Broken Sword: Director's Cut (Wii/DS) is out and has been promptly forgotten

Lunker

Faux edit: The US version is out on March 24, but apparently the EU version is out March 19!

I know very little about the PC version of Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templar, but I know it gets mentioned enough in old point-and-click nostalgia threads that I'm very interested in the upcoming Wii and DS versions, which actually drop in two weeks for $50 and $30, respectively. As far as I can tell, the only real difference between the two versions is that the DS version doesn't have any voice acting. Both new versions apparently extend the story at the beginning and end of the original game, but I'm not all that in-the-know, which is why I'm curious to hear what others here felt about the original.

Some blurbs from GameStop's site:

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director’s Cut for the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo builds on the original, boasting a new and explosive narrative interwoven with the first story. After witnessing the brutal and horrifying murder of one of Paris’s richest and most influential statesman, the player will be pulled into a sinister conspiracy rooted in a long forgotten medieval legend. New puzzles have been added that specifically utilize Nintendo's unique Wii Remote™. The game also features stunning animated facial expressions drawn by Dave Gibbons, artistic genius behind the comic book and upcoming movie Watchmen.

Key Features

Deep and Captivating Murder Mystery

* Intriguing storyline following a journalist’s eyewitness account of a tragic assassination.

Intuitive Controls Redefine Adventure Genre

* Wii Remote controls create a whole new level of interaction and accessibility to vibrant and detailed settings.
* New hint system prevents players from ever getting stuck on puzzles by offering tips and advice when needed.

New Cooperative Multiplayer Gameplay

* Discover the adventure with an all-new two-player mode, allowing two players to explore settings together for clues and hints.

Exclusive Director’s Cut Content

* New story elements and settings – piecing together events before and after the original Broken Sword.
* Exclusive puzzles add new depth to the exploration gameplay.

Rich and Colorfully Illustrated Art Style

* Stunning hand-drawn illustrations by renowned artist Dave Gibbons.
* Animated facial expressions depict empathetic and emotional storytelling.

Also, here's a lengthy video interview with Charles Cecil (founder of Revolution Software) and artist Dave Gibbons on the changes made for the director's cut. It sounds like there's an optional hint system added, and the extra bits are peppered both before and after the events of the original game, but the meat of Broken Sword has been left the same, just spruced up.

Anyway, thoughts? Excitement? There's a lot of games dropping in freaking March, that's for sure. If I get this, I'm going to spring for the DS as I do almost all of my gaming portably lately.

xWonderboyx

More point-and-click can only be a good thing.

WotanAnubis

The first Broken Sword? Was awesome.

The ones after that not so much, but the first was great.

So I'm gonna buy this game all over again. Day one, if I can get it.

DeaconKnowledge

Wii version for me and my next purchase after Suikoden (and before the DSi).

Mr_Grinch

Broken Sword was awesome, although be warned if you hate dialogue in your point and clicks then this one may not be for you!

Zombiemambo

Moriveth gave me BS 1&2. Currently stuck in Ireland in the first, but it's a ton of fun. Hand-drawn animation FTW

Kylogue

WotanAnubis wrote: »

The first Broken Sword? Was awesome.

The ones after that not so much, but the first was great.

So I'm gonna buy this game all over again. Day one, if I can get it.

I actually liked two more. But yes, the first one was also great...

Man... I missed the good old days, when nearly 1 out of 3 games were point and click games.

WotanAnubis

Picked it up for the Wii like I said I would. A few days later than planned, but whatever.

After playing for a few hours, I realise I really can't give much of an objective opinion. Playing this again is like being hit in the face with nostalgia.

I will say, though, that I know George's slow walk is going to annoy me this time. It's also extremely painfully clear what dialogue was in the original and which was newly recorded for this remake. One sounds quite good, the other... doesn't.

Also, while I like that they gave Nico more to do, I question making her new quest the prologue. It makes it feel like George's quest is going to be secondary to Nico's. Bit of a bad move there.

Anyways. Back to showing my clown nose to as many random people as possible.

Lunker

Well, this clearly resonated with everyone. :P I'm jonesing for a new DS game to spin on my DSi, so I'm probably going to pick this up on my lunch break today. As I mentioned in the OP, I've never played the original, and all of the reviews and impressions I've heard say that it still holds up amazingly well, particularly in the DS version.

Vargas Prime

Well I probably won't buy a new copy, but I think I'll go back and play Broken Sword on my PC again... I dug this series.

brynstar

I bought this day one on Wii, and I love it as I love the PC games. Weirdly, Best Buy decided not to carry this, but I found plenty of copies at my local Fred Meyer. They don't usually stock smaller titles.

SkyGheNe

I want this but I don't know if I 50 dollars want it.

It reminds me of a cartoon game I played as a kid on my old 486 where there was a knight, dragon, and some princess and a villain of some sort.

Lunker

I've put about a half hour into the DS version, and I really dig the interface: You don't have to tap all over the place, instead you can just kind of drag along the screen, and you'll see little icons around hot spots when you mouse over them. From there, hold the stylus over it for a moment and various animated "look/use/etc." icons pop up, then you mouse over the icon you want and release.

