Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror on PC

• Windows 95, NT 4.0 or above
• 486 DX2 66Mhz (Pentium)
• 16Mb RAM
• 1Mb DirectX 5.0 Compatible SVGA Card (2Mb Card)
• DirectX Compat. Sound Card
• 2xspeed CD-ROM (4xspeed)
• Hard Disk Space: Install 66Mb or 260Mb version
• Control: Mouse

Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirroris Virgin Interactive‘s sequelto the smash-hit Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, whichintroduced us to the reluctant but resourceful hero George Stobbart – anAmerican caught up in an explosive plot involving the legacy of the KnightsTemplar.

Tragedy follows the triumph of that tale, with George forced to leave his newlove Nico in order to tend to his dying father in America. Now back in Parisfor a reunion, it’s not long before George finds out that his headstrongFrench girlfriend has led them into mortal danger once again.

Photo-journalist Nico has been doing her best to expose a drugs smuggling ring,but inadvertantly stumbles upon something far more sinister when she gainspossession of a mysterious obsidian stone. Visiting the house of Mayanarchaeologist Professor Oubier in the hope of discovering more about theartefact, the pair are attacked.

Nico is kidnapped, and George left to be bitten by a deadly tarantula. Thisbrush with death is the first of many for our hero, in a race against time toprevent a criminal mastermind from fulfilling an age-old prophecy to bringabout the destruction of mankind.

Installing and Running the Game

The first time you insert the CD-ROM into the computer you will be asked forthe option to install Broken Sword II, along with another option to installDirectX 5.0 if you do not already have it on your PC.

When installation is complete you can then choose to play the game, view thecredits, see the demo for the original Broken Sword game, visit theBroken Sword Website or uninstall the game completely.

Playing the Game

In order to move George around you simply move the cursor to the position ofthe screen you want him to move to, then press either mouse button to move.If the screen is wider than one screen, then as you move to the side abeckoning hand will indicate this. Again press either mouse buttonto pick the exact spot you want George to move to.

If the cursor changes to a pointing hand this indicates an exit fromthe current location. The LEFT mouse button makes George leave by that exit,while pressing the RIGHT button makes George give you a description of whatawaits you.

If the cursor changes to a grabbing hand as you pass over an object,then George can pick it up by pressing the LEFT mouse button. The RIGHT buttonmakes George give a description of said object. If you move the cursor to thebottom of the screen, George’s possessions are shown. Pressing LEFT on oneof these picks the object, while RIGHT causes George to examine the object.Objects can be used to interact with other possessions of yours, or withvarious objects and people in the current location. You can also interact withobjects there on your own by clicking LEFT on them to use, or RIGHT for adescription.

Talking To Other Characters

You can also talk to other characters onscreen by clicking LEFT on them, orRIGHT to give a description of that person. When chatting George will handle thegeneral chat, but will need prompting on the subject matter. A series of objectswill appear under the location. Clicking LEFT on each will bring these up in theconversation, and will disappear when all the information has been divulged.If they’re still there after you’ve been given the info, then there’s moreto be found out about this particular item.

You can discuss the items in any order you choose. It might be best to ask allquestions available to get the full story. You can later go back to thatlocation and ask more questions after visiting new places or collecting newitems which are applicable.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

The SVGA cartoon graphics are very colourful, and interact very well indeed asyou point and click your way around the various locations. Also in the gameare superbly-animated sequences.

The sound comprises of three things. 260 sound effects from time to time whichare functional; voices, as the characters talk, which are crystal clear; andthe best thing going is the music: over 2 hours of it, and all written byBritain’s premier composer, Barrington Phelong, craetor of the music for theITV series, Inspector Morse, starring John Shaw as the eponymouscharacter.

Playability is pin-sharp accurate. You move the mouse to position your pointerover the item required and click. Couldn’t be simpler, and functions withouta hitch.

Overall

Overall, if you’re a fan of the original you’re going to want this. Not havingplayed the original I can’t comment on the advancements made with this release,but the demo of the first game accompanying this has the same feel about it,and it’s generally assumed that the sequel to a hit game, be it action oradventure, will feature more characters, locations and objects to interactwith. After all, that’s what people will expect and as I understand it, thatis what Virgin Interactive have supplied here.

At times the game feels that during certain scenes the action is led towardsthe obvious conclusion within that room or location, but I feel that for abeginner like me this is certainly a welcome trait.

I’m not usually a fan of point-and-click adventures, usually instead favouringshoot-em-up’s or fast driving games. However, one game which recently awakenedmy interest in adventure games of sorts was Resident Evil, released lastyear for Playstation, and recently for the PC from Virgin Interactive. Thatgame had a different style of graphics as it’s 3D world took on a far morebloodthirsty tone than this game. In each game though, you have an aim whichyou must apply logic to in reaching it.

While I prefer the 3D world found in that game, upon playing this one, I stillfound myself drawn into the story which begins with your attempt to freeGeorge from the reach of a deadly spider. This was helped by the fact that themanual gives you picture-by-picture assistance in completing the first scene -something that was necessary for me (!) and as such I would recommend thisgame to anyone from those who were fans of the original and in need foranother fix in the adventures of George and Nico, to those who want to get intothis genre with a well-made and compelling adventure.