What would be in your top ten games list? Metal Gear Solid? Halo? Gears of War?

This game probably wouldn’t be in your list. It’s a traditional point n’ click adventure game, with 2D graphics, with riddles and puzzles strewn throughout. The storyline consists of a mysterious café bombing, but as the story continues we realise there is much more than meets the eye… Sounds exciting? Probably not to most people, but for the vast majority of people who have played this game, it is one of the best games ever.

Broken Sword was released in 1996 just as the heyday of adventure games was waning. Sam and Max, Full Throttle, The Dig had all been met with open arms by the PC community and gaming critics. After these games, very few point n’ click games reached a popular audience. Instead the adventure game was relegated to a niche genre. Broken Sword was one of the best ever games from this genre but also the last true great adventure game that had popular appeal.

In it, you played George Stobbart, an American tourist in Paris. At the beginning of the game he is enjoying a coffee in a café when suddenly a clown runs by him into the establishment, leaves a bomb, and runs out. BOOM! George’s life is changed forever. His days of enjoying the Paris sunshine are over and with the help of a French photographer named Nico Collard, he will hunt down those responsible.

The story is truly one of the most finely crafted in gaming history, filled with breathtaking environments, memorable characters and a great sense of humour on display throughout.

His trek takes him around Paris, to Ireland (one of the first games ever to have an Irish level in it!), Syria, Spain and Scotland. Each setting was beautifully hand drawn with an orchestral score provided by composer Barrington Pheloung. The soundtrack is both ambitious and epic in equal measure.

What makes the game truly phenomanial is our main character. George Stobbart is one of gaming’s great heroes. A razor sharp tongue (“He looked at me as if I had farted at a funeral”), ingenuity at every turn (making a working key from soap) and the femme fatal to bounce off his ego in the form of Nico.

When the whole package is put together, here is a game that stands the test of time. Easy controls, great character, beautiful graphics, challenging puzzles. There is no weakness to be found in this masterpiece.

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