A Sword Reforged
Released in 1996, during an era that can now be viewed as something of a ‘golden age’ for adventure gaming, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars was the first in an eventual quadruple of titles. Chronicling the travels and travails of US tourist George Stobbart, Shadow of the Templars was a welcome addition to a smattering of adventure titles that, like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992) and Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995), focused on globe-trotting exploration and the investigation of ancient mythology.
Though often declared to be so, point and click adventure titles are not deceased. Lucasarts may have turned their back on the genre after releasing a fourth Monkey Island title in 2000, but smaller companies and enthusiasts have kept the flame burning strong on the PC. The excellent ScummVM can get older adventures from several companies up and running on modern boxes, and on the Nintendo DS, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series has found great success with sections heavily influenced by the giants of mid-90s adventure gaming.
Now, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars has been re-released by Ubisoft in ‘Director’s Cut’ form on the DS and Wii, raising the intriguing possibility of other adventure games following suit.
Shadow of the Templars
In the shadowy catacombs beneath IncGamers HQ we fashioned a communication device from some seemingly unconnected items and exchanged conspiratorial whisperings with Charles Cecil, head of Revolution Software and designer-director of the Broken Sword series.
Just three years ago even Cecil himself was expressing doubts in interviews about the marketability of old school point and clicks, so what exactly has changed in the intervening period to encourage the re-release of a classic adventure title?
“Did I really say that? To be fair, adventures weren’t selling at that time. Since then the obsession for 3D has diminished and, as well as the hard core adventure fans, we have a new audience – the more casual gamer who wants a less visceral, more cerebral experience.”
Alongside this audience, who, if properly reached, would appear to be the perfect fit for the charms of point and click adventures, new systems have flourished: “The adventure game fits perfectly with the Nintendo [DS and Wii] platforms both in terms of the tactility of the gameplay, and the audience that Nintendo have drawn into gaming.”
Naturally, Cecil hopes that the added hours of gameplay will bring fans of the original back to the series too; in much the same way as previously unheard tracks can encourage people to indulge in a re-issued album. “A lot has been added so I very much hope that fans of the series will return to try this new version,” he says. Some of the dialogue has also been tightened up, with a few of the more dated nationalist jokes put out of their misery.
“The game starts a day before the original, with Nico [George Stobbart’s friend and confidant] witnessing a brutal murder by an assassin dressed as a mime. This introduces a whole new sub-plot – she soon discovers that the victim has a dark secret, and is devastated to discover that she has her own. This additional story interweaves with the original – so you play Nico again later in the game. When the game was given to people who had not played the original, they were surprised to discover that there had been any additions – so hopefully this indicates that the integration is pretty seamless.”
All of which means new puzzles, and more chances to spring up in the middle of the night with a bonkers idea about combining some dusty rags with a tent pole in order to force somebody on the second floor of a building to sneeze. For those less enamoured of the curious masochism that adventure gaming sometimes demands, however, this version of Broken Sword provides an in-built lifeline: “This time around we included a context sensitive hint system which allows people to seek help if they get stuck” says Cecil, “Hopefully to ensure that they don’t get frustrated.” A small crumb of comfort to anybody who lost significant amounts of hair trying to figure out the infamous goat puzzle the first time around …
Fans of Beneath a Steel Sky (BaSS) will be heartened to learn that this project has once again paired Charles with artist Dave Gibbons, who contributed new brushwork to the release: “It was at just the right moment – he was finishing a long term project and was yet to move onto his work on the Watchmen movie. Dave drew all the various character facial expressions, which were then animated. [He] also drew the characters and backgrounds for new cut scenes, in-game elements like photographs, paintings etc.”
Those same BaSS fans should be even more heartened by this extra teasing remark: “This Broken Sword Director’s Cut will go a long way to proving the potential market for this type of adventure – if it is successful then we will certainly explore opportunities for a BaSS sequel.”
{PAGE TITLE=A Sword Reforged Page 2}Silhouette of the Masons
Of course for all the tweaks and additions to the Director’s Cut version of the game, the majority of the work on Broken Sword was done thirteen years ago. We asked Cecil about the levels of historical research he undertook when working on the first title in the series, from scouting out locations to delving into Templar lore.
“‘Research’ is a great opportunity to visit exotic and exciting locations and explore with a specific purpose,” he recounts with obvious fondness, “I have always loved Paris and so it was a great excuse to investigate all things Templar related. I had never visited the catacombs, for example.” As he continues, it’s clear that he has a passion for history and narrative beyond casual tourism. “Dating back to Roman times, the catacombs resulted from quarrying subterranean stone for building works. [They] stretch for hundreds of kilometers and legend tells of secret organisations using these passageways to avoid detection throughout the ages – from the Templars, through to counter-revolutionaries … And of course there’s L’Empire de la mort (Empire of the dead) – 6 million skeletons carefully sorted into various bone types.”
