't it?
Is this DS version the same as was on the gameboy? or is it a whole new game?
Unlikely because he's now a one man band
could he not hire new staff for the new game? Perhaps I've missed understood but I thought he was hiring on a per-game basis as opposed to keeping a team together full time.
Quote from: Zooty on Thu 26/03/2009 18:49:02
could he not hire new staff for the new game? Perhaps I've missed understood but I thought he was hiring on a per-game basis as opposed to keeping a team together full time.
Yes he could but I posted before that information was posted so I had no idea about it, I was under the impression Revolution had finished altogether.
The one downside is they've compleley cut voice acting from it :(
Even from the wii version?
That sucks.
The closeup scenes (especially in the new parts) look very amateurish, like someone made the characters like cardboard cutouts to slide around on flash scenes. They're not on par at all with the original animation work done for the game (like the cutscene at the restaraunt) and the difference is pretty obvious.
Also, the game suffers from what I am now calling Casual Gamer Syndrome (tm). They saddle you with not one but two slide puzzles right beside each other and right after that you get two safe tumbler games.
What is really interesting to me about the whole Director's Cut is it presents us with a clear view of the change in times and approach to puzzles, because the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game and are just simplistic, trial-and-error affairs or unimaginative combo puzzles where all the items you need are in and around the area you are at.
Quote from: Zooty on Fri 27/03/2009 10:31:27
Even from the wii version?
That sucks.
Well I've only played the DS version. Yea kinda a big disappointment, but the new puzzles and story make up for it a little, but as ProgZ says it is geared more towards a casual gaming market. I'll not complain too much as any DS point and click adventure is okay in my books. Let's hope we do see a return in them and perhaps accept that the genre has changed.
Yes, I think that it's indeed sad, and rather inappropriate, that Adventure Games are being classified under this "casual games" category.
If anything, Adventure Games like Gabriel Knight, Broken Sword and The Dig are Epic masterpieces in terms of story, ingenuity, dialogue and gameplay compared to the so called "hardcore" titles that you see nowadays which, sadly, have begun shifting to towards shoot-em-ups and spinoffs of shoot-em-ups.
I still lay hope to the belief that Adventure Games will soon be able to re-establish itself as a great genre. It's amazing how many people whom I've attempted to introduce Adventure Games to just can't seem to get around the idea that you'll have to investigate, talk to people, pick up items and work out small solutions to small problems in order to progress.
Rather, with nothing to blow up, they seem to get pretty lost. :-[
There was also a GBA port of this game, minus the new DS part.
It was alright, I suppose. I'm not a huge Broken Sword fan but I enjoyed it for what it was - an adventure game I can take along for a ride.
There's also a Syberia port for the DS, haven't tried it yet though.
The DS has some nice exclusive adventure games - nothing amazing, but Touch Detective and Hotel Dusk are decent.
QuoteWhat is really interesting to me about the whole Director's Cut is it presents us with a clear view of the change in times and approach to puzzles, because the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game and are just simplistic, trial-and-error affairs or unimaginative combo puzzles where all the items you need are in and around the area you are at.
But how are the rest of the puzzles? Are they like the originals? If they are, how do they suppose the casual audience with deal with this abrupt change from casual puzzles to hardcore puzzles?
It seems like the casual gaming industry will have to stop a second and think twice about the concept of casual gaming. Because it seems to me that there are two kind of casual gamers:
There is the inept player, raised on easy and simple games like Bejeweled, The Sims, Diner Dash, Mystery Case Files and their clones,
And there is the former hardcore gamer, who used to spend 50+ hours a week gaming but realised one day that they had spouse, job, kids and no more time to play games.
And that's two completly different public, the first one want simple and easy games, while the second one want challenging or intense games but in shorter dose, with shorter levels, less time wasting activity like grinding experience or without having to explore 11 separate dungeons to find 11 sacred crystals. And I think most adventure gamers fall in the second category. But with all this bad mouthing about puzzles in general coming from the adventure community, I could be wrong.
QuoteYes, I think that it's indeed sad, and rather inappropriate, that Adventure Games are being classified under this "casual games" category.
I wholeheartedly agree. Old adventure games may be slow paced and not require manual dexterity, but they were none the less hardcore games, without a walkthrough you could easily play a single adventure game for weeks. I'd challenge any hardcore gamers nowaday to finish an old adventure game without a walkthrough and tell us whether these old games were casual. The sole old school adventure game that could be considered casual is Loom, with its easy puzzles and an average of 8 hours of gameplay.
Quotebecause the puzzles in the added content simply do not measure up to the rest of the game
IE, the rest of the game is unchanged aside from the new interface, which does admittedly make it somewhat easier since moving the stylus around creates highlight areas that show you pretty much everything in the room. I'm not crazy about the new interface either to be honest. I think a regular verbcoin would have worked much better than the hybrid weird verbcoin they made for it, where you have to click on specific areas (areas that CAN be interacted with) for it to show up and then it only shows actions possible. It greatly narrows down the interactivity of hotspots in the game only to what is immediately useful, but this seems another casualty of Casual Gamer Syndrome.
Bought Flower, Sun and Rain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_sun_and_rain) today.
Box blurb highlights that it's a "Seek and Find adventure!". A sneaky sideways lure to fans of Mystery Case Files?
Instead, it's more surreal weirdness from Suda 51 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suda_51).
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But how are the rest of the puzzles? Are they like the originals? If they are, how do they suppose the casual audience with deal with this abrupt change from casual puzzles to hardcore puzzles?
Well the interface definitely is helpful to the casual gamer, less hotspots and the hotspots are all clearly visible on screen just by moving the stylus around (they animate when the stylus gets close) and with the context sensitive menu the puzzles never get that difficult (although I have done them all before).
Is Flower, Sun and Rain any good? If I hated and was weirded out by Killer 7, I get the feeling it isn't a game for me.
Syberia on the DS? Cool! Already played it so no point, mind..
Tunguska Secret files was virtually the same as the PC version, I believe, minus the voice acting. I enjoyed it! Better than the last Broken Sword on the PC.. :o
Flower, Sun and Rain is good, but it's a very acquired taste.
The story and dialogue is fine, but the puzzles are all number-based. It's a matter of figuring what the question is, rather than figuring out the answer, for most puzzles. And that, largely, is it for the puzzle side of things.
But to then discover the various number-based answers, you have to talk to people, read through the hotel guidebook (fifty pages+), and generally find areas and objects in and around the hotel that trigger the main character's "jack-in" ability.
It's all very post-modern, game-within-a-game type stuff, and by no means straightforward. :=
But it's original, and I'd recommend it over a lazy retread of a 13 year-old PC game.
Syberia and Tunguska on the DS are just shovelware ports, and pointless if you've played the originals.
I finished the DS Broken Sword and it tries (haphazardly) to explain why the events in the prequel exist NOW rather than in the original release, because Nico makes a sudden vow not to tell George. It works if you believe that after all they go through Nico doesn't feel close enough to trust George with secrets about her father and it fails if, like me, you don't buy the one line excuse given. Overall, the new material only adds annoying stylus puzzles and made the game less enjoyable, since I've got better things to do with my brain than do slide puzzles and rotate locks around. Some genuine brain-strainers would've been nice.
Sounds like it's more annoying box sliding puzzles from Broken Sword 3. I haven't progressed much further. The lack of voice acting and the poor character portraits has really been putting me off. I have to say that upon playing further this isn't as good as I'd first hoped.
Shame.