Broken Sword: The Angel of Death

Broken Sword: The Angel of Death
Developer(s)	Revolution Software Sumo Digital
Publisher(s)	THQ
Designer(s)	Charles Cecil
Series	Broken Sword series
Released	EU September 15, 2006 NA February 13, 2007
Genre	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Ratings	ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 6+ PEGI: 12+ OFLC: M
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Media	1 DVD
System requirements	Pentium 4 1.4 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 2.6 GB available hard drive space, 2X DVD-ROM Drive, 128 MB Shader model 1.1 compatible video card, Windows XP
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse

Broken Sword: The Angel of Death, known in North America as Secrets of the Ark: A Broken Sword Game, is the fourth installment in the Broken Sword series of computer games, released in Europe on September 15, 2006, and in North America on February 13, 2007. It is the first game to be amBX enabled.

Plot

The story begins, when George Stobbart down on his luck, is working for a Bail Bonds company. Since the events of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (one year), George has failed to get any real work as a patent lawyer, and as a result, had to work delivering bails to his many aids. When George is approached by Anna-Maria, the beautiful femme fatale who is aided by only a manuscript of great importance, the two are assaulted by a group of hired thugs to track down and kill Anna-Maria. George and Anna-Maria escape, and the two begin searching for this great treasure that the manuscript leads them to. Soon however, the group of thugs return, and reveals another whole level of danger, when George finds and reveals corruption in Rome, the Vatican, and the Convent. Soon enough, Anna-Maria is captured, and it's up to George to work out who's taken her, and what is going on.

Locations

George Stobbart outside the Vatican Walls.

In chronological order

• Egypt (Only seen in the intro movie)
• New York
• Istanbul
• Rome
• Vatican City
• Phoenix
• This is the first Broken Sword game which does not have any locations in Paris.

Development

The first play area in the game.

On August 17, 2005, the fourth game in the series was announced by THQ and Revolution Software. It sees the unwitting hero George Stobbart falls in love with a mysterious and beautiful woman; a woman whose sudden disappearance draws him into a desperate search for a nefarious artifact of great and terrible power. The only lead George has is an antiquated manuscript rumoured to have inexplicable links to mfkzt, a mythical substance that has been forgotten for over two thousand years. Unfortunately for George, it looks like the world needs saving one more time. The Angel of Death will once again feature 3D graphics, but the gameplay will differ from Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon by including mouse control as seen in the first two games (although a direct control-style interface will be available too). The Angel of Death will only be released for the PC because of the relatively poor sales of The Sleeping Dragon for consoles (70% PC, 30% consoles). For the first time, Revolution Software wasn't the developer; instead, it was outsourced to Sumo Digital, a game development studio from Sheffield, England. Sumo Digital provided consultancy on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of The Sleeping Dragon. Rolf Saxon who voiced George Stobbart in previous games is back and a new voice actress by the name of Katherine Pageon has been hired to play Nico Collard. Ben McCullough composed the music for the game although the soundtrack also features several tracks from the electronic band Ūbernoise, all specially written for the game. There is also an accompanying soundtrack album on Sugarstar Records available exclusively from iTunes. There is a direct link from the game enabling you to purchase the soundtrack from iTunes, which is a gaming first.

Reception

Reaction to the game by the gaming press was mixed. Though some state that the game mechanic was an improvement over its predecessor Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, others have criticised its puzzles as frustrating and obtuse. In addition most of the reviewers found the game's ending unsatisfying and unexplaining all the plots. The game received an aggregate score of 72 on Metacritic.^[1] Adventure Classic Gaming said, "Not only the game succeeds in addressing many of the flaws in Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon that have plagued the previous title, this sequel is able to surpass the high standard and expectation set forth by past games in the series to create yet another chapter in the legend of the Knights Templar."^[2] EuroGamer said, "As an example of classic, back to basics point and click adventuring, there can perhaps be no finer recent example in the genre than The Angel of Death - it's a nailed-down must-buy if you're an adventure diehard who plays every one."^[3] PC Zone Magazine said, "It's hard, its opening acts don't match the quality of those which follow and some characters grate - but as a modern rendition of a traditional formula, The Angel Of Death has both pointed and clicked wisely. It's another nail out of the adventure gaming coffin - although admittedly quite a few remain."^[4]

Errors

• George claims he first met Duane in South America (Broken Sword 2), whereas they actually met in Syria (Broken Sword 1).
• Although the intro sequence shows the Ark was found three years before the action of the game, at its end Anna-Maria claims this event took place two years before.
• When the player clicks on a vending machine in the hotel, early on in the game, George describes it as a water cooler, when it is a vending machine. It may be possible that a water cooler was originally to be there, but the developer forgot to add it into the game

References

1. ^ Broken Sword: The Angel of Death. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
2. ^ Adventure Classic Gaming (2006). Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (Review, UK Release).
3. ^ EuroGamer (2006). Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (Review, UK Release).
4. ^ PC Zone (2006). Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (Review, UK Release).

External links

• Official Broken Sword website
• Official Revolution Software website
• Official Sumo Digital website
• Official Sugarstar Records website
• Broken Sword: The Angel of Death at MobyGames
• Broken Sword: The Angel of Death at Game Rankings
• Interview with Charles Cecil about Adventures and Broken Sword 4 (2006)