Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars Reforged now has a confirmed release date on PS5. This 4K remaster of the classic 1996 adventure title arrives next month, on the 19th September, and promises some impressive-sounding enhancements.
For starters, we've got that aforementioned 4K resolution, which is likely going to seem surreal if you ever played the original game on PS1. "In 4K there is now scope for so much more detail, which makes the backgrounds feel really crisp and visually exciting, and enhances the gameplay experience as players can better see what is relevant for solving puzzles," writes Charles Cecil of developer Revolution Software, on the PlayStation Blog.
In addition, character animation sprites have been redrawn, resulting in a much smoother visual experience. It sounds like a colossal undertaking, as Cecil comments: "Each sprite has taken our talented team of animators up to an hour to draw – often needing to improve animations which looked fine in low resolution, but didn’t look so good when viewed in high resolution. But it’s been absolutely worth it – it is wonderful to see super smooth animations, with subtle facial animation and expressions which look to the quality of a great adult animation."
And then there's the the user interface, which has been given a bit of an overhaul. Cecil says that playtester feedback led the team to refine the point-and-click stuff to a large extent, to the point where it should now seem much more intuitive for players who may not be too familiar with the genre.
The original Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is often considered to be one of the greatest point-and-click adventures ever made — and so it's nice to see that this revival is being treated with such care. Here's hoping that the remaster lives up to expectations when it drops roughly one month from now.
Are you looking forward to the return of Broken Sword? Have you played the original? Start mashing items together in the comments section below.
Have you played the original Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars? (662 votes)
- Yes, it's brilliant
- Yeah, it's good
- Yep, but it's overrated0.9%
- Nah, but I'll check out this remaster
- No, I have zero interest in Broken Sword
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 36
Played this on the original release then on a kindle fire like 10 years ago. Love it.
I'll definitely be picking this up.
Day one. Finished it loads of times on PC and Wii, but it's been a while.
10/10 game. No notes.
I have played Broken Sword like fifty times and I am still totally excited to play it again.
10/10 game imo. Easy day 1 for me.
Is this the one with that bloody goat?
I well remember ringing the Playstation tips line toll number on Broken Sword & trying to get past that dastardly goat! 😅
Rented both hames on PS1 before buying them on PC CD ROM & eventually seeing them in high resolution mode! First game in particular with locations like Lochmarne Pub still my favourite!
Guessing they may include the Director's Cut extras which felt a bit sandwiched in compared to the originals classic opening...Paris in the Fall.
Finished on everything from ps1 to ipod touch. Excellent game to play but I don't need it again.
Paid for the collectors edition on kickstarter, wouldn’t normally spend £100 on a game but I have for broken sword. Can’t wait for the new one as well
The last Broken Sword game I played on a PlayStation console was Broken Sword 5 on Vita and, if I remember correctly, was priced at $20 and was exclusively touch screen with zero controller input. Glad to see this one is getting some refinements.
@Robocod i loved the Irish pub with that lippy kid standing outside 😂
Yep, this and Monkey Island is what I grew up on.
Yes!!!!!!! 😍 Day one for me
The original Broken Sword 1 is brilliant. I'm slightly cautious on this remake since the previous Director's Cut had some changes that I disliked. But if it gets a positive reception, then I'll be eager to see it with the revamped visuals.
@crimsontadpoles Reforged is based on the original release so does not include the DC changes and is very faithful to the original release.
I just did a wee 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 my favourite game of all time!!!
Played through it many times, even the GBA version. Definitely playing through it again!
One of my most played games. I do a plsythrough every couple of years. Such a cozy and relaxing game, and that music..
Backed it on kickstarter and can’t wait to play it all over again!
Using AI to help redraw everything seemed a bit iffy at first but from what I’ve seen it looks amazing.
@Kidfunkadelic83 "Get out McGuire! Come back when you're old enough!"😂 Good old Mr O'Leary always with an eye to his future patronage!😁
Just not so much on discerning would be electrician's who possibly flood his basement!😱😂
@DazzaUK1985 I was literally 5 minutes late for Kickstarter. Had it bookmarked for quite a while and got the notification e-mail that support options would be running out "today". Silly me assumed this meant until midnight. Nope. So no physical copy for me.
Cannot wait! Absolutely adored this game growing up!
@BowTiesAreCool Cecil explains it in a youtube interview if you haven't seen it. Makes sense when you hear him talk about it. It's doing a lot of grunt work, probably wouldn't be financially possible without it.
Was a big fan of point and click in it's hey day. Not sure how I missed this one, probably was stationed overseas.
Great to see the Broken Sword love on here. How different things felt back then? When I play it I almost feel transported back to that calmer time which will never come again. Portuguese have a word that gets at it a bit: Saudade....
"is an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone. It derives from the Latin word for solitude. It is often associated with a repressed understanding that one might never encounter the object of longing ever again. It is a recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events, often elusive, that cause a sense of separation from the exciting, pleasant, or joyous sensations they once caused. Duarte Nunes Leão defines saudade as, "Memory of something with a desire for it.? (Wiki).
I owned this growing up on PC, PS1, GBA, and DS. Guess it's time to buy it again. Lol
That pill needs an “I played the demo to death” option. I can’t remember if that was an OPM demo or from somewhere else.
I'm not into point n clicks much but I'd said I'll check out this remaster as I may, I'll still try anything. I assume digital only so eh maybe. If a demo I may though, played some demos recently for other games. One point n click demo Indie game Trust No One, and think the demo is fair.
A bit confusing but probably a fine game once understand the puzzles.
I have to get further into Monkey Island remasters I got the 360 collection physical. Also I got a fair beginning way through Secret Files 2 on DS. I'm pen to visual novels so point n clicks have more to them of course and fair puzzles I just have to get used to the puzzle design they go for.
Compared to mostly preferring obstacle course sort of 3rd person type ones like Mercury (more ball maze style), Cube, Crush, Exit, Practical Intelligent Quotient, Kula World/Roll Away (Gravity Trickster played the demo of and is a Kula World type successor Indie game), Devil Dice/Bombastic (PS2 Devil Dice basically) aka otherwise mostly more PS1/PSP era puzzle games.
@Angelus3K good to know it’s the original intro movie. I often watch it on YouTube just cus 😁 I’ve got 4 copies of the PS1 games but oh well
@Sequel ditto ditto ditto lol. Good times man! First time I played this game was on the PS1 game ‘Help Compilation’ that was sold in the uk late 90s. It was released for a charity (can’t remember which) and it included 3 games, Road Rash, Myst and yours truly Broken Sword. Myst is also legendary to me 👍
Since it's a point and click does lack of using a mouse make a difference on the PS1? I think I've only played it on PC.
I did not expect broken sword news in 2024, but I’m very happy about it.
I have to laugh at the 2% who voted having no interest in Broken Sword! Why read the article then! It wasn't a clickbait article it's clearly about Broken Sword 5 and they read it and voted having 0 interest. Mind boggling.
@Haitchsingh You can use the left analog to move the characters, I believe the arrow keys on pc do the same and the right to point at items/objects with X on PlayStation as the action button.
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