Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse was first announced in 2012. Fans were given the chance to help finance the project via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, and the game was released in two episodes, one in December 2013 and the April 2014. A new retail version of the game combines episodes one and two, bringing the whole adventure together.
Nothing is as it seems
As fate would have it, George Stobbart and Nicole “Nico” Collard find themselves witness to the murder of a gallery owner and the theft of a painting called la Maledicció. It quickly becomes apparent that the painting was one of the least valuable pieces in the gallery, prompting everyone to wonder why a thief would take this particular painting and nothing else. It turns out (quite naturally) that the painting contains a secret message on how to gain control of a powerful artifact.
Of course this mystery arouses the curiosity of our two main characters, and soon the player is right in the middle of the action. As the story progresses, we find out that hidden in the painting are hints indicating the secret location of the Tabula Veritatis (“Tablet of Truth”), an ancient artifact that allows the one who possesses it to conjure up Lucifer, aka the Devil himself. It’s only logical, therefore, that bad guys a-plenty will want to get their hands on the it, and that it’s up to George and Nico to save the world. The story is told in a suspenseful manner over the course of two episodes in about ten hours of gameplay, and with all Gnostic conspiracies, a mysterious painting, and a secret artifact, it’s highly reminiscent of Dan Brown and his Illuminati, especially in the second episode.
Jam-packed like a certain beaded purse
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse is a classic point-and-click adventure game with two alternating plot threads told from the perspectives of the two main characters, both of them eventually coming together to form a bigger picture. As usual for the genre, you collect items and save them in your inventory or combine them to form new items. You can even hide a cup of hot coffee or a whole slice of pizza in your jacket or pants pocket without getting your clothes dirty or showing a conspicuous bulge. Of course, that’s just one of those things we accept about the genre, but it always makes me grin when I think about how so much can disappear into my inventory without a trace in games like this. Harry Potter fans might think of Hermione and her little beaded handbag and how she can cram everything under the sun into it… but hey, she’s got a magic bag and not just some pockets on her pants.
One thing that’s really silly, however, is that you can only take items that the script thinks you should take. For other items there’s always some flimsy excuse about why should leave them where they are. So in one scene you try to pick up an ink bottle only to hear George grumble that it might mess up his jacket, even though he stuck a greasy pizza slice in there a few minutes before and didn’t even bat an eye.
Tin can + tin can + string = telephone
There’s one other classic element of point-and-click adventure games that just can’t be left out. What I mean, of course, is the puzzles, and in this game they’re a real mixed bag. While many of them are pretty easy, there are a few situations where you can only figure out what’s even going on after a ton of trial and error. However, I doubt hardcore fans of the genre will have much trouble even with the toughest of the puzzles, and casual gamers will be able to take advantage of the multi-tiered help system when they need to (and they will probably need to more than a few times). It’s nice to actually have an extra window that provides concrete tips on how to solve the puzzle, which keeps frustration to a minimum. Unfortunately there’s no feature that highlights the most relevant objects in the area, so you’ll just have to figure it out for yourself.
The point of most of the puzzles is to advance the plot by discovering hidden passages or rooms, helping other characters, and otherwise obtaining important clues and items. Some of the puzzles are typical for the genre – combining items, completing mini-puzzles, deciphering codes, etc.; but aside from these there are some really innovative puzzles, and even a few surprises. One scene in episode two, for instance, has you using items around a construction site to produce the tune of Schubert’s “Ave Maria”. These kinds of things are really cool in action, and they add a lot of diversity to the otherwise standard adventure game gameplay.
Funny, like big, fat pimple
One thing that is extremely important in the Broken Sword games of course is dialogue, as it plays a major role in advancing the plot and providing the game with the right emotional tone. At least that’s what it’s supposed to do, because in Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse, this is hardly how it works in practice. It doesn’t seem like they put a lot of love or care into writing much of the dialogue – it’s not really the kind of stuff that plays on your emotions. As for George’s annoying sense of humor – I’d rather not talk about it. It’s a shame, really, but I’d wager you’re going to catch yourself skipping through dialogue on more than one occasion. They do allow you to control the order of the dialogue by clicking on icons individually, but this hardly has any effect on things. Of course, like I said, you can always just cut conversations short and focus only on the things that are really important.
Looks pretty… or not
The graphics in Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse can be described as average, though the hand-drawn 2D scenery is pretty impressive. Overall, the graphics (which are inspired by the newer editions of some of the older games) are really cartoony, but this actually fits the game pretty well.
Unfortunately, there’s also a major drawback in the game’s graphics, and that’s that the animation is seriously flat and lifeless. And it also couldn’t have hurt to add a few more camera angles, either. As it is, the camera tends to remain fixed in one position all too often, and there aren’t even any close-ups, which would have helped to better illustrate the characters’ emotions, for instance. Although it should be some consolation that there are a lot of different places to explore and they look a lot like the places they’re supposed to be. So pack your bags, ‘cause you’re going to be going abroad, visiting England, France, and Spain, where you’ll get to check out places like a palace, an art gallery, and a cable car station, among others. So you can expect some really diverse settings, both indoors and outdoors.
In the two episodes, you’ll get the chance to see some familiar faces from the Broken Sword series, like Sergeant Moue, Lady Clarissa Piermont, and the Henderson couple, which is cool, since you’ll be able to relive some of your glorious adventure gaming past.
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