Immediately grabbed me.

The quality of the voice acting is thankfully superb, but it is the animation that has blown me away. There are lots of little details with characters body language that are truly impressive.

Based on my short time with the game so far, anyone who has played Broken Sword 1 or 2, or any other classic point and click adventure game, will feel right at home. Hearing the Revolution fanfare at the beginning was like sinking into a warm comfy bath :)

If you like adventure games you owe it to yourself to play .... THIS! Broken Sword 5! You do not -have- to have played the first 4 games, but you still should at least play the first 2 or 3. I know, after this 5th one - if you play it, you'll WANT to play the earlier ones, too.

Such amazing, lovingly crafted adventures! :]

The first two Broken Sword games are classics in the point and click genre. Broken Sword 5 returns to the roots of the beloved series.
Playtime: 15 hours

I've played the first two installations in this series, but skipped out on the 3rd and 4th games (mixed fan reactions about horribly clunky controls and 3D movement). This title feels quite like the beloved games that I played, with gripping mystery, some sort of ancient magic or ritual that could destroy the world, and solid point and click puzzles.

The previous BS games had puzzles that were quite difficult or roundabout, as was the norm in point and click games back in the day. The focus on this genre overall seems to have shifted from providing players with extreme challenges, to having manageable challenges and letting players enjoy the story.

Broken Sword 5 provides a good mix of both: in Act I, most of the puzzles were intuitive and logical. While they still required imagination and had me puzzled several times (e.g. how to set up a cockroach trap with collected items), I think frequent point and click players could figure them out without getting overly frustrated.

Act II had more challenging puzzles, including deciphering messages. Apart from the deciphering/translation puzzles, the general puzzles were more difficult to me as well than those in Act I. This act took me much more time, and I actually had to look at a guide for a couple of hints. For people that love a challenge, these will scratch the itch of the older titles (to what extent may depend on the individual).

The story is quintessential Broken Sword, where the main characters George and Nico run into some murder or world-destroying event. To the general public, I'd describe it like a Dan Brown novel in game form (though BS1 was published before Dan's first novel Digital Fortress)!

This title follows a similar structure to previous BS games: George and Nico gather clues, which leads them to some person that might be related to the murder(s), which leads them to some mastermind, which leads them to something even bigger and deeper than they imagined... If you like mystery with a touch of mythical, these games will be a pleasure to play.

However, as people have pointed out, there's not much going on with regards to character development. It depends on what the individual player values more, a mind blowing story or fun puzzles. I'll say that the story mostly serves to connect the puzzles, and motivate the player to find out what happens next.

Broken Sword really excels in the art direction and atmosphere of the game. Each scene was breathtaking, and really brought the locations to life, set in multiple countries. I really enjoyed the puzzles, and didn't have an issue with the difficulty.

I have some gripes with this game however. The biggest frustration was that the character Nico, whose witty and sarcastic personality was a big reason the previous games were loved, doesn't play much of a role in this game. I remember using her special reporter perks to navigate so many dangerous situations and unearth ancient mysteries.

In this game, we use her special perks once or twice (in really safe situations, not life or death), and maybe use her reporter ID card as a prop to get things stuck in holes. While I used to be able to explore vast areas and fill up my inventory with Nico, in this game there's only a couple items she uses. While I liked George and Nico equally, having one of the main characters basically drop out of the story was jarring to me.

One technical issue I ran into was an achievement not unlocking. I emailed the developers and got a save file promptly, allowing me to unlock the achievement. Some people have encountered other save file issues, but the forum has many threads on how to resolve them. I personally didn't encounter other issues apart from the achievement.

I enjoyed Broken Sword 5 for its art, environments, mystery elements, and its puzzles. Additionally for players that loved the previous games, this game will bring back a lot of nostalgia. However, for players who are expecting a mind blowing story, or well written character development, and do not care about point and click puzzles, this game might not be for you.

"But the Serpent was wiser than all the animals that were in Paradise..."
"And God cursed the Serpent and called him 'Devil'..."
"And He said, 'Behold, Adam has become like one of us, knowing evil from good.'" - The Testimony of Truth (Gnostic Gospel circa 100AD)

Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse is the last part of Broken Sword series, coming out in 2014. Yup, our lovely duo is back in our lives again, nearly 20 years after the release of the legendary first game. We have witnessed George and Nico evolve throughout years - and devolve in some games, to be honest - yet after the commercial and presentational failure that we'd know as Broken Sword 4 - Angel of Death, I wasn't expecting much from a new game. I had come to accept that even though it had a marvelous beginning, Broken Sword series were dying in our age. Now I am thrilled to announce that I was tremendously wrong after playing this adventure gem. George and Nico are back, and they are at their best!