He goes further, explaining that all locations in the game are based on, or derived from, real places that he researched for the purpose of inclusion: “Lochmarne in Ireland is (loosely) based on Newcastle West, the town in county Limerick from which my wife originates. The Templar castle still stands and is well worth a visit.” Many of the characters, too, are based on people Cecil knows; a process he recognises as being slightly risky, “… thankfully they rarely find out that they have been characterized in the game.”
Returning to one of the central themes of the Broken Sword series, and indeed one of the enduring tales of history, we were curious to find out just how much credibility Cecil gave to the various stories and half-truths circulated about the Knights Templar. Predictably, given his enthusiasm for the material and the amount of reading that must have been done for Broken Sword, he has much to say on the subject.
“I believe that much of the legend must be true – like the Templars excavating beneath the Temple of Solomon and discovering arcane secrets. Maybe they really did discover the Arc of the Covenant, although there is no evidence to suggest this happened. And clearly they did much to invent the modern banking system, were extraordinary fighters etc.”
“Part of the fascination that we have for the Templar history is the requirement to strip fact from fiction, to make reasonable historical conjecture and leave behind ludicrous extrapolation.” To emphasise this point, he details an aspect of the tale that has largely been conjured from thin air: “… when the Priory of Sion was introduced into the mix then the popular legend started becoming ridiculous. There seems little doubt that the Priory of Sion was invented by Pierre Plantard, a Belgian crook who set up multiple secret societies and was arrested by the police for fraud.” This is just one kink in a thread that spools far back in time, continuing to intrigue people with its seductive mixture of fragmented historical truths, secrecy and conspiracy.
With such uncertainty in the air, it’s nice to have some constants to hang on to – and Cecil has been able to rely on the vocal talents of Rolf Saxon to bring George Stobbart memorably to life throughout the entire Broken Sword series: “[He] was recommended by Hazel Ellerby who played Nico. He immediately became synonymous with George– and since then I have been happy to work around his manic schedule and arrange the sessions to fit with his availability.” That schedule is a varied one indeed, ranging from Saving Private Ryan to Teletubbies – but even stage productions don’t prevent Saxon making time for the series: “For Broken Sword 4 I intercepted him in Oxford, where he was starring in Jerry Springer: the Opera,” Cecil recalls.
{PAGE TITLE=A Sword Reforged Page 3}Veil of the Lizardmen
As we pursue the cinematic line of questioning, Cecil is able to give us some concrete details about the oft-rumoured big screen adaptation of Broken Sword: “I am in discussions with Radar Pictures, the production company behind Last Samurai and Chronicles of Riddick amongst many other films. We are still planning the project and I have been re-writing the game to work as a film treatment.”
This, it transpires, is new ground for him. “While I have written many film-to-game adaptations, I have never done this in reverse” he explains, before offering a little insight into the creative process itself; “It’s vital to respect that the mediums are very different in terms of exciting the audience: in a game, it is primarily the player than needs to be motivated so a hero with little backstory works well – as the game progresses, the player learns about the character at the same rate that the character learns about himself. A movie, however, is driven by the goals and conflict of the protagonist, creating an empathetic engagement between the audience and the protagonist – so requiring a complex character with an interesting past. A significantly different approach.”
He concurs that the narrative focus of the adventure genre would give Broken Sword an advantage over other less-than-triumphant attempts to translate gaming to film: “We inherit the skeleton of a strong story, with good characterisation. It is a great position to be in … [but] I will only move ahead if I am ultimately confident that film would be of a really high quality.”
There is also a plan in place for heading off the inevitable Da Vinci Code comparisons – a sad necessity for any modern venture featuring the Templars, even though this particular tale was written long before Dan Brown’s effort. “As well as the Da Vinci Code we have National Treasure and all the rest,” Cecil says “We are aiming this as a post-Da Vince Code story – it is ‘knowing’ in its approach.”
“I don’t want to say too much more…” he adds, cryptically.
Penumbra of the Tinfoil Hats
With a sizeable publisher like Ubisoft prepared to back the re-release of a classic adventure such as Broken Sword, could this mark the beginning of a move to re-issue further titles? For his part, Cecil confirms that there have been thoughts about doing more Director’s Cuts, but no specific plans as to how this might be approached. Nonetheless, he is clearly thrilled to be working with the series again: “It is such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to re-visit the first Broken Sword game. It would be great to do the same with the others.”
Fans of the adventure genre will be eager to know if the door is also open for the addition of new titles to older franchises. Or, better yet, for some original creative works to push the evolution of point and click titles. On this front too, Cecil offers some hope: “[releasing Director’s Cuts] is [not] the future in its totality for the next few years. We are always thinking of new projects.”
That can only be good news for adventure gamers.
