Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars

This game was made by the same companies as Beneath a Steel Sky. While BSS was a good enough game, it simply pales in comparison to Broken Sword. I can hardly believe that the two games are from the same origin.

Story

We play an American tourist (George Stobbart) who is taking a vacation in Paris. While sitting in a cafe, he becomes witness to a murder (and the bombing down of the cafe). Since the police don't seem to care much about this incident (which is suspicious in itself), he decides to investigate for himself. The clues lead him to an ancient mystery: the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. He finds a partner in a young journalist (a woman, of course) who's looking for her first breakthrough story and as they get more and more tangled up in the web of secrets ahead of them, they become more than just friends.

Opinion

The setup is absolutely brilliant. I always loved historic stories and this one is especially good. It's a terrific combination of a great detective novel and a medieval mystery with a hint of humor and some very clever puzzles which are guaranteed not to let you rest for a moment until you finish the game.

Luckily, the compliments don't stop there. The backgrounds and character animations - as you can see on the screenshots - are all hand-drawn and they are absolutely incredible. The music is digitized and even though we don't hear it all the time, it provides a perfect atmosphere for this amazing game.

I particularly loved the idea, that the whole incident takes place mostly in Europe, which gave the designers an opportunity to work some very interesting characters into the story and all their different accents are just delightful to hear. An Irish kid, a Brit aristocrat, French policemen, etc... What more could you ask for?

Definitely check it out!