Some years after the 4th game, George and Nico run across each other by another odd chance in an art exhibition. They are back in Paris again: the city that holds many memories for both; of cafés, of music, of love and of death. Where it all began years ago. This time, George is working for the insurance agency which the gallery owner made an arrangement with, and Nico is simply there to catch a scoop of the gallery opening. Just before they can catch up or get on a nostalgia train through longing looks they exchanged, they witness an art theft and an accompanying murder! Gallery owner is shot and La Malediccio - a religious Gnostic painting by the mysterious artist El Serp - is stolen. As fate pushes Nico and George into each other to run through a final mystery, we take on yet another mystical yet hilarious adventure with them.

Okay, from this point, it might very well become a love letter and a summary of the whole franchise and narrative, so feel free to skip this part if bored. Narrative pace, presented lore, character interactions and humor are incredibly well here! I was really worried - and a bit depressed after playing the 4th game, since it was obvious that with each new game hailing from the series, the quality of all these aspects dropped down a bit more. Legendary with the first, well-done with the second, quite nice with the third and... Downright horrible with the fourth. Now this game, brings back George and Nico, and what made both their personalities and the stories revolved around them special. We'll meet new characters, catch up with old ones and work on a full blown conspiracy with medieval background yet again. This time, the lore focuses on a less known - and mostly apocryphal side of Christian history: Gnosticism. It is a different approach with authentic scriptural storyline, compared to the millionth Catholic witch hunt we've seen in video game history so far. It is refreshing.

Environment design is again 2D classic point and click, with 3D depth enhancement. Keyboard interference is completely gone once again. Artworks are marvelous, and site transitions are wondrously smooth. You keep playing the game without a notch of display quality dropping down. Character designs are marvelous cartoon exaggerations again, with some comic art shading, which is a tip of hat to older games yet a refreshing redesign when it comes to animations. I have to add that the soundtrack was also the best in the series since the first one. Kudos!

This is a text-book classical P&C adventure if I've ever seen any. We have inventory collection, NPC & environment interactions, and of course puzzles to solve. Well, not to dishearten, but puzzles are not really challenging. They only take some attention to detail and some careful reading in most places. Yet, they are not actively time consuming at least. Now that we are not dealing with 3D environments anymore, all box-pushing puzzles we've suffered through in previous games -3rd and 4th, to be specific - are gone. Yay! Oh, and there are achievements added to this game, which is a first in the series here on Steam. By the way, as another side note to fans: the goat is back!

Beautiful, mysterious, intriguing and funny. All these are the qualities of a Broken Sword game, and this 5th instalment delivers all these aspects in full potential. It is a must for the fans, and a more than decent addition to all adventure gamers' library. Enjoy!

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Broken sword is back! Finally they dropped that ugly looking 3D graphics and annoying controls and got back to the roots.
The game looks amazing and it feels like old good Broken Sword.

From the very beginning you can feel that broken swordish atmosphere and hear the great music, nostalgia conquers you and finally you start your adventure with George and Nico.
The story is good as always and it's very broken swordish too. Religious symbols, some legend, people who want to destroy the world, you know all the usual things.
Game has been split into two parts. First part feels easier (at least for me), second part has some more action and good puzzles which could take some time to solve. Overall game is not very hard. Old school hardcore gamers probably won't like it. But in my opinion the adventure game cannot be very hard when it has logical solutions to the puzzles. I don't like when you need to do absolutely stupid and illogical things to solve something, so i'll better have an easier game with logical puzzles.
And speaking about puzzles. Everyone who played the old Broken sword games should remember the damn goat. I remember it. It was a pain. Guess what? The goat is back! Of course people who didn't play the previous games probably will not be happy seeing all those characters from Georgie and Nico's past and will not understand some dialogues and jokes, but don't worry, George has a new friend - Trevor. He's cute, he likes cookies and is very brave, he risks his live for George and he's a real hero.

There's a lot of puzzles to solve, a lot of dialogues to listen to and a lot of areas to visit and explore. It has everything, funny moment, sad moment, serious moment, stupid moments.

Sorry i'm very biased towards this game series, it's my favorite in the genre. It's hard for me to say something negative about it, but i'll try. In the second part there're couple lines of subtitles missing. Ok that's enough bashing this game.

