Posted January 06, 2009
Overview
Broken Sword 3 - The Sleeping Dragon is an attempt to bring the beautiful world of Broken Sword into the 3D age and to console gamers. On the whole, the attempt was successful, but there are changes to the gameplay that point and click fans might not appreciate.
Graphics
After the beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds of BS1 and 2, it might seem like a step backwards to try to recreate the atmosphere that made the previous titles so great. But nothing could be further from the truth. BS3 succeeds admirably at recreating that feeling with beautiful environments and perfect lighting. If anything, it adds to it, as previous instalments were limited by the amount of 2D animation that could be put into a game. Those limitations are gone and the animations are wonderfully smooth and lively. Even in comparison to modern games, the environments are stunning, however you can see a few rough edges on the characters when they're too close to the camera and during the cutscenes.
Speaking of which. The cutscenes are all done using the ingame engine, sometimes in realtime, sometimes prerendered. While the video quality is very high for such an old title, it means that there is sometimes a change in resolution, that could have been avoided.
There are very few customization options: Only resolution and color depth can be set. However, there isn't really any need for anything else as the game will work beautifully even on lower end PCs. Widescreen resolutions are possible and the game automatically adapts to the different aspect ratio.
Rating 4.5/5 : Almost perfect.
Sound
The voice acting is still wonderful. Sometimes, the characters sound a little too calm, as they did in BS 1/2, but the overall experience is great. Likewise, the music is nothing to get excited about, but it sets the scenes up beautifully.
Rating 4/5 : Not exciting, but serviceable.
Controls
BS3 is a pure console game when it comes to controls. Instead of fixed controls, like they are common for PC games, BS3 uses four context-sensitive action buttons. When you are close to an object, the actions for each button will be shown in the lower right of the screen. This also includes generic actions like "climb", "jump" and so on. Generally, this works really well, but it requires you to always check the bottom right before pressing the button. Character movement is done with the arrow keys and directions are relative to the camera. However the typical problems when the camera changes don't appear as keeping a button pressed will retain the direction, even if the camera changes.
There are also some scripted sequences when you will have to press a certain button at the correct time. Not very interesting, but you have enough time, so it doesn't get frustrating.
Rating: 3/5. A dedicated control scheme would have been more fitting.
Gameplay
BS3 contains many of the elements that made the previous games so great. Logical object combinations. Useful dialog. An interesting, but still easy to follow story with a good amount of background information.
Sadly, there have been some additions that are less welcome... apparently the developers were very fond of Sokoban, and many puzzles center around pushing crates in the correct order. Likewise there are some climbing "puzzles", where the only real task is to find the way that Revolution wanted you to take.
Then there are the stealth missions, that try to borrow from Metal Gear Solid, but are a lot less satisfying.
All in all, the gameplay is still fine, as the type of task alternates frequently, but without these additions, which apparently were only made to prolong the game, the experience would have been even better.
Rating: 3/5 Some parts are perfect, others just get on your nerves.
Conclusion
Eventhough the gameplay has flaws, BS3 is still one of the best 3D adventures, as Revolution has succeeded in bringing BS1/2's great atmosphere over to this new installment. The only real problem with it is, that it could have been even better.
Rating 4/5
Broken Sword 3 - The Sleeping Dragon is an attempt to bring the beautiful world of Broken Sword into the 3D age and to console gamers. On the whole, the attempt was successful, but there are changes to the gameplay that point and click fans might not appreciate.
Graphics
After the beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds of BS1 and 2, it might seem like a step backwards to try to recreate the atmosphere that made the previous titles so great. But nothing could be further from the truth. BS3 succeeds admirably at recreating that feeling with beautiful environments and perfect lighting. If anything, it adds to it, as previous instalments were limited by the amount of 2D animation that could be put into a game. Those limitations are gone and the animations are wonderfully smooth and lively. Even in comparison to modern games, the environments are stunning, however you can see a few rough edges on the characters when they're too close to the camera and during the cutscenes.
Speaking of which. The cutscenes are all done using the ingame engine, sometimes in realtime, sometimes prerendered. While the video quality is very high for such an old title, it means that there is sometimes a change in resolution, that could have been avoided.
There are very few customization options: Only resolution and color depth can be set. However, there isn't really any need for anything else as the game will work beautifully even on lower end PCs. Widescreen resolutions are possible and the game automatically adapts to the different aspect ratio.
Rating 4.5/5 : Almost perfect.
Sound
The voice acting is still wonderful. Sometimes, the characters sound a little too calm, as they did in BS 1/2, but the overall experience is great. Likewise, the music is nothing to get excited about, but it sets the scenes up beautifully.
Rating 4/5 : Not exciting, but serviceable.
Controls
BS3 is a pure console game when it comes to controls. Instead of fixed controls, like they are common for PC games, BS3 uses four context-sensitive action buttons. When you are close to an object, the actions for each button will be shown in the lower right of the screen. This also includes generic actions like "climb", "jump" and so on. Generally, this works really well, but it requires you to always check the bottom right before pressing the button. Character movement is done with the arrow keys and directions are relative to the camera. However the typical problems when the camera changes don't appear as keeping a button pressed will retain the direction, even if the camera changes.
There are also some scripted sequences when you will have to press a certain button at the correct time. Not very interesting, but you have enough time, so it doesn't get frustrating.
Rating: 3/5. A dedicated control scheme would have been more fitting.
Gameplay
BS3 contains many of the elements that made the previous games so great. Logical object combinations. Useful dialog. An interesting, but still easy to follow story with a good amount of background information.
Sadly, there have been some additions that are less welcome... apparently the developers were very fond of Sokoban, and many puzzles center around pushing crates in the correct order. Likewise there are some climbing "puzzles", where the only real task is to find the way that Revolution wanted you to take.
Then there are the stealth missions, that try to borrow from Metal Gear Solid, but are a lot less satisfying.
All in all, the gameplay is still fine, as the type of task alternates frequently, but without these additions, which apparently were only made to prolong the game, the experience would have been even better.
Rating: 3/5 Some parts are perfect, others just get on your nerves.
Conclusion
Eventhough the gameplay has flaws, BS3 is still one of the best 3D adventures, as Revolution has succeeded in bringing BS1/2's great atmosphere over to this new installment. The only real problem with it is, that it could have been even better.
Rating 4/5