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.

A Sword Reforged Page 3 »

« Back

More FeaturesAll Features ...

IncGamers Plays: Torchlight 2 (Beta)

Ten most anticipated Kickstarter projects

IncGamers Plays: Heroes & Generals

Ten things Elder Scrolls Online must do

IncGamers Plays - Video Round-Up [April]

IncGamers Plays: Warlock: Master of the Arcane

IncGamers Plays: A Valley Without Wind

ZX Spectrum turns 30 - Happy memories

Comment

Add a comment using your Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google or OpenID accounts.

blog comments powered by Disqus