[Siedler]

Originally Posted by jtoast

Bah! Finished it and I agree that he ending totally sucked. Huge letdown from the rest of the game.

I agree, IMO this is the worst BS game. Stupid box puzzles aside, BS3 was much better. I hated the ending, stupid fixed camera, Nico's voice and the controls.

[Blipp]

I finished the game a couple of minutes ago, so this might just be because of my big dissapointment with the ending.
But this is one of the worst adventure game I've ever played. And I've played a few, feels like the story was written on someones coffe break.
I don't care much for the technical problems but I excpect more from a BS game when it comes to story.
And the ending what was that all about? I thought I had done something wrong so I had to play the ending over again to see if I had missed something.

In my opinion they should burn all remaining copies so that they wont bring shame over the Broken Sword name.

[orfodox]

Originally Posted by Dobee

The game is satisfactory to my expectation until the ending.. I can't believe it is the end when the credit screen suddenly pops in ..... there should be some aftermath I think...like the 2 of them (george and nico) on the way 'home' talking / reviewing what happened...e.g.

Spoiler:

and after george beats the cherub the 1st time and that turkish 'cop' shows up, I thought I have a choice to either help anna maria or nico...but no, georgoe just can't walk....I thought they could make a different ending at player's choice

Spoiler:

yes...how come everyone just appears down the catacomb
i guess it's supposed to be hilarous for archie to knocks the baddie out? but what about Mark ? he appears just to be killed ? and it's lame that after the cutscene, the dead / hurt bodies are not there on the floor anymore

so i wonder what the hell just happened ?

does anyone comment on the length of the game? I think the lenght is just right for me this time, unlike for BS3, i think it was a bit too short

Hey - I think you missed something on that point...:

Spoiler:

Mark and Scacchetti don't die, they're alive, just hurt. Have a wander around the room, you'll find them near a wall, the same wall of the door you came out of but the opposite end. It's quite a funny little bit.

[GregD]

Just finished it also, the ending is absolutely awful. You get the impression the developers were rushed into it. It doesn't explain anything...

I've played BS religiously since it first came out I have enjoyed all of them... even number 2 and 3.

I enjoyed this one apart from the sloppy ending and general jerkyness of the graphics. Im running it off a brand new Geforce Go GTX 7900 and man is it jerky when the camera pans around.

Slightly off topic I actually finished Hitman Blood Money just before playing BS4... and the ending to that was really great. So it added to my total disatisfaction with the BS4 ending.

I do hope they make BS5 and make it a real epic, make it resonably long, make it have a suitable climax to the whole story!

[Tiocfaidh]

Hi there !

Just finished Broken Sword - Angel of Death.

Well, well what´s to say ?

If you´re just interested in my opinion concerning BS4, please skip the next three paragraphs

I´m a huge Broken Sword fan since I´ve played BS1 for the very first time about ten years ago. I´ve completed that game at least six times from start to finish. I still think it´s brilliant story telling and features many memorable characters.

But I´m rather a fan of the first game than of the entire series.
The Smoking Mirror already left much to be desired IMO.
It felt too rushed, gone was the intriguing Templar vs Assasin storyline enter mumbo chambo Aztec Demon throwaway script.
It went downhill, right after the Marseille Docks section ...
Though it´s point n´click adventuring in it´s purest form, the second part is still my least favourite of the bunch.

The Sleeping Dragon was a bit more charming than TSM. Despite the console like handling, the "Sokoban" overkill and the laughable climax it was pretty enjoyable. With the Voynich manuscript, an underground St. Stefan Order, dragon lines, the return of the Grand Master etc. the story had some strong elements to keep the player interested.


Finally I got me hands on the fourth installement.
I absolutely forgot about the game till I saw the intro movie on youtube.com, checkin amazon I found out that the game is just about to be released. I was excited, to say the least.

It all started out fine, I liked the idea of George dowin´"dirty work" to earn his money. Anna Maria shows up, mafia goons as well ...
OK, let´s get outta here.
That´s where the In-game engine comes into operation.
And that´s where the trouble starts
I don´t know if ´my PC´s too crappy for that kinda game (I think NOT) but the mouse cursor doesn´t move exactly like it should.
Hmmm, why is Goerge always bumpin into walls instead walkin through the open doorway. Oh the camera moved an inch to the right. I suppose that´s why my mouse command is obsolete now.
I get the idea that it would be better to move George with the keyboard and control the rest by mouse.
What kind of Point n´Click is that ?!?!

Even worse than the controls are the LOADING times.
Or should I say L O A D I N G . . . (repeat ca. 20 times) . After some time I wasn´t sure If accidentally popped the DVD into my PS2. I checked the walkthrough about 4 times, just to avoid the LOADING ... times after f*#%$n up one of those timed/stealth sequences.

