In the console space, broadly speaking, it was a similar situation. Software for the U.S.-centric Atari 2600 mainly came from U.S. developers, and even early consoles from Japan like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) predominately featured titles from Japanese developers. But what about Europe? In the case of adventure gaming many countries in Europe certainly imported all the greats from companies like Sierra and LucasArts, but they also forged their own path. Down their own holiday road.
READ HISTORY BOOK
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum (pronounced “Zed-Ex”), a small black computer in the form of a keyboard with rubber keys, went on sale in the U.K. in April of 1982. Created by Clive Sinclair, this successor to a previous line of rudimentary Sinclair models would almost single-handedly jumpstart a computer revolution in the U.K. Initial monthly sales forecasts were in the thousands, but it ended up selling in the hundreds of thousands. The focus on the home market would lead to a broad range of customers buying the ZX Spectrum, and in turn create an insatiable appetite for games. Out of the over 20,000 pieces of software developed for the ZX Spectrum throughout the ‘80s, the majority were games.So why the ZX Spectrum and not say, something like the Apple IIe? And, outside of Europe why does the name Spectrum remain an unknown entity? Well, for one thing the unit’s affordability and design were particularly suited to the European market. Just like the metric system, universal health care, and pop songs sung by David Hasselhoff. As a device the Spectrum was modular in the truest and even strangest sense. The most obvious design choice for the system was using a standard TV-aerial connection for connecting the unit to a display. But coming from Europe, that meant that a PAL 50Hz signal was used. And that was about as incompatible with American TVs as an ‘80s sitcom without a close knit family learning life lessons.In terms of a storage device the ZX Spectrum had no disk or tape drive, but instead an audio-in and audio-out jack that allowed virtually any cassette player to connect directly to the unit to read and even write software to cassette tape. This feature alone, coupled with a focus on allowing users to create their own programs in BASIC, meant that Spectrum software would come from a number of different sources, many of them amateur. And in the process create a huge and diverse set of development communities, companies, and entrepreneurs. Well, diverse in the sense that they were still predominantly young, male, and white.
THE BEDROOM BOYS
Whilst studying mechanical engineering in the early ‘80s, Charles Cecil became part of a development scene and community in the U.K. fondly referred to as bedroom coders. More than just a catchy name that - with some minor adjustment - sounds like a hypothetical boy band, it referred to the singular and reclusive nature of early game development.At the time a bedroom coder would design, code, debug, and create the music and graphics for an entire game on their own.
At the time a bedroom coder would design, code, debug, and create the music and graphics for an entire game on their own. On top of that, the cassette tape format of the ZX Spectrum allowed for easy duplication. A developer could create and distribute cassettes freely or sell them at local swap meets.“
This ease of duplication naturally made piracy an immediate issue for the ZX Spectrum, but in the system’s early days it did allow for some obscure and often brilliant pieces of software to reach a much wider audience than they normally would have under more regulated circumstances. And in turn, it propelled individual developers to fame and renown, and many of them then went on to join the more traditional development studio and publisher model as the decade continued.As a student, Charles Cecil was one such enthusiast who saw coding a game as a way to express himself creatively through interactive story-driven experiences. As in the United States, computer game development in the U.K. was seen as an enthusiast industry, where game companies and publishers would act as middle-men and handle distribution on behalf of individual developers. One of Charles’ friends at Manchester University, Richard Turner, formed his own game company for this very purpose. Called Artic Computers, it was though this connection that Charles Cecil released a string of text adventures, starting with Adventure B: Inca Curse.
After completing his degree in mechanical engineering, Charles decided to focus on a career in the game industry and forego one that involved creating mechanical stuff through the process of engineering. Which, one assumes is what a person with a degree in Mechanical Engineering ends up doing. So as an enthusiast turned professional Charles went on to establish his own development studio in the mid-‘80s, work for a few different publishers like Activision for a few years after that, and then finally start another studio in 1990 called Revolution Software.
