Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (Windows)

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Description

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.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "断剑：沉睡之龙" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Сломанный Меч 3: Спящий Дракон" -- Russian spelling
• "Slomannyj Mech 3: Spjaschij Drakon" -- Russian title
• "Les Chevaliers de Baphomet: Le manuscrit de Voynich" -- French title
• "BS3" -- Common abbreviation
• "Broken Sword: Nenereru Ryuu no Densetsu" -- Japanese title
• "Broken Sword: Il Sonno del Drago" -- Italian title
• "Broken Sword: El sueño del dragón" -- Spanish title
• "Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon" -- GOG.com release
• "Broken Sword 3" -- Common title
• "Baphomets Fluch: Der schlafende Drache" -- German title

Part of the Following Groups

• Broken Sword series
• Covermount: Level (Romania)
• Gameplay feature: Quick Time Events / QTEs
• Graphics Engine: RenderWare
• Setting: City - Paris
• Setting: City - Prague
• Technology: amBX

User Reviews

George and Nico together again -- what a great team!	Jeanne (76516)
Wow, there's actually a sword in this game	Katakis | カタキス (39490)
A partly successful attempt to breath new life into the adventure genre	Cadorna (223)	unrated
Amazing experience, from the beginning to the very (cool) end	Mark Papadakis (36)
An excellent job from Revolution Software to try to awake the long lost adventure game spirit!!!	ggfournar (6)
A broken sword fixes the adventure Genre	Isdaron (730)

Critic Reviews

Just Adventure	Nov 13, 2003	A+	100
Gamers Europe	Nov 26, 2003	9 out of 10	90
GameSpy	Dec 18, 2003		90
Game Captain	Nov 26, 2003	85 out of 100	85
4Players.de	Nov 19, 2003	83 out of 100	83
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Jan 03, 2004	82 out of 100	82
Withingames	Nov 23, 2003	4 out of 5	80
GamerFeed	Jan 28, 2004		80
GameStar (Germany)	Nov, 2003	73 out of 100	73
Joystick (French)	Dec, 2003	7 out of 10	70

Forums

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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

Related Web Sites

• Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (official website)
• Broken Sword - The Sleeping Dragon (Official website)
• Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon - FAQs & Guides (Various walkthroughs and fact files on GameFaqs.com)
• Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon Hints (Question and answer type solution guide)
• Mr. Bill's Solution (Tells you how to get through the Action portions of Sleeping Dragon)
• Walkthrough for The Sleeping Dragon (by MaGtRo)
• Wikipedia: Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (Article in the open encyclopedia)