Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

aka: BS3, Baphomets Fluch: Der schlafende Drache, Broken Sword 3, Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon, Broken Sword: El sueño del dragón, Broken Sword: Il Sonno del Drago, Broken Sword: Nenereru Ryuu no Densetsu, Les Chevaliers de Baphomet: Le manuscrit de Voynich, Slomannyj Mech 3: Spjaschij Drakon
Moby ID: 11004
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

No less than six years have gone by before the third installment in the Broken Sword series saw the light of day. The first two games (The Shadow of the Templars and The Smoking Mirror) delved into the Knights Templar and Mayan mythology. This time, George Stobbart and Nico Collard are after the Voynich Manuscript to unravel its mysteries.

The Sleeping Dragon moves away from the 2D point-and-click concept from the earlier games and features a full 3D world, with a camera that does not rotate, but uses fixed cinematic perspectives, combined with full 5.1 sound. For the Windows version the game is no longer controlled through the mouse, but now through the keyboard, for the movement of the characters as well as all the actions. The player alternately controls George or Nico. Next to typical adventure gameplay such as exploration, conversations, and searching and combining items, there are also a few action sequences. The characters can duck, sneak, hang from ledges and move crates to reach higher areas.

The locations visited throughout the game include The Congo, Paris, England, Czech Republic and Egypt.

Spellings

  • Сломанный Меч 3: Спящий Дракон - Russian spelling
  • 断剑:沉睡之龙 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

204 People (189 developers, 15 thanks) · View all

Director
Head of Development
Artistic Director
Lead Section Design and Implementation
Audio Director
Project Management
Section Design
Implementation
System Programming
Tools Programming
Audio System Programming
AI Programming
Effects Programming
Lead Artist
Artists
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 67 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 154 ratings with 9 reviews)

A partly successful attempt to breath new life into the adventure genre

The Good
Well, the most important thing about a game, at least in my opinion, is that it's fun to play, and fortunately, Broken Sword 3 possesses this virtue. Another thing of interest to most gamers these days is graphics, and Broken Sword 3 manages to deliver in this area as well. On to the core, the gameplay itself. BS3 has all the ingredients an adventure should have, interesting characters and locations, meaningful conversations, brainteasing riddles ... all this doesn't sound too bad, does it?

The Bad
Well, it isn't. But the game still offers some reasons for complaining. The most painful thing for me, an old adventure game veteran, is the absence of mouse control. Over the course of the development I've read a number of interviews with different chaps from Revolution Software in which they bragged this game was going to reinvent the adventure genre. However, you'll be hardly pressed to actually notice this. Most things have been done before, mainly by the also fully three dimensional Gabriel Knight 3. BS3 is still playable enough, even without a mouse interface, but I missed one more than once and aforementioned GK3 HAD mouse control, so I have to come to the conclusion the reason for it's absence is mere lazyness. That out of the way, the next biggest complaint, FAR less serious from my personal viewpoint, is the weirdo mixture of mythologies featured in BS3. Revolution Software did a great job basing Broken Sword 1 on the myths around the legendary Knights Templar, but the move to mixing in different other mythologies started in BS2 has been brought one step further in BS3, up to a point where it gets somewhat too much. Having a direct connection between artifacts of the Knights Templar, Old-Egyptian temples and the tale of King Arthur is a bit much for my taste. But this is a matter of personal preference, I guess. Finally, there's an abundance of sokoban-style puzzles in Sleeping Dragon, which can get kind of annoying at times.

The Bottom Line
Don't be fooled by the fact that the bad section is twice as big as the good section, despite all downsides BS3 is definitely a game worth playing, it's just not a pure blood adventure and - not uncommon amongst multi-genre adventures - a bit shallow at times. Nonetheless, the sentence I began this review with is still true at it's end.

Windows · by Cadorna (219) · 2003

Nice but failed attempt

The Good
Growing up to become a fan of the series, I was waiting with extreme impatience to get to play this one. Screenshots were promising, story seemed to be moving towards the right direction, and after sleepless night over Gabriel Knight 3, I thought this one was going towards the right direction and if there's one adventure that'll seize up the throne, this'll be it. Alas, I was mistaken, as usually, you just don't know the game until you play it through. Maybe this'll teach me to lighten up my expectations next time around.