CHARLES IN CHARGE
By the time 1990 rolled around the home computer was starting to become as common place as an ‘80s movie starring Sylvester Stallone as Johnathan Rambo. So, fairly common but not as common as you’d think. After all, there were only three Rambo movies made across the entire decade. In the UK, as the computer also became something of a household item, it would move away from this thing that was connected-to-a-PAL-TV to the more traditional case-plus-monitor-plus-keyboard-plus-mouse dealie that we all picture today. But this didn’t lead to a coming together of European and American consumers, singing syntax-filled U2 parody songs with lyrics like “I still haven’t found (CD GAMES) what I’m looking for (DIR/W).”So no, whilst American consumers embraced the IBM-compatible DOS-driven PC, the croissant-eating Europeans decided to continue the tradition of, well, being different. In the UK and most of Europe the computer of choice in 1990 was the Amiga. What launched in the late-‘80s as a line of powerful high-end home computers, continued into the ‘90s where it found mainstream success with its multimedia and multi-tasking capabilities. In countries like England, the Amiga was a big deal. And it was on the Amiga that Revolution Software would find its early successes. And, continuing from Charles Cecil’s days as a bedroom coder, this success would be found with adventure games.OPEN DOOR… TO ADVENTURE & BROKEN SWORD
Although it wasn’t its first, the adventure game that put the name Revolution Software on the map was Beneath a Steel Sky. Released in 1994, the title drew critical acclaim for its futuristic setting and striking artwork by Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons. Made with Revolution’s Virtual Theatre engine, the game would also draw attention due its vivid realisation of a post-apocalyptic Australia.One of the hallmarks of Virtual Theatre was its ability to have non-playable characters move freely around the game world based on a set schedule or specific traits. Although that’s the sort of feature that one might find in a role-playing game (RPG), it brought to the fore a focus on character, story, and immersion that would help propel Beneath a Steel Sky to critical acclaim.When forming Revolution Software, Charles Cecil looked at the adventure games coming from studios like Sierra and LucasArts and felt that there was room in the market place for an experience that fit somewhere between the two. A game that had a serious story to tell, but one that also had a lighter side and deliberate comic relief.
This mixture was present in Beneath a Steel Sky, a game with a setting and story that got pretty heavy right away with its depiction of a fractured and exploited class system and post-nuclear existence. But it also had quite a few comedic moments and characters to lighten the mood at regular intervals. Getting this sort of balance right isn’t easy, and for some this tonal shift made parts of the game feel a little silly.
1996’s Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is, in a way, a similar experience: the story, themes and setting are mostly serious, but peppered throughout are little jokes, references, and characters played entirely for comic relief. That last element in particular - having a character present mainly for comic relief - has more in common with the long-form narrative of something like a film or novel than an early adventure game. And in general the look and feel of Broken Sword fits into this mould, as it’s filled with detailed and distinct animation as well as lots and lots of character interaction and dialogue. Lots. So much that it wasn’t really practical to record a Let’s Play to go with this feature. (And yes, I tried.)Although the story of an American in Paris getting embroiled in a murder mystery that has its roots in ancient artefacts and the Knights of the Templar order may sound familiar, at the time of Broken Sword’s release things like The Da Vinci Code and Assassin’s Creed didn’t exist. In 1996 Tom Hanks was too busy lending his voice to the first feature length computer generated film, so he didn’t have time to traipse around Europe with a SNES controller in hand pressing Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, Y, B, X, A, in front of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa. Even the book that The Da Vinci Code drew a lot of its theories and nonsense from, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, was deemed a little too silly for Broken Sword. So instead, we have a story whose mystical undertones are kept under wraps for the most part, are supernatural in nature, and only reveal themselves in the closing moments.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
Broken Sword begins with an animated sequence depicting American tourist George Stobbart sitting outside a café, enjoying a cup of coffee served in a proper copper coffee pot. And before you can say, Dude, lay off the tongue twisters, a clown walks into the café and sets off a bomb. Next thing you know you’re in the middle of a crime scene, the cops show up, and you’re a suspect. Time to call Bob Loblaw, attorney at law.In these opening moments the game presents a world of danger, tension and confusion, which plays into the overall mystery surrounding the explosion, and one that continues throughout. It’s definitely an exciting introduction, and the animation still looks great even if the SVGA resolution of 640x480 pixels is no longer considered high-res. From here players take control of George Stobbart, the American in Paris, and begin piecing together the puzzle to work out exactly what happened and who was responsible.In terms of structure or for those feeling that, like, I’m super lazy today bro, just let me know what it’s similar to and that’ll be enough for me to make up my mind, Broken Sword is a murder-mystery in the same vein as Sierra’s Gabriel Knight series. But with less horror. It’s also a globe-trotting adventure in search of ancient artefacts and symbols with the help of a female friend and invested party, like LucasArt’s Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. But with less fedora. What immediately sets Broken Sword apart from other adventure games though is a clear focus on exposition and discovery through dialogue.What immediately sets Broken Sword apart from other adventure games is a clear focus on exposition and discovery through dialogue.
