Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

We’re used to seeing remakes of older games appearing on the Wii, but this has to be one of the most extreme examples yet – Broken Sword was originally released 13 years ago.

A point and click adventure that was originally released on PC and a wide variety of consoles, Broken Sword follows the adventures of George Stobbart, an American who is holidaying in Paris when a bomb goes off in a nearby cafe. This thrusts the player into a global conspiracy involving the mysterious Knights Templar.

For those who are new to the genre, a point ‘n’ click game has you controlling the player through a wide selection of detailed locations hunting for clues and solving puzzles to progress the story. The puzzles aren’t too taxing, a vast majority involve combining objects gathered along the way, and it’s rare that you’ll have to think about them for more than a few minutes.

The best thing about Broken Sword is its writing and story. The plot is intriguing and there’s a good mix of both humour and more serious dialogue which ensures you’re always eager to move forward and uncover more.

This remake has had a visual overhaul, but the biggest changes are its adaptation to the Wii controls and the new content. The Wii Remote works beautifully as a pointing device and feels very natural, there’s no learning curve so it’s suitable for all ages.

And for anybody who has played Broken Sword before there’s another reason to play through it again with the addition of several hours of new dialogue, puzzles and locations. This doesn’t feel like it’s been shoehorned in, it’s more like the Director’s cut of a movie where the additions are natural and complement the original version.

Verdict: 8/10

It was a great game 13 years ago and it still stands up today. Its conversion to the Wii has been a successful one, with plenty here that will appeal to newcomers and existing fans.