Okay, best thing first, it would be futile to say anything bad towards the game graphics, it's incredible. The lip-sync is too perfect, character models are detailed, textures are brilliantly hand-picked and level of details around you is astonishing, from objects to lighting effects. The music has a lot of potential too, but it's a bit scarce, most of time you won't hear it but only sounds. When you do hear it however, you'll know it's a trouble time.

That merciless killer, Petra... she's a real hottie, isn't she? ;)

The Bad
Now a line or two for disappointments. There's plenty of those, sadly. Story has a great potential and starts really intriguing, but it doesn't take too long before it rumbles down beneath its own potential by adding all kinda nonsense to the story, thus robbing a good detective adventure off its potential by turning it into psychotic fantasy with magic, and dragons and what all not.

Puzzles are not too hard, but there is far too much of crate pushing puzzles. Sure, they added option for that and now every other puzzle had to involve it. Also, it is annoying to make an adventure game where you can be killed all the time yet you have no way of returning fire. Yup, that's right, there will be badguys with rifles on every point you'll investigate and you'll have to be real quiet around them. That itself isn't a bad thing, but like with the crates, they used it far too much just because they had a code support for it.

Oh yeah, and that loading time is truely annoying thing. You must wait for like 20 seconds the least each time the game gets to load and it loads a plenty. I reckon that is not the case with PC version, but obviously with consoles it is a big thing. Sure, that's why you get all that great graphics to admire, but it is something I yet haven't encountered in games made for consoles. I mean, Xbox has a hard drive, they could've load a bunch of stuff if necessary there, or at least offer that option to save on loading.

The Bottom Line
A game that by no means may indicate to any flaw by its title and judging by the graphics, or whatever may be expected as a continuation to the series, but is actually a bit more than just an adventure. Now whether that is a good point or not, it's up to you to decide, but this game still has George and Nico, lets you play both characters, and had amazing graphics. You will return to visit certain places you saw in the past, get to meet recurring characters, and get a literal sequel to the original game... which in my opinion ruined it all the way it was done. This game showed a lot of promises at start, but more by more it ended couple of steps behind the prequels.

Xbox · by MAT (240759) · 2012

Wow, there's actually a sword in this game

The Good
The Sleeping Dragon is the third game of the successful Broken Sword series. It is a graphic adventure just like the first two games, but the game is combined with some action sequences, making this game better than the first two.

Vernon Blier, a young hacker, contacts Nico and tells her that he has decoded a document known as the Voynich Manuscript, which explains why many earthquakes have been occurring lately. And because of this, he believes that his life is now in danger. It turns out that he is right, because just before Nico enters his apartment, he is shot dead by someone. Now, the previous Broken Sword games have revolved around real-life ancient documents, but I believe that the Voynich Manuscript has nothing to do with earthquakes. Find out yourself by looking Voynich Manuscript up on Wikipedia and see how many instances of “earthquake” there is.

As I have just mentioned before, the game is entirely in 3D, and several locations that you visit such as the Congo, Paris, and Glastonbury are breathtaking. The buildings are well designed, with structures looking like they have been constructed a long time ago. I enjoyed walking around and seeing what's in each location, and talking to people along the way. The characters are well-drawn, especially George and Nico, as well as Beatrice, Blier's girlfriend, who just couldn't be any more sexier.

I like how the game gives you the ability to switch between the two characters; not at the same time, but on occasions. Like other games that I have played such as the last two games of the Gabriel Knight series, one character doesn't have to accomplish tasks that will help the other. George and Nico work independently as long as they are not together. Between the two characters, I found George's tasks rather interesting to accomplish.

You navigate George or Nico around and perform their actions only using the keyboard, but the controls are easy to learn. The arrow keys are used for walking around. I am familiar with this since I previously played Simon the Sorcerer 3D and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, with both games using the arrow keys for movement. The four action buttons in the bottom-right of the screen correspond with the W, A, S, and D keys; with the S key being the primary ones. The advantage of using the keyboard is that you can make the characters perform a new set of actions such as ducking, sneaking, climbing ladders, and pushing/pulling crates.

There is quite a bit of humor in the game. There is George's friend Harry (who flies his own plane in the middle of the storm on purpose) and the several disagreements between George and Nico with each other, but my personal favorite is George having to deal with the owner of the Cosmic Fairie - a shop that has nothing to do with fairies or the cosmos – and how said owner wrote a book that steals poetry from their artists.