As mentioned previously there’s a lot of talking in Broken Sword. Lots and lots of talking. Every character you come across - even if they’re incidental to the main plot - will have quite a bit to say. They’ll probably even have a comment of two about every item in your inventory. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing if the writing is good, and for the most part Broken Sword’s writing is very good. It does, however, bring the pace of the game down to the speed of one Sonic the Hedgehog… right after he smacks into a wall at a million miles per hour and falls down motionless, rings scattering. So yeah, pretty slow.“
And also, sorry for that surprisingly grim image. You can add some comedy birds flittering around his head if you want to soften the scene.
This focus on dialogue means that a lot of the discovery comes directly through the various conversations that George has with other characters and his sidekick, French photojournalist Nicole Collard. Some of the problem solving, such as a section in which George needs to talk his way into a hotel room, requires the coordination of a few different characters, going back and forth between them, in order to open up further dialogue choices. There are plenty of item puzzles in the game too, but these are mostly presented in the form of physical obstacles that players need to get past in order to reach the next clue.
THE QUEST FOR THE CLEANEST BOWL
During his quest to uncover the secrets of the Templars, George needs to take at least one trip to the middle-east. A pretty common sojourn that’s expected of all relic and artefact hunters at least once in their lifetime. And in Broken Sword this middle-eastern destination is an ancient site near the town of Marib, Syria. And lucky for George Stobbart, we’re talking about 1996 era Syria. In a dingy bar hidden in one of the small back alleys in Marib, George comes across a taxi driver who knows the way to the ancient site George is looking for and is willing to take him there for a nominal fee of $50.00. Pretty straightforward, but as it turns out, the taxi’s fan belt is shot and in need of replacement or repair.The solution to this particular puzzle is actually quite clever, complicated, and a lot of fun. The item you need to fix the fan belt can be found in the restroom of the bar, in the form of a towel. But the restroom is locked and inaccessible because the owner and bartender is distraught over the loss of his favourite toilet brush. He also happens to be a mute, so you’re left with no real clues as to where the world’s most important toilet brush has gone to.So naturally, you head to the nearby marketplace in search of this mystical toilet brush. If you’re observant you’ll notice that the guy selling kebabs is actually using the toilet brush to wipe or brush down his meat table. Pretty gross, and he’s not exactly pleasant or willing to talk to George so you’ll need to find a way to distract him, and steal back the toilet brush.
Nearby you can find an English-speaking kid selling and trading goods, and in exchange for the ball in your possession he’ll tell you an Arabic phrase to say to the kebab guy in the hopes of distracting him.Seems fair enough but when you speak the phrase the kebab guy immediately takes offence and starts chasing George around the market with a knife in hand, yelling and screaming. At this point it looks like the plan has failed, but after making a narrow getaway George goes back to confront the kid, and it turns out this was all part of the plan. The especially crude insult actually gave the kid time to steal the toilet brush whilst George was running for his life.
