Broken Sword: The Shadow of The Templars - Reception

Reception

Broken Sword was critically acclaimed. Génération 4 awarded it "Best Adventure 1997", and it received the award for Best Quest from the magazine Quest. A writer for Edge stated that Broken Sword was superior to LucasArts adventure games such as Monkey Island and The Dig, and believed it to be an "adventure gaming milestone" and the "best graphic adventure to date." The game was also a commercial success, with roughly one million copies sold by the mid-1990s.

A writer for Adventure Gamers commented that the game's "deep and mysterious plot is designed to be thought-provoking and highly entertaining at the same time." GameSpot's Rebecca B. Anderson found that the game's combination of real history and "highly-creative" storytelling "add spice to an already-entertaining adventure." Joe Antol of Adventure Classic Gaming wrote that the involvement of the Knights Templar generated a "unique experience of creative storytelling." A writer for Next Generation Magazine stated that the story is "rich in mystery and intrigue, with plenty of puzzles and locations to explore." Edge's reviewer praised the game's use of "legend and modern-day intrigue", and believed that "Revolution Software finally escaped the shadow of Monkey Island et al. and taken the graphic adventure to new levels in terms of both story and spectacle." The writer commented that, by basing its "trans-European plot around the legends of the Knights Templar", the game "succeeds in appearing weighty and complex without ever losing its sense of place".

Adventure Gamers' reviewer called the animation "extremely colorful and well-executed" and noted that the art team "have taken this style of animation and really made an elegant, mature game with it." The writer also noted that the environments are "detailed and inviting" and that the game's voice acting is "of supreme quality" with "delightful dialogue." Anderson called it a "visual treat" and a "work of art," noting that "every scene is filled with rich, lush, illustrative detail that rivals any animated feature film." Mark Wolf of PC Gamer US called the game "visually stunning," praising the animated graphics as "crisp and clear" and the artwork as "simply beautiful". He also wrote, "At the highest setting, the background and foreground scroll separately, delivering a sense of depth you don't see in many graphic adventures. Even the atmosphere of each of the areas you explore fit the locale." Next Generation Magazine's writer called the character movements "fantastic" and the cutscenes "a joy to watch." The writer for Edge praised its art direction, in which "every visual element is polished to the 'nth' degree". The reviewer believed that "the SVGA artwork by far exceeds the competition in this genre."

Adventure Gamers' reviewer stated that the game's puzzles are well integrated into the plot and are moderately challenging. The writer also praised the game's score, calling it "ambitious and beautiful" and saying it adds a very "cinematic feel" to the experience. Wolf called its puzzles inventive and challenging. Edge's writer complimented its musical score for "play a large part in mood enhancement", noting that "it's beautifully orchestrated and adds immeasurable atmosphere."

Adventure Gamers' writer stated that long conversations might bore some players. Wolf called the voice acting "the worst thing in the game" and "not too professional", and he believed that certain puzzles require "too much pixel-hunting." Next Generation Magazine's writer said that the puzzles could be "disappointing." Despite giving the Windows version a positive review, GameSpot deemed the PlayStation version mediocre, criticizing technical deficiencies such as lengthy load times and muddy graphics. Cecil later cited the PlayStation version as his "one big regret" regarding the game. He believed that the team should have introduced direct control over the player character in this version, instead of mouse-driven point-and-click interaction.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director's Cut also received praise—particularly the iOS versions. It was nominated for the Best Story award at the 2009 British Academy Video Games Awards, and Pocket Gamer awarded the iPhone version the Pocket Gamer Gold Award in 2010. The Wii and DS versions were nominated for the Best Port/Updated Re-release award at Adventure Gamers' 2010 Aggie Awards. The iPhone version was nominated for the Best Adventure/RPG Game award at the 2011 Pocket Gamer Awards. The Wii version won the award for Best European Adventure at the 2011 European Games Awards. According to Charles Cecil, the remake's sales were higher than those of The Sleeping Dragon and The Angel of Death.