Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror

aka: BS2, Baphomets Fluch II: Die Spiegel der Finsternis, Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror, Broken Sword II: La Profezia dei Maya, Broken Sword II: Las Fuerzas del Mal, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, Circle of Blood II, Les Chevaliers de Baphomet II: Les Boucliers de Quetzalcoatl, Slomannyj Mech 2: Dymjascheesja Zerkalo
Moby ID: 1133
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror is the sequel to Circle of Blood and the second game in the Broken Sword series.

The player alternately controls George Stobbart, the protagonist of the first game, and Nicole Collard, the French journalist he met in the first game and who has since become his girlfriend. The game starts with George witnessing the kidnapping of Nicole. This event eventually leads to an investigation into a conspiracy revolving around a forthcoming solar eclipse and the evil Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. The locations visited throughout the game include Paris, Marseilles, London, Quaramonte, the jungle, a Caribbean environment, and a zombie island. Certain locations from the previous game make a return.

The game is entirely in 2D and gameplay is in typical point-and-click fashion. The player moves the character around using the mouse, examines the environment, talks to other people, and collect items stored in an inventory. These items need to be used or combined with other items to solve puzzles.

Spellings

  • Сломанный Меч 2: Дымящееся Зеркало - Russian spelling
  • 断剑2 - Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

146 People · View all

Producer
Assistant Producer
Executive Producer
Gaffer
Stunt Co-ordinator
Premier Party Organizer
Sound, Design Testing and Supervision
Chief Design Test Supervisors
Design Test Supervisors
Chief Hairdresser
Make-up
Animal Trainer
QA Effects Supervisor
Customer Technical Advisor (The Fat Controller)
Grumpy Old Git
Chief Dossers
Producer
Product Manager
Spiritual Advisor
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 48 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 172 ratings with 7 reviews)

The second game is twice as good as the first one.

The Good
When the first Broken Sword game, entitled The Shadows of the Templars, sold very well, Revolution wasted no time releasing its sequel. After six months of separation, George and Nico get back together again, and the two of them visit a professor's mansion. There, Nico is kidnapped, and George is knocked out and strapped into a chair guarded by a deadly spider. Starting from this point, BS2 becomes an adventure involving an evil Aztec god, some ancient Mayan stones, and a conspiracy revolving around a solar eclipse.

George has the same personality that he carried in BS1, and mostly throughout the game, he wears the same clothes he did before. Most of the characters are quite friendly, especially Duane, the fellow American George met in Syria back in BS1. Nico, on the other hand, decided to abandon her old clothes and put on something much sexier.

The majority of The Smoking Mirror has George talking to characters, asking questions about people and on what he has discovered so far. Most of the information George receives is rather quite interesting, and it can help the player on what to do next. Most of the time, I felt like talking to every character I met, and by doing this, it gave me insight of what the characters I already saw, or will see, are like, and whether they are dangerous.

George starts his adventure in Paris, which happens to be the same city George started in in the last game. From there, he travels to more exotic destinations like Quaramonte, jungle, Caribbean, and Zombie Island. With the exception of Zombie Island, most of the locations are real. In the game, each location is beautifully hand-drawn, making it a joy for me to walk around each location and see what I can see.

I had no trouble getting used to BS2, as all the usual elements are there, such as the mouse cursor and control system, as well as the false impression that the game is presented in wide screen. As I may have said in my review of the first game, I like how the icons appear in both black areas.

Each cut-scene in the game has the same quality as the ones in the first game. I love the cut-scenes at the beginning. (That South American tarantula gives me the creeps.) I found that most of them are enjoyable to watch, and I just wish that there was a feature in BS2 that lets you view all cut-scenes that you've previously watched.

What makes the sequel different to BS1, however, is the way that the player has the opportunity to control two characters at different times. Not many games allow you to do this, and I can only remember the last two games of the Gabriel Knight series, plus Guilty, where you get to control more than one character. Controlling more than one person in this way is very good for people who are fed up playing the same person all the time.

