Circle of Blood
Description official descriptions
George Stobbart is an American tourist spending his autumn vacation in Paris. He barely escapes a bombing of a café and decides to investigate the clues left behind by the killer. This eventually leads him to a mystery dating back to the legend of the Knights Templar.
Circle of Blood is the first part in the Broken Sword series. It is a third-person puzzle-solving point-and-click adventure game with 2D cartoon-like graphics. The player moves the character around using the mouse, examines the environment, talks to other people and collects items stored in an inventory. These items need to be used or combined with other items to solve puzzles. George gets help from Nicole Collard, a French journalist. The story is divided into eleven chapters and takes place in locations such as Paris, Ireland, Syria, and others.
Spellings
- Сломанный Меч: Тень Тамплиеров - Russian spelling
- 断剑:圣殿骑士的阴影 - Simplified Chinese spelling
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Videos
Add Trailer or Gameplay Video +1 point
See any errors or missing info for this game?
You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.
Credits (DOS version)
115 People (112 developers, 3 thanks) · View all
Director | |
Project Producer | |
Script Writers | |
Lead Programmer | |
System Programming | |
Technical Programming | |
Game Tools | |
Animation Director | |
Support Programming | |
Music Composed and Conducted by | |
Paper Animation |
|
Character Design | |
Coloring | |
Sprite Animation | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 83% (based on 71 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 335 ratings with 13 reviews)
I didnt want the story to end. Its like Indiana Jones in cartoon.
The Good
I thought the graphics were REALLY well done. Its all cartoon animated , no pixelated images at all.
The story really got me in. Its not a serious game , but the plot is interesting all the same.
The controls were fairly easy , you really have no trouble with them at all.
The game mixes humour in just enough to make it uplifting , but not too much as to wreck the serious aspects of the game. (Im not sure if you know what i mean by that)
The game is a long and challenging one, you travel all around europe in your searches.In fact , one of the longest (and most enjoyable) i have played.
The Bad
The LAME ending. It spoiled it totally.
The cd changing was slightly annoying.
Thats about it.
The Bottom Line
You dont want to see it end.
Windows · by Shayne Bates (12) · 2001
A strangely ordinary adventure
The Good
After hearing for years about how good this game was meant to be, I finally tracked down and bought a copy. It was, perhaps, surprising that I hadn't played the game before, especially as Revolution's earlier game, Beneath A Steel Sky still ranked as one of my favourite adventures of all time, and before that, Lure Of The Temptress was also pretty good.
What had put me off playing Broken Sword was the globe-trotting plot (really not my kind of thing) and the graphics, which I really didn't like the look of.
Oh, anyway...I finally bought it and played it. And my opinion?
It's good. Nothing great or classic, but definitely good.
It just seemed to me very ordinary and uninspiring. It was also over rather too quickly. Your character, an average American tourist, wanders through scenic locales around the world, chatting with amiable locals and solving a few puzzles. I never found the game gripping or particularly exciting and I was never that intrigued by the plot. OK - It does have its moments - Some enjoyable spy tomfoolery at a hotel, early on in the game, and then, right near the end, it surprised me with a classic set-piece on a train, which (especially thanks to the music in that section) was actually quite tense and engaging. But most of the time, it merely held my interest, occasionally slipping over into 'dull'.
The main character's voice acting is nicely done, oddly reminding me at times of the whimsical, enthusiastic narration in cult British kids' TV show, Mr. Benn. Other characters vary - Some are very well done - Others are drearily irritating.
The interface works well.
Graphics are generally nice.
The music is fine - Nothing at all memorable, but it usually does its job well enough, and also sounds quite different from most other game scores. The one piece of music that really stood out, for me, was the bit used on the train.
I liked the way the phone conversations were done, and the development of the relationship between George and Nico was nicely done.
The Bad
There is nothing bad about this game, just as there is nothing remarkable about it.
Some of the characters' voices irritated me, and one actor in particular was used a bit too much, providing identical voices for about three different characters. Conversation did become tedious, at times.
I didn't find the game amusing. There were perhaps two or three moments when I chuckled.
The game is pretty short, and each country you visit only has a few locations to see - With the exception of Paris, which is your 'home base' - The result was that I felt the game had spread itself too thin. Paris felt quite homely and fleshed-out, but the rest of the world wasn't too interesting.
I didn't enjoy many of the puzzles. They were a mixed bag - Some too easy, others far too obscure. It was rare that I felt much satisfaction from successfully completing a puzzle.
The Bottom Line
This is a well-made, quality game. All the elements are there. But somehow, it's just not that interesting. None of its elements rise above 'good'. There's nothing that makes me go "Wow". But it confuses me...As soon as I'd finished it, I found myself installing Broken Sword II...Hmm...
Windows · by xroox (3895) · 2002
One word.....BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Good
Broken Sword is one of those games that can be compared to the games of Lucasarts. Sure Broken Sword shares many similarites with say, the Monkey Island games, but what makes it different is the control system.
The game uses the same control method that was used in "Beneath A Steel Sky only better. The characters in the game are well animated, in fact they give Disney a run for their money!.
The music is well used in the game, it is even composed by Barrington Pheloung (who did the music for the popular UK TV series "Inspecter Morse")
The Bad
Some of the puzzles are a bit hard and can take quite a while to figure out. Other than that there's really not much to say about what makes this game bad.
The Bottom Line
A Brilliant game that needs to be in any gamers collection, adventure game fans will enjoy this a lot.
Windows · by Grant McLellan (584) · 2001
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Animation
The game's animations and artwork were done by former animators and artists from Bluth Studios, makers of The Secret of NIMH, An American Tale, The Land Before Time, and the Dragon's Lair and Space Ace interactive arcade laser games.
Engine
The Game Boy Advance version does not use the Virtual Theatre game engine.
Extras
Some versions of the game came with the Knights Templar book Savage Warrior written by Steve Jackson.
Installation
The DOS/Windows installation program instead of showing a progress bar during the copying phase runs a Breakout variant. The paddle is controlled with the mouse.
Music
The game contains over two hours of original music from Britain’s composer Barrington Pheloung, also known for his TV theme music on Central Independent Television’s renowned Inspector Morse detective series starring John Thaw and Kevin Whately.
Analytics
Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!
Related Sites +
-
Broken Sword 1 Hints
Helpful hints for solving Circle of Blood, the North American release of Broken Sword1 -
Circle of Blood - FAQs & Guides
Multiple walkthroughs and faq files (in various languages) on GameFaqs.com -
How to play in Windows XP
Hakan Larsson explains exactly how to do it -
ScummVM
Get "Broken Sword I", as well as many other adventure games, to run on modern systems by using ScummVM, a legal and free program. -
Walkthrough for Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars
Full solution for Circle of Blood/Shadow of the Templars posted on Revolution's web site. -
Wikipedia: Circle of Blood
Article in the open encyclopedia
Identifiers +
Contribute
Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.
Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Ummagumma.
Game Boy Advance added by Kartanym. Windows Mobile added by Sciere. Palm OS added by Kabushi. Macintosh added by Scaryfun. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan. DOS added by MAT.
Additional contributors: Trixter, robotriot, Shane k, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, anneso, Sciere, Kohler 86, Ghost Pirate, CaesarZX, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.
Game added November 30, 1999. Last modified March 19, 2024.