Graphically the game looks wonderful. Of course it could be better. First two game were hand drawn and hand drawn graphics would look better than this, but lets be realistic here. Drawing everything by hand needs more time and effort and this is a niche game. On top of that it's short and has no replayability value. People just won't buy it. Only fans will buy it. So it's logical they took an easier path. In the end the game is great visually.

Voice acting and music is great. You instantly can feels that old atmosphere.

If you like adventure games i'd say this is a must have and if you liked it you should play previous games or at least 1 and 2. Yes they're old but still looking good. first two game aged really well.
So get this game, go on adventure, save the world and eat a doner kebab.

Pros

• Great graphics
  
• Good voice acting
  
• Good story
  
• Good puzzles
  
• Lovable characters
  
• Good music

Cons

• It ends

Follow my curator page for more

Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse falls into the genre Point and Click Adventure, which is developed by Revolution Software Ltd.


The action of the game begins again in Paris. Nico and George are visiting an exhibition in an art gallery when suddenly a masked, armed thief enters the room, shoots the gallery owner and flees with the picture of a snake on display. Like its predecessors, Baphomet's Curse: The Fall of Man draws on historical works and legends to construct a fictional conspiracy story. The themes of the game are the early Christian, Gnostic works of the Nag Hammadi scriptures, in particular the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Truth, as well as the Gospels of Mary Magdalene and Jude. The game draws a direct tradition up to the medieval order of the Cathars, which, like the order of the Knights Templar, was ordered by Pope Innocent III. and in the sense of the French crown (in the person of the kings Philip II, Louis VIII and Louis IX) was wiped out by the Albigensian Crusade between 1209 and 1229.

After the two direct predecessors The Sleeping Dragon and The Angel of Death had transferred the game principle into a 3D environment, The Fall of Man returns to the presentation and play style of the first two releases, the so-called 2.5D style. The play figures modeled in 3D act in front of comic-like, hand-drawn 2D backdrops. Operation is via a point & click user interface.


+ interesting background story about persecuted Gnostics
+ idyllically drawn landscape panoramas
+ Following up on clues is fun
+ entertaining conspiracy puzzles
+ Help system
+ Achievements and trading cards


- bland design without distinctive handwriting
- not an exciting crime comedy


Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse is a classic conspiracy adventure that takes you to picturesque Catalonia.



Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse fällt in das Genre Point and Click Abenteuer, welches von Revolution Software Ltd.


Die Handlung des Spiels beginnt abermals in Paris. Nico und George besuchen eine Ausstellung in einer Kunstgalerie, als plötzlich ein vermummter, bewaffneter Dieb den Raum betritt, den Galeriebesitzer erschießt und mit dem ausgestellten Bild einer Schlange flieht. Wie die Vorgänger greift Baphomets Fluch: Der Sündenfall auf historische Werke und Legenden zurück, um daraus eine fiktive Verschwörungsgeschichte zu konstruieren. Themenpunkte des Spiels sind die frühchristlichen, gnostischen Werke der Nag-Hammadi-Schriften, insbesondere das Thomasevangelium und das Evangelium der Wahrheit, sowie die Evangelien der Maria Magdalena und des Judas. Das Spiel zieht eine direkte Tradition bis zum mittelalterlichen Orden der Katharer, der ähnlich wie der Orden der Tempelritter auf Befehl des Papstes Innozenz III. und im Sinne der französischen Krone (in Person der Könige Philipp II., Ludwig VIII. und Ludwig IX.) durch den Albigenserkreuzzug zwischen 1209 und 1229 ausgelöscht wurde.

Nachdem die beiden direkten Vorgänger Der schlafende Drache und Der Engel des Todes das Spielprinzip in eine 3D-Umgebung transferiert hatten, kehrt Der Sündenfall zum Präsentations- und Spielstil der ersten beiden Veröffentlichungen, dem sogenannten 2,5D-Stil, zurück. Die in 3D modellierten Spielfiguren agieren vor comicartigen, handgezeichneten 2D-Kulissen. Die Bedienung erfolgt über eine Point&Click-Benutzeroberfläche.


+ interessante Hintergrundgeschichte um verfolgte Gnostiker
+ idyllisch gezeichnete Landschaftspanoramen
+ Hinweise nachgehen macht Spaß
+ unterhaltsame Verschwörungsrätsel
+ Hilfesystem
+ Errungenschaften und Sammelkarten


- fades Design ohne markante Handschrift
- keine spannende Krimi- Komödie


Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse dir ein klassisches Verschwörungs-Abenteuer, welches dich in das malerischen Katalonien entführt.

