This Game Deserved So Much More Attention - Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2019
- Today, we take a look at the sequel to Broken Sword: The Shadow Of The Templars, and discuss what it improved over the first game, what could've been done better, and why there was no goat puzzle this time around.
Visuals: 03:00
Music: 05:20
Story: 07:12
Writing: 20:08
Voice acting: 29:56
Gameplay: 33:50
Final thoughts and remaster: 47:38
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Nothing can beat Broken Sword till this day for me.
The easter egg mentioned in 50:14 also is present in the original BS2. I own the original copy and remember discovering it by chance.
Charles Cecil (the creator of the series) is an absolute GENIUS!
This was my first Broken Sword, rented it for Play Station from the local Chemist (yes they rented out games) and I loved it. Made me fell in love with the entire Broken Sword game series
This was my first BS and still have 1 & 2 on ps1 discs (a little scratched and sad but I’m hanging on to them) love replaying these. Especially during cold winter nights
Just the graphics from this game give me a nostalgia-gasm !
This game had some nice Easter Eggs, from the talking goat to the subway scene from Beneath a Steel Sky (great stuff) my favourite was firing the coal from the catapult and then recovering it on Zombie Island. Beautiful hand drawn locations, it wasn't as good as the first but it's still one hell of a game and I love the track 'Happiness Is An Inside Job' such a feel good track and a great way to close out the adventure.
Your version of the story is pretty good. Nice way to include Aztec mythology and would be a good reason why Karzac is looking for the stones and help George and Nico
No way!!!!!! Having played this game countless times since it was released..... I never knew about that hidden pixel to bypass the tiles and wheels puzzle towards the end!!!!!! Thumbs up on this video just for telling us that!!!!! Thank you
I would love to see a Broken Sword game with exactly the same graphics of the first one, and with a good story like the first, the third or the fourth one... They could develop two modes of playing the game: one with modern graphics (like in BS5) and other mode in the classic graphics (absolutely beautiful)... They could explore on the new game the biggest possible number of details (like subtitle font, and etc) that reminded the first game...
Very well done reviews on this classic games,can see lots of effort gone into these you deserve way more subs
It was a demo to this game that made me get the first. It’s childish to say, but having the harbour guy fart in George’s face was what sold me 😮
When telling people about this series I always tell people that 1 is best for story and 2 is best for locations.
Im furious I didn't know about that Nico secret in the temple! The hours I must of wasted doing that stupid puzzle over and over again in my multiple playthroughs!
Love the videos, just caught up with all your broken sword ones and now only beneath a steel sky (I'm watching them in a weird order). Keep up the good work dude!
'and Nico does something'... LEL, didnt know that. That waas weird
Something I’ve always wondered about the game is that when you get the Quaramonte, there are several mentions of the mine and the explosion. I wonder if there was a portion of the game where you actually got to investigate the mine but it was cut from the game?
That's very interesting. It's definitely possible. And I think that might've made that section of the game a lot more fun.
It is my favorite game of all time. My life goes like this, so it resonates. synchronicity and impossibilities, like Carl Jung
My most favorite Broken Sword game! And the first I ever played. Never played the 3D ones, as I don't believe they capture the true essence of this series.
If you liked this game, I genuinely think you'd enjoy Broken Sword 5. It's a really good game.
Dude, I love Broken Sword 1 & 2, but your idea for the main story (the characters being controlled, and Karzac being the good guy and trying to help them but being "misunderstood" at the start) would make waaaaaaay more sense 👍 great Video!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video, and I'm glad you like my version of the story :)
Also, I would really appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as "Dude", if that's alright.
@@SapphireBones Sure, no Problem. I use "dude" with all my friends (male/female), force of habit I guess ^^' hehe
@@leoursos1667 Totally understandable. I'm not upset, that's what I figured anyway.
Nice review, as a die-hard fan of the franchise, I like it a lot! However, you missed one critical dead end in the game: when you shoot the pig in the jungle an NOT grab the tree branch before he runs you over, the pig just runs to the left and does not open the path to the north. That means you'll be stuck forever in the jungle and don't know why!
Are you sure this is in Broken Sword 2? I'm pretty sure that was from a different game. In BS2, you don't grab a tree branch at all. George just jumps out of the way as the pig tries to run him over. I'll look into it, but I'm pretty sure there was no dead end there.
Nice rewrite of the plot, I appreciated the idea
God, I hate how they treated Nico in this game. I didn’t know about the cheat code for the long, annoying puzzle at the end, it was the first time i saw it. Sucks that 2/5 of the scenes we play Nico in have to treat her in a somewhat creepy way. I also disliked her voice actor for this sequel so.
