Ubisoft bringing Broken Sword to Wii, DS March 2009
by Jason Dobson 
{ Dec 18th 2008 at 11:00PM }
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars has been ported to numerous platforms since its original PC release in 1996, including the PlayStation and GBA. Ubisoft describes this latest version, however, as 'The Director's Cut,' promising a new narrative "interwoven with the first story," as well as new puzzles designed to take advantage of each platform's affinity for waggle and touching.
Even more interesting, the game's more than decade old graphics have also been retouched, including new facial animation by Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons. Consider us pointed, and our wallets collectively clicked.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Superstar90 @ Dec 18th 2008 11:09PM
All I can say is:
Lovely!
Red Dye #2 @ Dec 18th 2008 11:22PM
Screenshots available here:
http://www.cynamite.de/_misc/galleries/detail.cfm?pk=1877&fk=101823&opv=gal&page=1&order=
Ferco @ Dec 19th 2008 3:47AM
That's for the fangame Broken Sword 2.5 Baphomets Fluch.
steve @ Dec 19th 2008 6:05AM
@Ferco: Nope, they're screenshots from the German version of the Director's Cut. "Baphomets Fluch" ("Baphomets Curse") is what the series has been called in German all along instead of Broken Sword.
Ferco @ Dec 19th 2008 6:49AM
Ah crap, you're right. Didn't recognize one screenshot so I automatically thought it was the fangame.
Adam Washington @ Dec 18th 2008 11:24PM
This is the best news I've heard in ages; I loved this game as a kid. Geooorge! Why aren't there more adventure games these days!?
Giroro @ Dec 18th 2008 11:29PM
Wait, so the Wii is getting a port of a 13 year old PC game?
I thought Freddie fish wold be the only one. *crosses fingers for king's quest*
Gehodra @ Dec 19th 2008 12:54AM
Mask of Eternity right?
Professor Lario @ Dec 19th 2008 10:17AM
*crossing fingers with you*
Can you imagine KQ 5 and 6 on DS - amazing. Now to just port my first played KQ game ever... KQIV baby!
jcd @ Dec 19th 2008 12:16AM
I bought the game pictured for the GBA. I liked it but a bug prevented me from finishing it. It really pissed me off. Hopefully they'll actually test the game before releasing it this time
BlackBeltJones @ Dec 19th 2008 1:18AM
I'll probably buy it just to support adventure games getting ported to the DS with hopes that Sierra and Lucasarts notice.
loof @ Dec 19th 2008 1:28AM
I miss Sierra and the old Lucasarts.
labrats5 @ Dec 19th 2008 1:48AM
I PLAYED THAT GAME!
to this day I still believe it is one of the most graphically beautiful games ever. Hand-painted backgrounds, smooth animation, just a complete work of art. Absolutely timeless. Its been a dozen years since this game came out, and in 12 more years I will almost certainly look back and say it is more beautiful than any of the big name shooters that came out this year.
Bring back point-and-click adventures!
Courtney @ Dec 19th 2008 2:39AM
Oddly enough, I started to play Grim Fandango tonight as I was in the mood for a point and click adventure game.
t_m @ Dec 19th 2008 2:51AM
Maybe now the economy is in the toilet they'll save a bit of cash by porting some classic adventure games to the Wii and DS... LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE YEARS AGO!!!
Timett @ Dec 19th 2008 2:54AM
I'm starting to feel like we're almost to the point that we can stop calling the genre "dead". It was certainly dormant for a while but lately I've had no shortage of adventure games to play. The success of games like Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk on the DS seemed to get the ball rolling again and then more recently you've got things Vampyre Story, all the games coming out of Telltale, that Grey Matter game joystiq just did a story on...
I've never really had problems finding good adventure games to play. It seems like every time I get an itch to play one I find out about some cool series I missed out on back in the day. On the podcast a while back Justin was talking about Evidence: The Last Ritual which inspired me to pick up that game along with Missing. A friend recently suggested I look into the Kyrandia game. Even HomestarRunner.com puts out the occasional gem like Thy Dungeonman or Peasent's Quest.
