A CIRCLE BITING ITS OWN TAIL
Also for: Linux, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, Windows, Xbox One
Prepare to read the corniest opening line of the year: Like a serpent biting
its own tail, the circle is now complete. George and Nico are back together,
in Paris, where they first met back in 1996. A brand new adventure awaits,
presented in a great, old-fashioned adventure game style. You explore a
picturesque, hand-drawn 2D world with a simple point and click interface. It's
a game about digging into history that also, incidentally, really digs the
history of its own genre.
After many years in stasis following a couple of misguided 3D-entries, the
Broken Sword-series returned to its roots with the Kickstarter-funded development of Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse in 2013 (it was ported to different platforms in the following years).
Revolution Software chopped it up into two episodic releases. The
result can be summarized as a first half so good it might be the series' best
release, and a weaker second half that makes the complete package on par with
the first game, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars.
Also, the great Barrington Pheluong returned, conducting his
orchestra to set the vibe of a relaxed historical investigation. Whereas
the first game took place in the fall, this whole game radiates a more
uplifting atmosphere of spring. It is steeped in fresh and bright colors, with
highly detailed backdrops that add
a lot to the sense of place. It certainly feels rejuvenating, like a fresh
start should.
As the story kicks off, George Stobbart (voiced once again by
Rolf Saxon) has taken on a job as an art insurance assessor. His latest
assignment brings him to an art gallery in Paris, supervising the exhibition
of a client. There he has a chance encounter with his on and off girlfriend,
Nicole Collard (Emma Tate), when an armed man enters the gallery,
steals a painting and shoots the exhibitor dead. This ignites the plot, taking
George and Nico to different locations in Paris, London and Catalonia, Spain.
They need to solve the mystery of the stolen painting, La Maledicció, which
might hold clues to locating an ancient, malevolent power.
Violence and death is so commonplace in video games, it feels oddly refreshing
to play a game where a homicide is treated as a major event, triggering the
rest of the plot. This isn't the only corpse you'll come across in the game,
but every time it happens, the game singles the body out and frames it in a close-up. This gives
you a good perspective to investigate the murder from, naturally, but also
serves to treat the situation with some consideration. That has not always
been the case with Broken Sword.
But as usual in a George-and-Nico adventure, the murder itself plays second
fiddle to the historical investigation. The art
theft, and the painting's historical significance, is really the big deal. La
Maledicció itself is a sinister piece of art - painted by the Gnostic and
secretive "El Serp" - that clearly holds a lot of symbolism. First you need to
find the murderous thief, and then the painting itself. Once it's in your hands,
decoding it is not a layman's task. Luckily George himself is a history buff
and knows where to prod to fill in the blanks.
A lot of the investigation takes place within the dialogue mechanic, where a
few conversation topics appear at the bottom on the screen. A telltale sign
that I enjoy the writing and acting is that the first thing I look for when
entering a new location is people to pester. I always exhaust every dialogue
option before starting to look around.
The gallery of oft-recurring characters
is quite rich, and they all have their own personality quirks that sometimes
spill over into puzzles. Sergeant Moue's aging bladder is one, as is Pearl
Henderson's spirituality and Lady Piermont's temperament. George's own issue
with goats has become like a catchphrase puzzle throughout the series.
The Serpent's Curse - at least in the better first half - thankfully has very
logical puzzle solutions. If an object on the screen holds significance, the
cursor signals that by changing into a couple of grinding gears. Obvious vital
clues in dialogues point you in the right direction, and the game limits the
locations you can visit at any given time. The solution is never far away. If
you get stuck anyway, the neat hint system in the menu can drop a few
pointers before spelling it out, if you need more help.
The game successfully combines a balanced mix of talking, examining,
combining inventory items and solving close-up encryption or jury-rigging puzzles. I
particularly enjoy the latter, because they require some creative thinking. My
favorite one involves decoding a telegram written in cipher, with absolutely
nothing to go on. I solved it by putting to use the old lessons taught by
Edgar Allan Poe in his short story The Gold-Bug that I read in
my youth.
Unfortunately, the game loses some momentum in its second half. The locations get longer and fewer, the puzzles a bit more cryptic, and the clues become
less obvious. In one of the last locations George and Nico get trapped behind
a locked door, and I thought I was supposed to look for a way out. But without clearly telling me, the game instead wanted me to figure out where to go next, after breaking
free, by combining a few items and solving a hard linguistic puzzle. When I finally did, Nico automatically found the way to escape.
The Broken Sword games are treated like TV-serials or comic book adventures.
The historical adventure itself is the main attraction, and every character,
including their distinguishing features, serves or hinders the investigation in
some way. George's and Nico's skills are tested, but they don't grow as
characters - they are already fully developed at the start of each game.
Instead every entry starts with the same status quo. This is called "playing it
safe".
It comes with a few advantages: It means the games can be played in any
order, so a newcomer can jump in at any point. Also, if you skip one bad entry
or two means jack squat. More so, it means the franchise can theoretically go
on forever, bringing in the cash for as long as people are willing to fork it
up. In a genre as struggling as this, no one can really blame Revolution for sticking to the winning formula with Broken Sword.
But it also comes with a couple of major drawbacks. The undeveloping characters - even
George and Nico - mostly feel flat and superficial, at least in this entry.
They are instruments of gameplay and plot, which is why the game world so often feels lifeless. No stock characters are wandering the streets of
Paris, because they would serve no purpose. But at least some semblence of
life outside the gameplay elements would do wonders for the bigger picture.
The Serpent's Curse isn't a game about loneliness and isolation, but the
environments make it seem so.
And point and click adventures is a genre that could tell any sort of challenging story, even a good,
contemporary domestic family drama. That's virtually impossible, or at least
very hard, to make within any other genre. I mean, look at the perspective we
view it from - it's an interactive stageplay waiting to happen. In a time
where point and click adventures are extremely niche, I keep wondering how
long they can keep appealing exclusively to players' sense of nostalgia. If point-and-clickers want to
stay relevant, they need stories that take risks. Otherwise, what purpose do
they serve?
I know, I know - that's a text for another place and time. It doesn't
affect my review score much, if at all. Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse really
comes full circle. The franchise is back to where it started, and it's all for
the better. The game represents old school adventure games at their best. Its puzzles
are good, its presentation exquisite and I cannot honestly say I've played
many genre entries that top it. Although the story plays it too safe for me,
it reaches its full potential and I'll award it three stars. It's a good game,
make no mistake about it.
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