A very thorough review, thank you very much for your work on this.
Broken Sword 2 is my favourite game in the series..
As far as gameplay goes, it's my favorite as well.
Once again I loved this game , just as much as the first . I played this on the PS1 as well . What annoyed me the most was the change in voice characters , especially after my crush on the first Nicos voice LOL
Hazel Ellerby is, without a doubt, the best Nico so far. Also the best Lady Piermont.
Great game. I played all the parts. None of them disappointed. Even when they went full 3D, it was pretty good. I especially like the Wii remake with motion controller utilization.
Congrats on you review, mate. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really hope you're going to continue and review the whole series; sadly, imho I think it's all downhill from here, except Serpent's Curse. Anyway, thanks for the "wiggle", I didn't know about that.
Also, I don't know if this is some sort of Mandela effect or not, but do you know what was the deal with the little blonde girl that was hiding in the chest? Rio the fisherman's friend? I seem to remember that she was a ghost or smt; or that was what the game was implying. But maybe it's just me... Cheers!
Thank you so much. I will definitely continue with the entire series, and with other Revolution Software games. I played Broken Sword 3 when it came out, and I remember enjoying it at the time, though I remember very little of it. Excited to play it again for my review of it. I do remember hating Broken Sword 4 a lot, though.
As for the girl in the chest, Emily Ketch, all clues in the game point towards her being a ghost. She says she's not allowed out of the house, Rio keeps referring to her in the past tense, her aunts were shocked when you told them that a little girl was playing with Rio, and her animation when turning around is nothing like any animation seen in the game, where she basically fades out, then fades in again.
Some people might think this was a cool idea. I personally think this is another example of subplots going nowhere. Why is her ghost still there? Why can't George interact with any other ghost? And if he does, how? If she's a ghost, then how was she able to give him a physical item, then receive a physical item in return? Even if all these questions have answers, then the one question that can't be answered is: What was the point of this whole scene? Why couldn't it have been another fun puzzle left by Ketch for us to solve?
Back in the old days, this was actually confirmed on the old Revolution forums, I remember correctly. But in more recent Facebook posts, the devs mentioned that it was open to interpretation.
Just discovered your channel, really fantastic insights, and I agree with so many of your points. Look forward to more videos! You should consider long plays with commentary too!
Thank you so much. And yeah, that might be a good idea, I'll try it out someday.
Loved this game, it was an amazing year for games in 1997 and this game was pure magic
Yup. 1997 is my favorite year because this game was released, and so was my all time favorite game, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee.
@@SapphireBones another behemoth of 1997 was Tomb Raider 2, you could enjoy that if you were a PS1 owner or a PC player. Personally I preferred Broken Sword 2
Childhood game! The docks has such a mesmerizing past to me!
That docks music is just too good.
Nitpick about the nitpick: the detonator was probably fine. It was Duane's explosives that were faulty (and hinted not to be explosives at all, there's a throwaway line of dialogue from Duane that says as much).
Yeah, I've played this game way too many times.
Loving the series!
Would add the whole point of the mine was the site was near it. Thats why la presidenta and karzak wanted it closed so no one would of witnessed what they were doing
My favorite! with MI3!
I prefer the first BS but 2 is still a great game.
Whenever I play BS2 today I always play the original version over remastered, I can't stand the new UI, hotspots or dialogue portraits.
I got in for Xmas in 97 loved it and still do. I think the end is an anti climax and i don't usually bother with nicos wheel puzzle. The motives of some of the characters doesn't seem too clear
Congrats for yet another excellent review! You really went in-depth with it.
This is really cool❤️
My biggest problem was how much of an asshole George was. From the very beginning: why is he stealing that guy’s alcohol. George has no reason to do so. He’s literally stealing from an old man for no reason in the first 10 minutes of the game.
I didn't think about that lol
I love the broken sword series, and i love your videos bro. Cheers.
I'm really happy you enjoy them. Thank you so much. More videos will be coming soon, hopefully. Just a quick pointer, though, I'm not a bro. You can call me "Sister" if you like :)
@@SapphireBones my bad. Keep up the good work, sweetheart.