The game has it´s strong points. No doubt about that.
This was the first BS game I played with ENGLISH audio. I played the German dubbed predecessors but now I had the choice, and chose Anglais. I´m glad that I did.
Rolf Saxon is an awesome voice actor ! Some of the clever writing combined with Saxon´s talent even had me in stitches from time to time.
Just one example: When George maneuveres himself into an embarrassing conversation with the hotel receptionist he clumsily changes subjects by saying "Istanbul, what a city, WHAT A CITY !"
On paper > not funny, I agree but with Saxon´s acting the line becomes comedy gold.
Nico on the other hand was a let down. I was used to the superb German voice actress,
but the forced French accent got on my nerves in no time.
The bottom line is that the localisation was very good for the most part.

I was pleasently surprised by most of the puzzle design.
Of course, some of them were uninspired, but tell me a single adventure game w/o those ... Best of the bunch are the Manuscripts.
Except for the Fleur de lis pattern it was comprehensible.
I love these kind of puzzles, where you have to examine and decipher inventory very carefully. Reminded me in the broadest sense of the excellent Gabriel Knight SIDNEY puzzles.
The PDA hacking was fun too, but wore thin after the 5th or 6th time.
Furthermore I was too lazy to read the manual, so I missed out on the double mirrors etc. at first.

In an adventure game the storyline stands above all other things.
IMO it´s the most important "ingredient".
Unfortunately BS4´s story didn´t tap full potential.
Never. I mean Never EVER ...
There were some intriguing tidbits scattered throughout the game.
But only very few in between
So much potential, so much potential.
Wasted.
Characters who (in the end) turn out to be pivotal to the story, but already are forgotten because the failed to leave a mark.
Characters pop up and disappear for no appearant reason.
Like Archie in the final act disguised as DEUS EX MACHINA.
And don´t get me started on

Spoiler:

Duane Henderson. I never liked that character to begin with. But it´s not just him. The entire BLACK CAT sequence was a farce. The low point of the game. Duane pops up babbling lots of conspiratorial stuff and then hides UNDER THE SAUNA
And what´s up with that guy (?) in the room where George is held captive ?
You remember that guy who obviously "cleans up" after one of Georgies failed attempts and locks himself in a box afterwards. I mean WTF ?!?!
Was that Revolution Software´s attempt to infuse the series with Monty Pythonesque humour ?
Sorry fellow programmers, you failed ...

.
As many other posters already mentioned, the entire production seems to be half-baked. Maybe it´s been time or/and money restraints but the game never begins to "pick up", and when it seems to become interesting, it comes to a sudden halt.
BS1´s story developed, guided you from A to B to C etc. this one is just all over the place.

Anybody interested in my opinion on the ending sequence ?
Sorry, can´t remember one ...

Sooooooooooo ...
It would be unfair if I´d tell you that I didn´t have fun with the game.
I had. Occassionally. But the technical issues (performance, loading times, mouse cursor etc.) and the (for the most part) unimaginative story left a smack of disappointment (if that´s proper English).

These are my initial impressions.
I may change my opinion after some time.
I dunno

Let´s discuss

[Lucien21]

Just finished it and must admit to being seriously disappointed in the game.

Pros:
- Excellent voice acting Rolf Saxon is great.
- Average graphics
- Good Dialog in the most part, but some of it was dreadful.
- Good puzzles level. The manuscript puzzles were the highlight of the game. The hacking puzzle was fun, but overused - Hacking is to BS4 what Boxes were to BS3.

Cons:
- controls - Fraking shitty control system that was further stressed by the annoying camera that seemed to drift at all the wrong times. How can you make point and click look so bloody hard with you laggy mouse.

- Technically it's kinda poor with vanishing objects and characters walking through each other.

- Plot wasn't much cop and some of the characters were dreadful. Anna Maria in particular was pointless except as an excuse to adventure. And the evil Vatican/Raiders of the lost ark story wasn't much fun.

- Rushed ending- Wtf? What happened to all the other characters like Mark or the Mafia or Georges partner.

Ok it sounds like I'm ragging on the game. It was reasonably enjoyable at times especially the dialog and the puzzles, The story and polish is missing and the controls were far too laggy.

Overall 3/5

Disappointing.

Originally Posted by Tiocfaidh

Hi there !

-CUT-

Nico on the other hand was a let down. I was used to the superb German voice actress,
but the forced French accent got on my nerves in no time.
The bottom line is that the localisation was very good for the most part.

-CUT-

I just wanted to say that this is the forth person to sepak for Nico over a course or four games. I thought the english Nico in the first, second and third game was rather good. Of course, only the Nico in the first game is the "true" Nico, but the others were close enough for me not to notice that it wasn't the same actress.

Just wanted to add that, since you haven't heard the other Nico's I didn't want you to get a bad impression of her english voice in general.

