A QUICK BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Ah yes — the quick sequel. Why even pretend such things are driven by artistic ambition rather than financial necessity? Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror was released in 1997, only a year after the surprise success of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. With the adventure game genre already in decline, one could forgive Revolution Software for trying to squeeze out one last payday before the lights went out.
This sequel is neither a continuation nor a deepening of the original concept. Instead, it feels like the moment Broken Sword becomes a franchise — a framework meant to host new stories for as long as interest remains. Although directed and written by history enthusiast Charles Cecil, the game offers few intriguing historical insights, no archaeological mystery worth the name, and very little of the grounded realism that defined the first entry. There isn’t even a broken sword — at least not in any meaningful sense. (Yes, one technically exists, but only as a disposable inventory item with no narrative weight.)
What we do get is another point-and-click adventure starring George Stobbart (still voiced by Rolf Saxon) and Nicole Collard (now voiced by series newcomer Jennifer Caron Hall), who find themselves entangled in a plot involving an ancient Mayan ritual. The Knights Templar and the Assassins sit this one out, though they’ll make their triumphant return in the next sequel.
As a result, The Smoking Mirror isn’t a bad game — but it lacks the predecessor’s holistic sense of place. In The Shadow of the Templars, the orchestral score combined with Parisian streets and autumnal European villages created a strong feeling of time and location. Here, the experience feels more like a chain of isolated set pieces strung together to support a plot. It doesn’t cohere as well, and it fades from memory almost as soon as it’s finished.
The story takes place roughly six months after the events of The Shadow of the Templars. During that time, George has been away caring for his dying father. When the couple reunites, Nico has come into possession of an ancient Mayan stone engraved with a coyote, discovered while researching a story. Seeking answers, the pair visit archaeologist Professor Oubier at his estate.
Their arrival immediately goes sideways. George is knocked unconscious from behind and awakens tied to a chair in a burning room, threatened by a large, venomous spider. Nico has vanished. Your first task is to escape, and then uncover what happened to your girlfriend.
This opening room neatly illustrates how the sequel differs from its predecessor: fewer conversations, more inventory puzzles. Gameplay flows a bit faster, but it comes at the expense of narrative depth. The remaster uses a streamlined interface similar to the first game’s — just two mouse buttons, no verb menu — resulting in an extremely accessible adventure. I finished the game in a handful of two-hour sessions, rarely stuck for more than a few minutes.
The remaster’s additions are pleasant but hardly essential: cleaned-up cutscenes, improved graphics and music, a diary tracking your progress, an interactive comic illustrated by Dave Gibbons to recap prior events, and a drag-and-drop interface suited for handheld devices. Nothing here fundamentally changes the experience. You’d lose very little by playing the original version instead.
The adventure begins in Paris and sends George and Nico on a globe-trotting chase that eventually culminates in a Central American pyramid, complete with some rather silly supernatural elements. Along the way, they rob a museum, disrupt another, crash a film set, stage a jailbreak, and antagonize the military dictatorship of a tropical nation. At times, it feels like a lightweight take on Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
An easy game isn’t inherently a bad one. In fact, the puzzles here are arguably better than those in The Shadow of the Templars. Most are logical and intuitive, and when they aren’t, the simplified interface minimizes time spent in blind trial-and-error. The remaster also includes a contextual hint system that adapts to your current situation. As the shortest entry in the series, The Smoking Mirror is easily completed over a relaxed weekend.
Be sure not to miss the two excellent Easter eggs during Nico’s playable sections — one a bizarrely cheeky puzzle skip, the other a knowing nod to an earlier Revolution title.
Thanks to its sharp writing and steady humor, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror remains a worthwhile experience for fans of The Shadow of the Templars. Newcomers, however, should start with that first game to get a stronger initial impression of the series. While the historical intrigue and sense of place are largely absent here, the charm of the central duo endures, carrying the game through its tonal shift.
As the final title built on the Virtual Theatre engine, the changes made in The Smoking Mirror are mostly tonal — and, in isolation, easy to forgive. Unfortunately, between this game and the third installment, the 3D revolution arrived and the traditional graphical adventure all but collapsed. Revolution Software had no choice but to adapt.
Did they succeed? Stay tuned for Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon.
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