Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Director's Cut

Video Game Talk

As I've stated in the past, I love point-and-click adventures, but Broken Sword, with its engagingly deep storyline, gorgeous art, fun writing, entertaining puzzles and terrific vocal cast, just raised the bar to a level that will be incredibly hard to meet for any game.

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

Superb hand-drawn graphics Great voice acting Hint mode is a nice touch New scenes and puzzles.

GameZone

Broken Sword: Director’s Cut is the definitive version of one of the greatest point-and-click adventures of all time. Whether you’re a fan of the genre or just of video games with great stories, you won’t regret accompanying George and Nico on their quest through Paris.

Gamervision

It may not have been the most memorable point-and-click adventure of the 90s, but the remake of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is definitely a stand-out title on the Wii.

Multiplayer.it

When the original game is so good, can a Director’s Cut spoil the experience? We still don’t know, because Broken Sword is a very solid Director’s Cut of an awesome Graphic Adventure. Developers could have gone the extra mile to smooth some rough edges off, but even so the mission is completely accomplished.

VideoGamer

This Director's Cut deserved to be spared from patchy audio and shonky cutscenes, but it wasn't. Regardless of this fact, the brilliance of the Templars remains largely undiminished.

Telegraph

While it does occasionally creak under its years, at its heart Shadow of the Templars is an enthralling, sumptuous adventure with wonderful characters and a marvelous sense of wit and charm. The kind of things that just never get old.

GameSpot

Superior animation, an engaging story, and clever puzzles make Broken Sword well worth investigating, despite the occasional glitch.

Pelit (Finland)

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director's Cut was first published in 1997 and was followed by three more sequels on various platforms. It was one of the best point and click adventure game of the time because of the exceptionally good plot, funny dialogue, strong and unforgettable characters topped with good playability. Director's Cut updates it on Wii with some new scenes and more to play. Time has dealt this gem gently and playing it today is still great fun despite the clumsy 2D graphics. [May 2009]

Cubed3

Excellent pointer controls, iffy motion controls, and a script and setting that meshes together old and new sounds great on paper/screen, but shelling out 40 pounds for it will leave you feeling short-changed.

InsideGamer.nl

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director's Cut is a more than welcome addition to the Wii and DS library. Both the storytelling and the gameplay remains great, even though the original game is almost thirteen years old. It's a pity that there are some issues with the audio and visuals of the game, but nonetheless The Shadow of the Templars is a really good adventure game.

Cheat Code Central

It may not be quite enough to drag old players back for another go around, but it definitely does make the Director’s Cut the version to have if you’re interested in a decent point-and-click adventure.

IGN

It definitely feels like a relic from another time -- it's not an exercise in violence, a mini-game collection, or a licensed music effort. But Broken Sword is a solid point-and-click mystery that is a welcome addition to the Wii library.

3DJuegos

The Broken Sword series shows its beginnings with a remake full of new features and, at the same time, very loyal to the original videogame. Same story, new scenes, identical gameplay and never seen puzzles take a mix in a title suitable for casual and experienced gamers.

PALGN

Although it's held back by a few presentation issues, Broken Sword on the Wii still holds up quite well and provides as engaging and entertaining experience as it ever did.

IGN UK

Ultimately, there’s a sense that Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut can’t quite reconcile its attempts to incorporate updated gaming sensibilities with its need to maintain the sort of respectful reverence demanded by fans. The result is a game that flounders unevenly between both extremes and never quite gels as an overall experience. However, for all its inconsistencies, Broken Sword is still an undoubted masterclass in videogame storytelling.

Gamer.nl

Broken Sword turned out to be a pretty decent adventure game that shouldn't be missed by the old and the new fans. The game has everything a good adventure should have and even offers a little bit more. The only thing we can nag about is the lack of extras after waiting almost thirteen years.

Eurogamer

Other than the disappointing lack of a spruce up for the sound and cut-scenes, only the lazy racial stereotyping of much of the cast and the occasional interloping of slightly crass sexual humour into an otherwise very family-friendly script (despite the murders, obviously) mar an otherwise-excellent adaptation of a genre classic.

Nintendo Power

Broken Sword may be old, but it's still good. [May 2009, p.89]

SpazioGames

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director’s Cut is a sort of “Wiimake” of the 13 years old original version. This new version is now WiiMote-based, which is a good thing for a point-and-click game. Technically the game doesn’t match today standards, but gameplay is solid. If it had better graphics it would’ve been a perfect conversion...Nonetheless any fan of the franchise will love it, as newbies who didn’t try the original game.

Game Informer

A solid story and cool puzzles only go so far when the production values scream “low budget” every step of the way.

XGN

The story of the Director's Cut is slightly longer than the original, and describes the nostalgic feeling as well. Still there are some missing points like a unnecessary multiplayer mode. Fans of the puzzle genre will definitely be entertained by this game.

Games Master UK

Despite starting to show its age horribly this is still an engrossing point-and-click adventure. [May 2009, p.76]

NintendoWorldReport

The game isn't ashamed of displaying its roots, whether they are in the form of point-and-click gameplay or 90's animation.

NGamer UK

The kind of game that needs a budget price. [May 2009, p.62]

Gaming Age

Even with touchy controls and a cheesy story and even cheesier puns, I enjoyed playing this game.

GamingTrend

Do yourself a favor and reinstall “Grim Fandango” on your PC if you want to see what a top notch point and click video game adventure is capable of.

Teletext GameCentral

Too expensive to win the graphic adventure new fans but old ones will still enjoy this genre highlight.

Play.tm

A largely unremarkable point-and-click offering that's unlikely to spawn a radical revival for the genre or lure PC gamers away from the (still) superior mouse controller. Wii owners looking for a richer, more modern gaming experience that comes packed with charm and convincingly tests grey matter would be well advised to seek out the criminally unappreciated Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure.