Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (PC) Review

The first truly striking element of Broken Sword: The Angel of Death is that there is no Nico from the off. Instead, regular adventurer extraordinaire, George Stobbart - now turned entrepreneur, running a bail bonds and constantly trying to sell people on the idea of his extendable golf club - is partnered with a blonde partner named Anna Maria, who has a special manuscript and needs his expertise to decode it. The entire look and feel of this fourth entry is different from past versions, with character models looking nothing like past versions. Only George's usual voice actor and the highly amusing script bring back that feeling of nostalgia.

However, as the adventure develops further, the typical Broken Sword lure eventually draws players in and the, unfortunately clunky, control system that comes hand-in-hand with the switch from 2D adventuring to the 3D perspective, is overcome, and what starts off as quite a mundane, and thoroughly disappointing affair, suddenly perks up considerably. For one thing, there are less box-pushing puzzles, something that dragged The Sleeping Dragon down considerably…

The best method of control is actually using the keyboard rather than the traditional point-and-click interface, purely because of the static camera viewpoints meaning that sometimes clicking on the screen only moves George a short distance before he becomes stationary once more, awaiting instructions. Thankfully, this does not get in the way of the intriguing puzzles on offer and engaging storyline, filled to the brim with sarcastic quips and a hefty dose of dry humour to carry to mysterious plot along.

There is the usual array of items to collect and store within George's person, combining key objects together and going through permutations of "item, piece of scenery, nearby person" until the correct solution is found. Sadly, there is also the old trend of not being able to progress until a specific trigger has been hit, even if the next step is blindingly obvious. Enjoyment levels are not dampened by this, however, thanks to the breadth of conundrums available that do indeed get the old grey matter working hard, giving that ultimate sense of satisfaction when overcoming a particularly tough obstacle. Whilst not up there with its forebears, Angel of Death has a brilliant script, full of quirky characters, and enough smart puzzles to entertain fans disappointed by its predecessor.