UncleSporky

SkyGheNe wrote: »

I want this but I don't know if I 50 dollars want it.

It reminds me of a cartoon game I played as a kid on my old 486 where there was a knight, dragon, and some princess and a villain of some sort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwvVMPhW5M&feature=related

Vargas Prime

SkyGheNe wrote: »

I want this but I don't know if I 50 dollars want it.

It reminds me of a cartoon game I played as a kid on my old 486 where there was a knight, dragon, and some princess and a villain of some sort.

Are you thinking of Dragon's Lair? Dirk the Daring, rescuing the princess by flicking the joystick in the direction he had to dodge? Loved those games....

e: damn you Sporky

Cherrn

I've heard a lot of people say the DS version is the best one, but I seem to recall the voice acting being pretty good in Broken Sword.

Which is the one to get?

SkyGheNe

Yes! Dragon's lair. I remember playing that a lot when I was in elementary school.

Lunker

Cherrn wrote: »

I've heard a lot of people say the DS version is the best one, but I seem to recall the voice acting being pretty good in Broken Sword.

Which is the one to get?

I glanced at the IGN and IGN UK reviews and they both pegged the DS version as the better one, though they were a little vague on why. It's apparently more consistent throughout:

IGN UK wrote:

Interestingly, while Broken Sword: The Director's Cut on Wii suffers from the juxtaposition of old and new content – with technical issues, from aging assets to low-quality audio, undermining the overall experience – this DS edition feels far more cohesive. Thanks to the diminutive DS screens, there are very few visual discrepancies across content. Likewise, Revolution's decision to remove the vocal track from this handheld iteration, while likely to irk fans, immediately negates complaints concerning audio quality and ensures consistency throughout. Sadly, that does mean handheld players are lumbered with maudlin midi orchestrations, no substitute for Barrington Pheloung's beautifully evocative original score. However, while it's equally disappointing that this DS version loses the vocal quirks of its two protagonists – performances that added much to the original game's appeal – we're glad to wave goodbye to much of Broken Sword's outdated emphasis on poorly-delivered cultural stereotypes.

Being $20 less for the same thing also helps, and since an adventure game is kind of like reading a book it's the type of game I'd much rather have on the go for my daily commute than in front of the TV. I don't know how the PC or Wii versions work it, but the DS version uses the two screens nicely: The bottom screen is the larger playfield and the top screen are character close-ups for dialogue and such, and cutscenes use both screens dynamically.

solsovly

$50? It's like they don't want it to succeed. I may consider picking up the DS version.

Cherrn

Ideally I'd get both, but it is ludicrous to charge full price when you can go down in a used game store and find the PC version for $5.

Barcardi

need more adventure games. adventure games always had the best worlds even if you couldnt interact with a large part of them

now please rerelease the longest journey so you can make that 3rd game.

Lunker

solsovly wrote: »

$50? It's like they don't want it to succeed. I may consider picking up the DS version.

Also, Ubisoft just kind of farted it out onto the marketplace with no advertising—it's been out for a few weeks now. I really dig the interface, and I'd love to see more point-and-clicks, but we all know how they sell nowadays.

WotanAnubis

So this topic revives itself after I've finished the game for about a week? Tsk.

Ah well.

I had fun with it while it lasted. Though, unfortunately, cutscenes that looked pretty impressive back then look rather amateurish nowadays.

Olivaw

I played Broken Sword when it came out for the GBA all those years ago

It was frustrating at times, but fun

I always wondered if I'd ever get the chance to play the sequels

HadjiQuest

I really want the DS version, but I am low on cash funds.

This is one of the things I was really looking forward to, but deemed unnecessary when the time came and I drastically lacked the money required. It's still on my list, but Wolverine, Batman, Super Robot Wars, and Final Fantasy IV DS all take precedent over it.

I really liked BS1 and 3, but I have yet to play 2 or 4. I should probably pick 2 up from GoG.

Janson

I had to buy this; I'm a huge fan of all the Broken Sword games. 1 and 3 are probably my favourites.

I really dig the new character portraits and animations. And the extra chapters are the icing on the cake.

'Outdated poorly-delivered cultural stereotypes' is a bit harsh! Of course they are stereotypes, but I don't think them offensive, and at least everyone is poked fun at equally.

It works really, really well on the DS, and it looks stunning.

Lunker

Janson wrote: »

It works really, really well on the DS, and it looks stunning.

It really does! On both counts. I'm nearing the end of the game now, I think, and it kept me occupied during my downtime and airplane travel when I was on vacation this past week. It's done really well and I like the writing a lot—it treats you like an adult, which is nice. Some of the puzzles have been a little crazy but overall make a lot more sense than other out-of-left-field solutions like in other point-and-clicks. I've been using a fair amount of hints, though a lot of it is because I was on vacation and didn't really want to frustrate myself. I was traveling around a fair bit on a cruise, so following George around France, Spain and Ireland was quite fitting.