Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered Review

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered is a remake of the original game with the same name that was launched back in 1997. This remastered edition made its way onto Linux systems as well and it's been a little overlooked by the gamers. We intend to corrected that issue with this review.

Old-time gamers instantly know what Broken Sword is all about and they know it was a game that actually shaped today's industry. It wasn't a huge success back in the day and the remastered edition wasn't interesting enough to attract a lot of attention. This is a game that really needs more of it, especially if we want the developers to correct some of the other releases.

A lot of games are getting remastered nowadays, and that happens because the same people who were playing these games 20 years ago are still playing games today. Many of them remember the games of their childhood with pleasure, but they are surely disappointed when they try to play them again. Most of the times, we remember the game and the context of those time differently. Those titles might have looked fine back then, but chances are they are pretty terrible today.

Some developers saw this opportunity and they are trying to capitalize on nostalgia, but that is fine and most of us are ready to spend money on the remake of a game we already played and completed numerous times. In fact, there is now an entire industry devoted on this trend and it looks like more old games are being published all the time. To make things even better, some titles even gain Linux support even if they weren't available for Linux games back in the day.

Story and gameplay

The player takes control of George Stobbart, who is trying to locate his abducted girlfriend. His adventures include a conspiracy, Mayan artefacts, and escapes from impossible situations. He gets to visit cities like Paris or Quaramonte City in Central America, and somehow the story makes sense. From time to time, the player will also get to control George Stobbart girlfriend, Nico.

It's difficult to tell the story without spoiling everything, so we'll let you explore the game. This is a point-and-click adventure, but it was conceived in the old days of gaming. That means that players travel from one place to another in search of clues and items they will later need and use in some ridiculous way.

This is basically one giant puzzle game and its complexity varies all the time. Some solutions might seem extremely simple while others will have you running for an online solution. The truth is that most of the time it's something so obvious it becomes shameful that you actually tried to cheat your way out of it. Who knew that a worm that you fished out of a tequila bottle would eventually prove useful later in the game.

The only thing that is really annoying for this kind of puzzle is the fact that you don't really know what's useful and what's not. The character will decide that for you. Twenty years ago players didn't had a whole lot of choices and we're now used with a different kind of gameplay.

The game is not only about the puzzles, which are all nice and interesting, but also about the dialogues, which are the reason why this is a great experience. It's the kind of thing that makes you say that they don't make games like this anymore. It's witty, charming, and funny. Nothing feels out of place and the characters are never in any kind of danger.

It's not a terribly long game, but the older players might be tempted to admire some of the work that's been put into this remastered edition, which includes redesigned backgrounds, facial animations, and improved voiceovers.

Graphics

This brings us to chapter that's usually not very important in point and click adventure games. The story provides pretty much all the substance for the game, but it's hard not to notice the major improvements from one release to another, even if they are actually decades apart.

It would have been easier for the developers to just play with the word remastered and have a half-baked product ready for shipping in no time. Improving this kind of games, that usually have intricate hand drawn backgrounds and animations is not an easy thing to do and we really have to appreciate all the hard works that's been poured into it.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion