Game Review: Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (Steam)

The middle portion of the Broken Sword franchise is a fascinating one. After Revolution released two of the most iconic point & click games ever with Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars and Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, they released Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, and it didn’t quite hit in the same way.

Don’t get me wrong though, I loved it, and it has one of my favourite stories of the series. However, the move to 3D with fixed cameras meant the controls were really frustrating and the obsession with crate puzzles derailed so much of the fun. It is a good game, but it’s not a great Broken Sword game.

Which meant there wasn’t much excitement about playing the other 3D game in the franchise, Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (Secrets of the Ark: A Broken Sword Game in North America). Happily, developers Revolution Software and Sumo Digital took a look at what they did with the 3rd game, and saw a way to improve it here. Giving players both direct control and a point & click interface.

I, like many, gave the direct control option a try and quickly switched to the point & click style almost immediately. It just works so much better, even in the world of 3D. For this, and this alone, The Angel of Death is a massive improvement over The Sleeping Dragon.

Sadly, it’s about the only one, and nowhere is this more prevalent than the story. One that has all the right Broken Sword vibes; murder, mystery, religion, ancient myths, comedy, and more. A story that spans the globe taking in locations like New York, Istanbul, Rome, Vatican City, and even Pheonix, Arizona! A story that stars the lovable George Stobbart, has involvement from Nico Collard, has series’ favourites popping up, and introduces some new and interesting characters. So, why does it feel so ‘meh’?

You’re constantly waiting for it to get good, and it just doesn’t, before ending so abruptly, it’s kind of funny. It does have moments, good moments that link back to the Templars story, but when you compare it to the epics that we’ve gotten across the series so far (and after), this just isn’t good enough. Even if the fantastic voice actors try to make it feel more important than it is. The fact that a legendary character like Nico feels jammed in to this game, and if she wasn’t in it, it wouldn’t really matter, speaks volumes.

How about the all-important puzzle aspect of Broken Sword games? Does The Angel of Death have non-stop crate puzzles? Thankfully no, and this game does revert back to some old-school complex puzzles that involve heavy use of inventory items. This is welcome, but can also lead to a ton of frustration when it’s just not made clear what you need to do to progress. Some areas are very large, with multiple rooms, and with parts to play in completing a puzzle. This is just one of those times when a walkthrough is recommended.

Credit to the variety though, and most complex puzzle completions have that Broken Sword sense of satisfaction. Most, because this game has a new obsession, and it involves a hacking mini-game that gets harder and harder as you go on. Just like The Sleeping Dragon, there is something hilarious about George having to stop, pull out his phone, and complete a hacking puzzle while the fate of the world is at stake. It’s not as over-used as the crate puzzles were in the Sleeping Dragon, but you might find yourself groaning when another one pops up.

Speaking of groaning though, possibly the worst part of The Angel of Death is the stealth sections, and while there aren’t many of them, they are all awful. The controls just don’t work for sneaking, so expect repeat failures as your caught over and over again.

Here’s the thing though, it’s still not a bad game. It’s a Broken Sword game, and that means there’s always going to be things to enjoy. The Angel of Death struggles mainly because of what it is being compared to, and those bars are so high, low-efforts like this are always going to struggle to reach them, let alone surpass them.