Video Game Vault: “Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars”
PS1, PC (1996) – later ported to GBA

Seven years before Dan Brown’s "The Da Vinci Code" made the Knights Templar popular, little-known British software company Revolution Studios released a top-tier mystery adventure game called “Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars.” The two works are so eerily similar that, were the game to be released right now for the first time, it would be run out of town for piggybacking on a stale formula.

Like "Code," “Broken Sword” also stars an American in Paris who finds himself knee-deep in an international conspiracy to locate a historic treasure. Like Robert Langdon, the protagonist in "Sword," George Stobbart, is assisted on his journey by a lovely French woman as he fights to uncover a secret that’s ferociously guarded by the Knights Templar. Come to think of it, these similarities are pretty striking — maybe Revolution Studios should join the ever-expanding rank of authors and theologians who’ve filed plagiarism charges against Mr. Brown.

Despite its disappointing lack of crazy professors claiming that Jesus fathered a child, “Broken Sword” is still worth trying post-"Code." Like all graphic adventure games, it’s heavy on text and problem-solving logic. The player takes control of Stobbart right after he witnesses a bomb blast at a Parisian café in the opening cut scene.

Stobbart then wanders through luxury hotels, breaks into museums and meanders through exotic environments — like an Irish pub and a street market in Cairo — in his quest to unravel the meaning of a mysterious ancient scroll. Along the way, he picks up a hand buzzer, a matchbook and many other similarly random items which he will later use in an unconventional fashion to uncover clues.

Players who are familiar with the point-and-click genre through “Myst” and “Escape from Monkey Island” know that the thrill of such games comes from their many “a-ha!” moments — those instances when, after traversing the same area for minutes on end with no clue what to do, the player gets an out-of-nowhere breakthrough and suddenly knows exactly how to progress. Most of the puzzles in “Broken Sword” are frustrating to the point of insanity, but with tougher conundrums come more satisfying “a-ha!” moments. Still, if anyone ever claims to have beaten this game in its entirety without even glancing at a walkthrough, that's a lie.

Stobbart encounters several colorful characters during his traipses through Paris, and they all come equipped with droll, characteristically un-PC wit. The game’s sharp dialogue is its main attraction, so it’s a good thing many of the puzzles revolve around striking up the right conversations with the right people. Take a level set in a hospital, where Stobbart grills a receptionist about the identity of one of the nurses.

“She’s like a part of the furniture,” says the receptionist. “You mean she’s been here for a long time?” Stobbart asks.

“No,” comes the reply. “I mean there isn’t a man in this hospital who hasn’t lain down on top of her.”

The American masses may have never heard of the “Broken Sword” franchise, but it’s a huge hit in Europe. The game was a top seller across the pond, and it has spawned three sequels to date, the most recent of which was “The Angel of Death” in 2006. Its successors have only received minimal exposure in America, and some versions of the games were released under different titles or haven’t made it over here at all. Perhaps it’s just as well. Judging by the progression of the box art, the games have grown increasingly more morbid and less whimsical.

Still, the original game has enjoyed lasting popularity. It was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2002, and next month a “Director’s Cut” version is coming to Nintendo’s Wii and DS systems, with new puzzles and fleshed-out plot details. It should be one of the year's essential releases.