The music in the game is very good, and it reflects well to what you are doing. There are often times when conversations with archeologists/historians goes deeper into the plot that the music becomes a bit powerful, with some pieces of music containing drums as the main instrument, while others with chanting in the background. Also, I enjoyed listening to the title song called Happiness Is An Inside Job by Bob Sekar, as well as the music played whenever players access the control system.

Now onto the puzzles. The first puzzle of the game is right at the beginning, where George is tied to a chair and he must find some way to break himself free before that tarantula kills him. This puzzle is easy enough, as it is a matter of clicking everything the player sees. The hardest puzzle is at the end of the game, involving the player to turn two huge Mayan wheels and pressing a few tiles in an effort to open a secret door. Besides these two puzzles, I hardly found any throughout the game.

The Bad
Nothing I noticed.

The Bottom Line
BS2 comes into line with BS1, featuring a storyline based on historic events. To complete this adventure, players have to visit a variety of locations, most of them exotic, and deal with characters that can either help or hinder them. The script is well-thought out, making some of the conversations between two people interesting to read. Besides those from the beginning and end, there are no puzzles I know of during the game. Finally, the interface and control system is similar to BS1, so players can easily get used to the game.

Windows · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2008

More of the same as the first game, but better

The Good
The control method from Broken Sword 1 has been kept, so it is still easy to play, and the addition to play as Nico provides a nice aternative to playing as George now and then. Revolution know how to create adventure games, and this is no exception, in fact it even rivals the adventure games by Lucasarts!

The Bad
The only thing bad about the game was it's ending, unlike in Broken Sword 1 you could not do anything once you reached the final part of the game, which is a bit of a let down.

The Bottom Line
A good alternative to the Lucasarts adventure games and more proof that a sequel can be as good as the original

Windows · by Grant McLellan (584) · 2001

A little on the simple side, but with a brilliant script.

The Good
The story was on the quirky side, but the characters, the dialogue between them, and the way the voice actors brought it all to life was simply a joy. At first glance the graphics looked like something that wound up on Hanna-Barbara's cutting room floor, but once into the game they animated with a nice frame rate that settled all fears. Also, the difficulty level was low, making this perfect for beginners or people mainly interested in the story. The puzzles were pretty well integrated into the game, with none of the noticable "adventure game syndrome" coming to the surface. Another glowing point that deserves praise is the execution of the plot. There were a lot of things going on here, but so many of them were subtle. Farces on pop culture lay everywhere, but never does the script beat them over our heads. They're just there to pick up on in passing. So too is a lot of the game's adult content. Instead of coming right out and screaming in the user's face that this is a no-holds-barred gorefest or language-spree, instead it is once again shuffled into the deck and produced as the plot requires.

The Bad
Well, the game was easy. I know I listed this as a good point, but it can also be bad. Sure, you can sit back, look at the big picture, and figure out the solution, but veteran gamers will not be challanged at all here.

The Bottom Line
Quick-witted and fun as a piece of entertainment, this is something to enjoy if you're here for the story and dialogue. Mensa members seeking to challenge themselves should move on.

Windows · by Vance (94) · 2000

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Plot question: what happened to general Grasiento? Nowhere Girl (8680) Oct 23, 2016
How to access the Scumm VM menu? Nowhere Girl (8680) Sep 24, 2016

Trivia

References

  • An easter egg in the subway station references Beneath a Steel Sky, an earlier game by the same developers. More information can be found in the tips & tricks section
  • If you watch carefully during the intro in Professor Oubier's house you can see a portrait of what looks like the Spanish villa from Circle of Blood.
  • When the dog falls into the water in Marseilles, a melody from the known nursery song "Oh where, oh where is my little dog gone?" is heard.

Awards

  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1998 - Best Adventure in 1997

Analytics

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Shane k.

PlayStation added by Adam Baratz.

Additional contributors: MAT, Zovni, Grant McLellan, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Kardboard2na, Sciere, Xoleras, Ghost Pirate, CaesarZX, Patrick Bregger, Nowhere Girl.

Game added March 25, 2000. Last modified March 27, 2024.