What good is a Broken Sword game without a bit of suspense? Every once in a while, there is a an action sequence requiring you to tap one of the keys as quickly as you can or you die if you are not fast enough. But those action sequences are nothing compared to what you will experience at the end of the game. I won't tell you what it is, but it involves a sword and a little bit of timing.

Speaking of timing, it is essential to solve some of the puzzles. In (at least) two locations in the game, you need to watch the guards patrolling a particular area and make your move when they reach a certain spot. If you mis-time yourself, it is likely that you will die. But instead of seeing a death screen, the game automatically restores you to the point before your death, allowing you to rectify the situations. This saves you from hitting the Load button then selecting a save point. It is also much quicker this way. But not all the puzzles in the game require exact timing. The developers must have played Countdown and enjoyed the way that you have to get through the catacombs and solve the “wine puzzle” that opens a secret door, because near the middle of the game, that is exactly what you do.

The music is excellent, and it is on par with the first two Broken Sword games. The sound effects add to the realism of the game. You get to hear some background noise in every location that add atmosphere. For example, Nico browses the theater's exterior in Paris, and you can just hear the sound of passing traffic. I enjoyed the soundtrack that plays at the end credits. It is called Love Us by some UK group I don't know the name of, and it sounds much better than Happiness Is Inside Job which plays in Broken Sword II.

There is no disc swapping during the game. All that crap gets done during the installation process. The disc swapping that you did during the first two games gave me a headache as the CD-ROM drive was slow at the time. My current CD/DVD burner is faster now, so I didn't have to wait long for the next scene to load. I was halfway through the game then the CDs refuse to work for no reason, so I downloaded it via Steam. Ahh.. the joys of content delivery services.

The Bad
The Sleeping Dragon uses fixed-camera angles, which I found quite annoying. When I get the characters to move in a certain direction to the point where they get close to the edge of the screen, the camera angle suddenly changes, leading to confusion about which way to go. It would have been nice if the game allowed you to adjust camera angles.

It would also been nice if the game allowed you to put proper, meaningful descriptions for save games rather than “Congo 1”, “Glastonbury 2”, “Paris 3”, etc. And you can't even store as many save games as you like. I didn't want to overwrite my earliest saves from the beginning of the game.

The Bottom Line
Anyone who has already played the first two Broken Sword games may find it annoying that The Sleeping Dragon is only played with the keyboard. I, on the other hand, have played Simon3D, so I am used to the keyboard-only configuration. The game is entirely in 3D, and everything in the game looks amazing, ranging from the characters themselves to the locations, as well as the ancient buildings that lie within them. During the game, you get to hear real-life sound effects as you walk around. As well as the adventuring aspect of the game, there are some action sequences requiring quick reflexes to get through them.

Maybe the characters on the box cover wasn't a good move. The two characters on the front cover look nothing like George and Nico respectively, and on the back cover, the character on the right doesn't look like George's arch-nemesis – he actually looks more like Darkman. If only the person responsible for creating the covers actually drew properly.

Windows · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2010

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Casting

The actress who played Nico, Sarah Crook did not actually audition for the role. She was one of the supervisors of the audition, and asked Charles Cecil if she could try out for the role after a string of applicants Cecil regarded as unsuitable.

References

  • In the room of Vernon Blier, the geek, you can find some references. In his bedroom, there's a poster with the cover image of the first Broken Sword game against the wall. In the living room, there's a painting with an apple on it. If you observe it closely, Nico will say: "Another Steve Jobs original" - an obvious reference to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple.
  • George's lucky piece of coal makes a return. In the previous game, you could pick up a 'lucky piece of coal' in the warehouse in Marseilles. It appears in this game as well, you can find it in the locked metal shack in Susarro`s Castle. Just like the previous game, it has no use at all in the game itself.
  • The picture of George in Nico's apartment is the picture that George uses to ask about the killer throughout the first Broken Sword game, Circle of Blood. If you look behind George, you can see the assassin, complete with the bright green clown pants.

Trilogy

This was planned to be the last Broken Sword game, but later Revolution decided to continue the series with Secrets of the Ark: A Broken Sword Game.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2003 – Best Console Adventure Game of the Year (PlayStation 2)

Information also contributed by Depth Lord, Kalrac and Martin Smith

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Sciere.

Xbox, PlayStation 2 added by MAT.

Additional contributors: MAT, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Monkeyhead, Pirou Julien, Ghost Pirate, dome_quest, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 13, 2003. Last modified March 27, 2024.