I liked the history and the story a lot more in BS2. It was a bit more reachable to the 9 year old me. (it was also the first BS game I ever played) This game taught me about the Meso-American civilizations, Aztec mythology, conquistadors, British Museum, John Dee, pirates, privateers, etc. And I feel that BS2 came together a bit more nicely. There was quite a bit of history sprinkled throughout the game. I feel that the BS1 got a bit weird closer to the end. There was a Baphomet Statue in France, Scotland and Syria. And I don't fully understand the implications of it. Which culture or ancient civilization does it even belong to? I don't fully understand what Baphomet was meant to be in the BS universe. Was that statue meant to be medieval, ancient celtic? I love them both, but the simplicity of the BS2 worked to it's advantage a it more in my opinion.
Your review is spot on. I also thought the plot was a bit stupid and some puzzles (especially the last one) were annoying.
One of the weakest stories in the series.
The plot was great though. But maybe short compared to 1st game
It's very strange! The accents are so good in Broke sword 1 and its kinda bad in the others
Ha, this is great!
Disclaimer, I love these games but yeh the story has holes. Even as a kid when I played this game I had issues with it as well as the tone.
The latest game’s story does the same imo. The opening scene in ‘The Serpents Curse’ doesnt give me a warm and fuzzy Broken Sword feel and the opening art gallery sequence just feels too coincidental and far fetched.
First! The cool kids still does this, right?
If you're talking about the Beneath a Steel Sky easter egg in the London underground then that was in the original (I got it on the PS1) if there's a remaster exclusive Easter Egg then please share!? The Easter Egg they put into the Directors Cut was awful.
It was in the original as well? I was sure that I tried it in the original, and couldn't get it to work, so I thought it was exclusive to the remastered version. Perhaps I was wrong. I need to try this again.
@@SapphireBones I'm positive it works on the original. The Directors Cut of the first game has an exclusive Easter Egg but it's terrible (like the rest of the game) my favorite Easter Egg is firing the coal from the catapult and then finding it again on Zombie Island, "it can't be! But it was, my lucky piece of coal" 😁
Ive got to Say the french voices a much better then the english you should try it out
I'll check them out, that's pretty interesting.
Chuck definitely put the ignorance of Europeans on full display . I agree that Aztec mythology should of been used instead of Mayan mythology . But usually the conquerors always misrepresent the history of the conquered.
I totally disagree that this game had the worst story rather they miss handled the the whole point is that the audience should wonder if myths are merely cultural retellings of scientific phenomenon
honestly I was always disappointed by the 2nd game, as it couldnt and cannot hold a candle to the first one in my books.
its a fine game, but the beginning bit already took me out of the story: right from the start nico is kidnapped and george is left in a deathtrap with a venomous spider and a fire as well.
the guys couldnt just place the spider on him directly or settle for the fire or whatever? also why is george suddenly important enough to warrant being murdered ...
it shattered my suspension of disbelief so hard it never recovered.
one thing I still admire about the first game is that, for the most part, it feels believable, because george and nico are not important to the plot, at first.
thats why george can sniff around everywhere and get away with it.
when I first heard from ultar that khan, aka the killer clown was looking for george and knew his name, it was a dramatic rise in tension - brilliant.
the fact that george only stumbled into this adventure inadvertantly is part of what made it so good.
for any follow up game I wouldve liked for the protagnists to be someone else, because having george and nico go on another adventure makes them basically into indiana jones and takes away their believability as people.
one such adventure should be enough for a lifetime, and george cannot be as bumbling as he used to be, cause now he has experience.
I dont know what else to say, its just a shame and I mostly look at broken sword as a one time wonder, lightning in a bottle, although very flawed in some places.
the other games I can hardly stomach, because they make me long for a better experience, which I got with the first game.
Everything you said is 100% understandable, and I definitely agree for the most part. Personally, I still enjoy this game for its fun puzzles and beautiful visuals, but I'm 100% with you on the story. I just wish this was its own game. A game called "The Smoking Mirror", and it had completely different characters.
Honestly? BS2 is hands down the best BS game ever made. Story was a step down? Don't see how, there were so many events, scenes and memorable characters, and all of them were meaningful. The story was great, if anything BS1 had the weaker story, if you ask me, but that's a matter of taste. All in all, both stories were on similar level, don't see any step down in BS2.
Well let's agree to disagree. I think BS2 is better gameplay-wise, but I didn't like the story at all.
@@SapphireBones I didn't like the story in BS1 at all, too. It was... Ok. Nothing to write home about, especially when it came to the characters, I barely remember the side cast.
The Puzzles were terrible.
Can't say I agree. I think this game had the best puzzles in the series. Sure, they're not realistic, but they were still fun to solve.