Dear Adventurecommunity,

After My first impressions of this Game I can say the Broken Sword Series is back. The lovely Graphics, the Voice Acting and the Story make this hole Game to a great Revolution of the Series. From the Design it is like the first two Parts of the Broken Sword Series, but with new features like an Autosave and Game Hind function.

All in all I would thank Mr. Charles Cecil and the Kickstarter Backers who make this all possible. So i hope You all will enjoy this Game and happy Investigating.

Your Underwaterfrank

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An Euch Adventurefreunde,

nach meinen ersten Eindrücken ist es wirklich fantastisch geworden. Es sieht wunderschön aus und macht einen lebendigen Eindruck, sehr schöne deutsche Synchronisation. George wird wieder von dem gleichen Sprecher synchronisiert und auch die anderen Sprecher sind sehr gut gesprochen. Es spielt sich wie damals beim ersten und zweiten Teil. Also wieder back to the roots. Die Geschichte geht spannend voran und die Rästel sind logisch.

Es ist wieder wie damals, Nico und George in Paris, danke Charles Cecil und alle Kickstarter Backer das ihr dieses Spiel für uns Fans möglich gemacht habt.

So dann werde ich mal weiter ermitteln und die Verschwörung versuchen aufzudecken.

Viel Spaß beim spielen liebe Adventure und Rätselfreunde

Euer UnderwaterFrank

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As a Broken Sword fan who loved the first two games, but found the third and fourth game forgettable, I find this installment to be nothing short of fantastic.

What's to love?
- Original voice actors,
- Beautifully designed 2D backgrounds,
- Combination mechanics that make sense, you can actually figure these puzzles out!
- Original design team who clearly have a love for this series.

If Broken Sword 1 and 2 were personal favourites of yours, you have no reason not to give this a try. The game is quite long! Just over 14 hours or so to complete, and there's depth to it all. It's heartwarmingly back to its roots, so much so to have a wondrous Paris landscape with beautifully soothing music.
If I'm not talking about the bad points, it's because I don't think there are any. Fans of the series know what a Broken Sword game is like, and apart from a mildly underwhelming ending, it's solid enough to be fun, engaging and very, very clever. Purchase, sit back, enjoy and smile.

The Broken Sword series is pretty much a classic. You can't say you love point & clicks and not have played them.

Ignoring the 4th game released in '06 - The Angel of Death (which was pretty much a mixed bag) and the 3rd game in '03 - The Sleeping Dragon (which was rejected by purists for its 3d graphics and keyboard controls); it was a truly long wait since the 1st game - The Shadow of the Templars and 2nd game - The Smoking Mirror, released respectively in 96 and 97.

This 5th game, returned back to its 2d roots and with current technology, boasts a really neat graphic system. We have the usual solid adventure to solve and lots of places to explore. George's nemesis - the goat made an appearance yet again and it is also part of an easter egg. Do check that out for lots of laughs. As this game was backed on kickstarter, there were some goodies for the kickstarters to find in game. Don't forget to listen to the Radio Yorkshire for the answers to some of the questions we have been dying to know - as asked by the backers.

I enjoyed Broken Sword 5. The game made me laugh. Thumbs up.

… Well, if you want a little more detail than that, fine, I guess I could try to expand upon why it won me over.

I first learned that the point & click game series “Broken Sword” existed because of my cell phone actually. I had a smart phone. I had no games on it that would hold my attention for more than 15 minutes or so. And, at the time, I had a three-hour flight. Dreading boredom, I browsed games until I found Broken Sword 1. Then a month later I bought Broken Sword 2. By that time I become a casual fan of the series so of course I bought Broken Sword 5.

It took me a bit to understand WHY this point and click game stood out to me. It wasn’t exactly ground breaking. Each game had a mystery plot that had the characters adventuring to new locations and trying to solve a murder that revolves around historical artifacts and each game had puzzles that made you think outside the box. The art was great and the voice acting was wonderful. The plot was humorous and filled with fun loving characters.

It was good on all these levels, but there was an additional something that just makes it more noticeable to me. I still have trouble putting my finger on it, but I can only described the feel as a serene level of calm pleasantness. Playing Broken Sword 5 (as well as the other broken sword games) was like picking up a favorite book again or going fishing with some buddies.

There was no feeling of urgency to complete the game, no over exotic melodrama, no underlying political messages, jarring scenes of violence, or crazy car chases. I didn’t play this game because everyone else was talking about it or because it was on the latest and greatest tech.

It was a casual player’s dream. To play a game just so it can bring out a chuckle and a stress dissipating smile, during those times when a person only seems to have a half an hour a day or so to themselves.