I never held out much hope in the past but this recent resurgence has got me thinking a new Monkey Island might not be out of the question. What's Ron Gilbert been up to these days apart from teaching Gabe and Tycho some things? I know he hasn't been involved in the last couple titles (and they were still great) but maybe since Lucas Arts doesn't seem all that interested in making many games anymore they could just hand him or Telltale or anybody the series.
Anyway... Love the Broken Sword games. I look forward to playing them again. I think enough time has passed that I've forgotten enough of the puzzles to keep it interesting but not TOO many that I have to look at a faq every 20 minutes.
Jakka ( The Order of Haters of Balance) @ Dec 19th 2008 9:55AM
Actually, the genre never died in first place. Adventure games are still being made, however they're as much of a niche genre as it can get, hence why you won't get to read about it in Joystiq as they're half-an-hour slots are being filled up with LBP Costumes and Rock Band packs.
Kell @ Dec 19th 2008 5:05AM
Er...
Played it.
Enjoyed it.
More than happy to play other adventure games.
Less than happy to play a re-hash to line someone else's pockets.
Is it really that hard to make a new game?
sam @ Dec 19th 2008 9:06AM
No, it's not that hard to make a new adventure game, but it costs much more than just porting something you already have the assets for (even if they are redoing some of the graphics).
99% of Wii owners have never played the game, so why not release it? That's a low-risk strategy. If these games sell, they'll probably release new ones (...or at least newER ones...) on the system, as well as more ports.
I'm definitely not saying anyone who has already played it should rebuy it - it's an adventure game, why would you do that. Just that even if you already played it and won't buy it, the fact that it's coming out is still a really positive thing if you like adventure games.
I want new Wii adventure games as well, but old ones are good in the meantime. (Especially as I haven't played this one.)
Snowblind @ Dec 19th 2008 5:53AM
While it is sad to see the Wii getting nothing but MORE ports.. I love Broken Sword, at least the first two, are the third and fourth worth playing as well?
It'd be great if someone would remake the Monkey Island games as well, at this point the first two are probably too dated to simply be ported (the first doesn't even have sound).
The_Doctor @ Dec 19th 2008 6:18AM
Crap. Looks like I'm going to have to get a DS soon(ish).
AwesomeTown @ Dec 19th 2008 7:22AM
Great. I never actually played any of the Broken Sword games. This will be a good place to start.
meist3r @ Dec 19th 2008 7:30AM
I'm still waiting to hear a price for this. If it's more than 10$ this will be a spectacular bomb.
Cutty @ Dec 19th 2008 8:25AM
The DS version probably doesn't feature the awesome voice-acting. George's voice is half of what Broken Sword is so if that's the case then the Wii version would probably be the best option.
Kevin949 @ Dec 19th 2008 10:42AM
Why wouldn't it? Plenty of DS games feature voice overs/acting. And quite honestly I highly doubt a 12yr old PC game will be unable to fit on a DS cartridge with modern compression methods and the size of the cartridges now a days.
Cutty @ Dec 19th 2008 11:47AM
I know a fair few games have had voice-acting on the DS (like Resident Evil: Deadly Silence) but I can't think of any game on the system with as much talking as in Broken Sword. I doubt they'd be able to fit every piece of dialogue into it.
alessar @ Dec 19th 2008 9:32AM
I actually still have the original PC game (released as "Circle of Blood") which I never finished. It was a tough, but good game. I'm have to seriously think about getting this for the DS.
JoeTheBlow @ Dec 19th 2008 10:30AM
Whats with the new screenshot?
Earlier it was series-hero George, in an alley, now its some fat dead guy.
HUH?!
SithLibrarian @ Dec 19th 2008 12:29PM
I certainly hope they keep a lot of the same music from the original game. Good stuff.
Jeetesh Bhoria @ Feb 10th 2009 1:30AM
Wow.......I am a big fan of Broken Sword ever since its first release. The game has a very interesting, suspenseful and a involving storyline. Even though it has a point-and-click gameplay it keeps me intrigued and occupied in its story.
Not to mention its awesome graphics and puzzles. It is one of the best puzzle game one has ever played. I am really happy that the Ubisoft has come forward to release Adventure games on DS and Wii.
Hope that we will see much more adventure games released on DS and Wii consoles.
I am eagerly waiting to play this game once it comes in market. :)