Broken Sword II Review

Helping George rescue Nico in order to uncover the mystery behind an ancient Mayan artifact while dodging scheming drug dealers and over sized Central American antagonists is surprisingly lacking all the elements of a true adventure. Easily the element that most greatly detracts from the overall adventure is the linear structure of movement through the game. Seldom will you find a level with multiple locations to search, limiting user mobility to set areas and reducing difficulty as less physical area is used to complete tasks.

Creative Use of Items Also Adds Confusion

As you progress through the game, its also easy to tell which items have an important function as your cursor will change to a hand over such objects, reducing the overall challenge as necessary components are revealed to you with no difficulty. Once added to your inventory, objects may not necessarily have an abundantly clear usage. For example, in one scene your use a pair of cloth panties as an oven mitt to pick up a smoldering cylinder, protecting your hand. Such creativity adds a sense of realism and expands the challenge of the game as it may take some time to learn in what way an object must be utilized.

Graphics Were Good For the Era

Although not stunning, the graphics are highly commendable, especially considering they were designed over ten years ago. Conversely, the voice acting can become a burden as it tends to gravitate towards overly-dramatic and generally annoying. Fortunately, a simple click will advance you beyond the commentary and onward in the adventure.

Plot Follows Previous Broken Sword Title

Those who were fans of the Circle of Blood will enjoy a plot line that continues to follow George and Nico and those who have not played the original will be able to enjoy this release on its own as The Smoking Mirror story is not too heavily based on Circle of Blood's plot.

Conclusion - A Bit Too Linear for Adventure Gamers

On the whole, Broken Sword II has some positive qualities, namely its graphics and creativity in item usage and tasks, and to the casual gamer the linear design and easy to follow structure will very likely be positive qualities. Experienced adventure gamers are advised to steer clear of this release for the very same reasons.