Posted on: September 4, 2024

Red_Avatar

Games: 722 Reviews: 37

Amazing classic but original is better

It's probably been 10 years since I last played this game to the end. I remember trying this Director's Cut to see what it improved and I wasn't too impressed by the silly Myst-like logic puzzles. This time I wanted to play it through completely & since it works on a modern Windows out of the box it seemed the best choice. Let me start by saying that the original game is in my top 5 favorite adventure games along with Beneath A Steel Sky, Monkey Island 1 & 2 and Sam & Max Hit the Road. The music, the atmosphere, the story, the characters - they were all brilliantly realised and even though my PC at the time was too weak, I gladly played it despite the very choppy cut scenes. Particularly the Hotel Ubu music was a favorite - I used that music as a Windows start song for a loooooong time. But let's move onto what the Director's Cut is about. It adds a handful of new locations, fleshes out the story a little bit (not much), adds a few new cut scenes, shows drawn up close faces during dialogue and gives Nicole her own backstory. Does it work? Kind of. The new locations are well made, the new characters are interesting enough and the new puzzles are in line with what you can expect for the rest of the game except self-contained. HOWEVER, they also added a bunch of crappy logic puzzles the like you had in 7th Guest & Myst. These add NOTHING to the game and actually make the game feel worse. What also feels at odds is the mix of old & new dialogue - the old dialogue is warmer whereas the new dialogue is crisper. George sounds about the same but Nicole sounds much older in the new dialogue and it kind of jars. On top of this they changed the music around. The fabulous piano music in Hotel Ubu's upstairs rooms has been replaced by the downstairs music which annoyed me a great deal. The tone of the game on the whole has been changed as well this way - music was added where there was none & visa versa. All in all, it's still a great game but I prefer the original.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: June 15, 2025

kenadrian

Games: 368 Reviews: 78

The best version of this classic game

Broken Sword: Director's Cut is an expanded remaster of the first game, also known as Shadow of the Templars. It's a point-and-click adventure game where you play as American tourist George Stobbart, who got involved in a conspiracy involving a costumed killers and the Knights Templar's secret. You are assisted by French reporter Nico Collard, who's also interested in the same mystery for a more personal reason. I mentioned this game is the best version to play, and the reason is that there are extra chapters and cutscenes. In the original version, you only play as George, but here you can also play as Nico. Her story involves investigating ties to her father's past, who might had a role in the recent conspiracy. It's a great way to expand her character, making her more than just a sidekick. Sadly, the newest remaster (Reforged) decides to remaster only the original game, without the new Nico chapters. A downside to the new chapters is that some people said it messes with the pacing, for example the game starts with a new chapter so the iconic cafe opening scene is delayed. But if Broken Sword: Director's Cut is your entry to the franchise as it was for me, it wouldn't feel as jarring. Definitely recommended for point-and-click adventure fans. Sadly because of Reforged being released, this version is delisted from Steam, but here you can buy and keep it forever!

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: November 20, 2017

CharlieLima79

Verified owner

Games: 639 Reviews: 149

A great game, weakened by Director's Cut

It was only recently that I heard all the great buzz about the first 'Broken Sword' game, so I decided to give it a try. I played the Director's Cut first, and thought it was a great game overall, with excellent graphics, good voice acting, and a mature, engaging story that could rival its contemporaries from LucasArts. Although the game's ending felt rushed, and that the added story and puzzle contents were superfluous and inconsequential, it was a lot of fun to play the Director's Cut of 'Broken Sword'. However, the Director's Cut is a double-edged sword (pun intended). I expected the new content to blend in with the old as seamlessly as possible, but it was not so. Dave Gibbon's new artwork was gorgeous, but it did not match the style of Mike Burgess, the original character animator. I was also quite enthused to play as Nico, but her story turned out to be not important to how the rest of the adventure plays out. I was hoping I would get to switch between George and Nico throughout the Director's Cut, but Nico's adventure was only tacked on at the beginning. In fact, presenting Nico's adventure as the prologue also ruined the original game's more impactful opening. The new puzzles? Well, they were alright, but one puzzle was so poorly designed that you literally had to guess the solution. At the very least, I expected the old content to be remastered to match the quality of the new. Yet, the newly recorded dialogue stood out like a sore thumb because of different audio quality. The old cutscenes looked dated and grey, compared to the brighter tones of the new ones. The discrepancies between the old and the new were so obvious that I wished I had just played the original. Thankfully then, the original 'Broken Sword' game is packaged with the Director's Cut, so it can still be enjoyed. I must say that the Director's Cut does scale the graphics up to be better enjoyed on modern computers. Despite my negativity, I am still recommending this game. While the Director's Cut could have been much better, it's still very fun. At the very least, now you know to play the original game first before checking the Director's Cut out.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: May 14, 2023

outsider414

Verified owner

Games: 200 Reviews: 13

Includes original version

Includes the original game version from ~1996 which, despite its low screen resolution, does hold up very well. It's a very pleasant adventure game which is driven by an engaging plot and loads of dialogues between the characters. So that means that you can barely get stuck, as you advance mostly through careful oberservation and dialogues. Features an exciting plot and beautiful animations and cutscenes. It's also a surprisingly long game. The director's cut version adds some new scenes and puzzles, but quickly falls flat - it's technically not well executed and there's loads of clipping errors between the sprites, missing animations and bad puzzle design in the new parts. The added plot also falls disappointingly short, even though it does start out interestingly. The new and old art styles do not always match and the new 3d rendered sprites stick out like a sore thumb and clash heavily with the original sprites. The originals, on the other hand, are somehow lacking some of their original animations and often look rather mushy. The director's cut also makes some minor changes in some cutscenes for example and does take away some of the player agency (as in: options) in a few scenes. I did enjoy the new clicky type puzzles, but they are going somewhat overboard with it in later parts of the game. Overall, I would strongly recommend playing the original version. The director's cut itself is a bit of a letdown, even though there are some nice ideas in it. As for the original: I can absolutely recommend this game. Very enjoyable.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: June 28, 2012

patwater

Verified owner

Games: 188 Reviews: 6

Held Back by Poor Pacing

I'm not sure which parts are included in the original game and which are only in the director's cut; I only played the director's cut. I was immediately immersed while playing as Nicole--I found the story engaging and the puzzles challenging. There was a good balance of puzzle solving and dialogue scenes that kept me interested in both. Then, enter George Stobbart. George ambles around Paris for a good long time, meeting all sorts of quirky and loveable characters... and that's about it. I came to a realization shortly after flying to Ireland that each scene left me less and less motivated to continue. The story, while interesting, contained either too little suspense or too little action. I will praise Broken Sword for the writing, the funny dialogue and the endless supply of oddball characters. Unfortunately, I need more than just conversations with likeable people to keep me intrigued. With the sudden disappearance of any and all puzzles after I took control of Stobbart, what started as an effervescent delight steadily lost its fizz, until I altogether lost interest in finishing.

Is this helpful to you?

Discover CD PROJEKT RED games

Highlights

Featured

Close, but not an exact hit

Broken Sword: Director's Cut

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Delete this review?

Report this review

Additional Details (required):

Report this review