Charles Cecil’s point-and-click games, the classic adventure game series Broken Sword, returns with a sixth game – and a remaster!

 

 

After a decade-long hiatus, the classic point-and-click adventure game series Broken Sword is set to return in two instalments. British studio Revolution Software has announced that it is working on a sixth title, Broken Sword – Parzival’s Stone, as well as a whole 4K remaster of the original 1996 game, The Shadow of the Templars!

Both games are in development for console, mobile and Windows PC. Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: Reforged will be released in early 2024, while Parzival’s Stone has an undated release date, but is further away.

The Broken Sword games are light, conspiratorial adventure games with a historical focus. They are very similar to LucasArts classics such as The Secret of Monkey Island, but with a gentler sense of humour and (arguably) more logical puzzle design. The games follow American patent lawyer George Stobbart and French journalist Nico Collard. Our heroes travel the world solving puzzles, investigating conspiracies and uncovering ancient secrets.

Parzival’s Stone is bringing 3D graphics back to the series, after the fifth Kickstarter-funded game in 2013, The Serpent’s Curse, returned to the original 2D. But series creator Charles Cecil has dubbed the new graphic style “Super 2D”. This is because it attempts to recreate the look of the original games by applying hand-drawn textures to 3D geometry. It will have a classic point-and-click adventure game interface.

According to the press release, Parzival’s Stone will send George and Nico on a quest to find the mythical Holy Grail – “but not in the way you’d expect”. Their quest will take them to Montségur in the south of France, a former stronghold of the Cathar Christian sect.

They will face off against technology entrepreneurs, government agencies and energy companies in a story involving Nazi treasure hunters (of course) and quantum physics.

 

 

 

 

What do you know about Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: Reforged?

 

The new version of the first game – in which George witnesses a bomb attack on a Paris café that involves him in the mystery of the Knights Templar – notably upgrades the hand-drawn, animated movie-style visuals from 640×400 pixels to 4K resolution. With completely redrawn assets. This massive task was accomplished using a mix of human artists and artificial intelligence techniques. Revolution head Charles Cecil said the tiny studio “simply couldn’t afford” to remake the game without using artificial intelligence.

They also scaled up the game’s sound. Some minor changes will be made to the story and characterisation.

The aim is to bring it in line with modern sensibilities, and the gameplay will be improved from the Director’s Cut version currently available.

Cecil said that if the remake of Shadow of the Templars is successful, it is planned to remaster the second Broken Sword game, The Smoking Mirror, using the same technique. We certainly hope so.

Source: IGN