Now, the logic to this puzzle clearly lies in realm of the comic, and is mostly played for laughs. It’s a moment of comic relief that’s somewhat ridiculous, but works wonders in contrast to the darker elements in the story. It highlights the balance that Broken Sword aims to hit, an experience that can just as easily shift from fun and light, to something more sinister and serious.But there are moments where the game does stumble when attempting to strike this balance. No wait, strike that. There’s really only one moment.
AN ELABORATE RUSE
There’s another sequence much later in the game where you need to access an archaeological site, but this time back in Paris. Here the door to the site is located underground with a guard stationed in front blocking any attempts to enter. If this was a real-world situation the easiest way to get past the guard would be to either distract him, knock him out, or bribe him with cheese or some other French delicacy. What you actually have to do to get past the guard goes well beyond the realm of fun and comical, and into the domain of pure insanity.None of it makes any real sense. First, there’s a phone booth in this underground room. Secondly, there’s a locked bathroom (yeah, another one). Third, upstairs you’ll find a builder who’s taking a break next to a bucket of plaster or paint. Also there’s a thermostat for some reason, one that controls the temperature for this small area leading to an underground makeshift dig site.And all of this will come into play as you:
1) Get the key to the bathroom from the guard.
2) Go into the bathroom and make an imprint of the door key (which is on the same keychain) using the soap you find there.
3) Use the plaster you found earlier on the key mould to make a plaster copy of the key.
4) Give the original key back to the guard. Don’t give him the fake key as it’s a different colour.
5) Use the payphone next to the guard to get Nicole to call back asking for the builder upstairs as a way to distract him away from his paint.6) Go upstairs and when the call comes through use the builder’s paint to paint your plaster key to look like the real deal.
7) Go back and get the bathroom key again and swap the real key for the fake one.
8) Don’t give the keys back to the guard! He’ll be able to tell that your copy is made from plaster from how it feels.
9) Instead use the thermostat to turn down the heat, making it a bit chilly so that the guard puts on some gloves.
10) Now without access to direct touch, hand the fake key back to the guard.
11) Use the payphone once more, which again is right next to the guard, to get Nicole to cause another distraction.
12) When the call comes in and the guard leaves his post to get the builder, unlock the door and enter the dig site.Not exactly the most elegant of puzzle designs.
CLOSE DOOR… UNTIL NEXT TIME
A few missteps aside, the first Broken Sword is an engaging globe-trotting adventure game that deserves to sit alongside the greats of the genre. And many thought so at the time of its release too, as it quickly became both a critical and commercial success across a number of platforms, including the original PlayStation. Its mix of real-world settings with that of mysteries steeped in both history and myth proved to be quite the draw, even in a time when traditional 2D adventure games were becoming pretty rare.Utilising the same engine and art style, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror would release the following year to similar acclaim. This time the setting would shift away from the Templars and instead deal with a story featuring Mayan myth and Central American history. And much like the original, the attention to detail would elevate it beyond simple B-material.By the time the year 2000 rolled around, the traditional 2D point-and-click adventure game had all but disappeared from the portfolios of all the major publishers. This meant that the third Broken Sword game would become a full 3D experience and one that would get a console-only release on both the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Although it may have looked impressive at the time, like many other games from that era, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon has aged less favourably than its 2D predecessors.There was also a fourth game a few years later, but by that point the series had all but become a memory for most. When it comes to the Broken Sword series, the original 1996 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is still the first game that comes to mind. Its dedication to character, story, and rich dialogue, remain relevant even to this day. This was something that Revolution Software felt keenly too, as in 2010 the studio re-released the original Broken Sword in the form of a Director’s Cut with additional content and other minor changes.
And more recently, through crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Revolution Software has been able to fund additional Broken Sword games that remain true to these roots. In Journal Entry #21 - We revisit one of gaming’s closely guarded secrets. Something to do with monkeys and islands. Kosta Andreadis is a freelance writer and musician based in Melbourne. He likes his comedy absurdist and his music disco-tinged. Check out his tunes and his Twitter.