Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Longplay (Full Game) (PC)
Longplay of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars For The PC
Game: Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Platform: PC (Also on Mac OS, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, Palm OS & Windows Mobile)
Release: 1996
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (also known as Circle of Blood in the United States) is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game, and the first in the Broken Sword series, co-written and directed by Charles Cecil, and developed by Revolution Software. 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.