| Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars | |
|---|---|
 European PC version box art | |
| Developer(s) | Revolution Software Astraware (Palm OS) |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Director(s) | Charles Cecil |
| Producer(s) | Charles Cecil Chris Dudas Steve Ince Michael Merren |
| Writer(s) | Charles Cecil Dave Cummins Jonathan Howard |
| Composer(s) | Barrington Pheloung |
| Series | Broken Sword |
| Engine | Virtual Theatre |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation, Palm OS, Windows Mobile |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Point-and-click adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (also known as Circle of Blood in the United States)[5] is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game developed by Revolution Software. It is the first in the Broken Sword series, co-written and directed by Charles Cecil. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart (voiced by Rolf Saxon), an American tourist in Paris, as he attempts to unravel a deep conspiracy involving a sinister cult and a hidden treasure, seeing him travel to various locations around Europe and the Middle East. The game's storyline was conceived to feature a serious tone and heavily influenced by research on Knights Templar by Cecil, but was also interlaced with humor and graphics in the style of classic animated films.
Development of the game saw considerable work to achieve its presentation. Artwork was conceived by Eoghan Cahill and Neil Breen, who particularly drew the backgrounds in pencil and digitally colored them in Photoshop, the game's design was handled by Tony Warriner and David Sykes, while the game's musical score was composed by Barrington Pheloung. The game was built with Revolution's Virtual Theatre engine, which had already been used by the company in two previous games, Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky.
Broken Sword proved a critical and commercial success following its release on 30 September 1996. Critics lauded praise on the game's story, puzzles, voice acting, writing, gameplay, and music, leading to it receiving numerous award nominations and wins. Sales of the games bested expectations by the company, with around one million units having been sold by 2001. The game has topped several listings of the best adventures games, with many developers citing Broken Sword as an influence in future adventure games.
After its initial release on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and PlayStation between 1996 and 1998, the game was released on the Game Boy Advance under the same title, and later received ports to Palm OS and Windows Mobile in 2006. The game spawned a number of sequels that would collectively form the Broken Sword series: Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror in 1997; Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon in 2003; Broken Sword: The Angel of Death in 2006; and Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse in episodic format, between 2013 and 2014. An extended version of the game, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director's Cut, was released between 2009 and 2012 for Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and Linux. A remaster of the game was announced at Gamescom 2023, titled Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged. It was announced on August 16, 2024 that the game would be released on September 19, 2024.[6] It is based on the original version, not the Directors Cut.
- ^ "Online Gaming Review". 27 February 1997. Archived from the original on 27 February 1997. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "PR - 3/24/98 - THQ DELVES INTO INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE WITH LAUNCH OF 'BROKEN SWORD: SHADOW OF THE TEMPLARS'". 16 April 2004. Archived from the original on 16 April 2004. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Can you solve the mystery of the Broken Sword?". GamesIndustry.biz. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Broken Sword(R): Shadow of the Templars comes to Windows Mobile(R) for Pocket PC devices". GamesIndustry.biz. 2 August 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
MakingEDGEwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Nightingale, Ed. "Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged gets September release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 20 August 2024.