[Aurebesh]

Originally Posted by Tiocfaidh

Spoiler:

And what´s up with that guy (?) in the room where George is held captive ? You remember that guy who obviously "cleans up" after one of Georgies failed attempts and locks himself in a box afterwards. I mean WTF ?!?!
Was that Revolution Software´s attempt to infuse the series with Monty Pythonesque humour ?

Yeah, that invisible guy-in-a-box confused me too. Why does he live in a box? And why can't you see him, only hear him? I tried to find a way to take a peek at that "gimp" but couldn't. Perhaps he was never modeled, perhaps he was, but got scraped due to budget issues, and only his voice was left in the game... I'd really like to know.

[Tanukitsune]

I just finished it...

It feels so rushed! So many things just feel wrong....

The worst was the ending....

Originally Posted by Tanukitsune

I just finished it...

It feels so rushed! So many things just feel wrong....

The worst was the ending....

Agreed.
What did you think of George as the health inspector?

[Tanukitsune]

Originally Posted by marsan

Agreed.
What did you think of George as the health inspector?

Well, pretty bad, health inspectors don't give a damn security or even YOUR health, just the health of your costumers...

Which reminds me, since I work in a butcher shop, I must say that they "meat factory" could only exist 50 years ago, today a place like that would be inconcievable!

[tastebud]

lol I thought the health inspector was one of the best parts. It was hilarious.

[JemyM]

Dissatisfying ending, that was the only thing I had to complain about it.

The game "locked up" for me on 3 cases, but reloading a previous savegame and putting down my settings to default fixed it.

I liked the plot, I liked the puzzles, I liked the voiceacting and the characters, new and old.

I think I preferred Nico's voice acting in previous games but George himself was great to listen to.

Well worth the time for any serious adventuregame fan.

[JemyM]

Originally Posted by marsan

What did you think of George as the health inspector?

I laughed to tears.

[Blogga]

pros: decent puzzles, amazingg rolf dialouge, not too bad graphics, some new interesting characters

cons:L O A D I N G ... , nicos voice, slow at times, illogical catacomb puzzles, not many old charaters(duane, poorly placed, Eamon mention. no appearance), not enough nico playability unlike BS3, pretty straightforward, no France or old locations, anna maria main character my arse no playability and not in it that much to be honest, finally THE ENDING WAS ABYSMAL.

Obviously more cons than pros

dissapointing Charley boy, let the team down

[Tyrant]

So what do you think of this game?

I think the game is okay, but the ending totally sucked!

George chasses this girl through the whole game,

Spoiler:

and she just ends up dead?

SLAM!! and then the end credits.


I miss BS1 and BS2. Make a BS5 like BS1 !!!

[Dogma]

Well i indeed aswell forgot about this game and then suddenly rememberd, im not going into game, however i will give my view point. BS4 defenately better than BS3, imho BS3 was worse in all 4 of those....

I believ there will be expansion, defenately, first 1. if u remember the maps. there were many areas that were highlighted as building but u never went there, seeing those made me think wow this is going to be a long game.... as well unexplainable things, like how did Spallaci thought to come down there a nd help brother mark, why did the turkish security man left the guy go and then was against him , Archie.....

I think there will be expansion that will unlock the other locations as well the story full development.....

Ending sucked, too jumpy story, but i liked puzzeles.

I wonder how much does it cost to make such game????

[Dobee]

With all these comments, I doubt if BS5 will ever be made ..such a disappointment for fans
BS1 is my first adventure game and if it wasn't it, I wouldn't be playing adv games

Originally Posted by Tyrant

So what do you think of this game?

I think the game is okay, but the ending totally sucked!

George chasses this girl through the whole game,

Spoiler:

and she just ends up dead?

SLAM!! and then the end credits.


I miss BS1 and BS2. Make a BS5 like BS1 !!!

I really liked Tony's over at Revolutions reply when he was asked about another Broken Sword and the sales of BS4( http://www.revolution.co.uk/_forum.php?neuron=1&topic=4552&message=53150&page= 0):

"I don't know to be honest. Personally i think it needs to go back to basics - eg back to bs1 and pick up where that game left off. Proper 2d, less 'bigging up' of the scenario, etc. This may require a very different publishing environment though."

Just to sum up. I agree with him fully

[Mikekelly]

I bought the "Secret of the Ark" game and I find it's an excellent game.

I'm playing it on a 192 mb laptop with 64 mb video card - and it plays OK!

It's 29.99 - which is a very nice price -- Broken Sword 4: Angel of Death to many is a better title.

Gamespot gave "Secret of the Ark" a 7.8 -- which is a very good score indeed.

Many great adventure games are getting made these days - Hotel Dusk for example!

Here's a walkthrough:

http://www.gameboomers.com/wtcheats/pcBb/BS4WT/BS4.htm