Review of Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse by {rating_author}

The first two Broken Sword games were incredible.  The art was great, the comedy was spot on, and the games had this really awesome feel to them.  They were two of my favorite games of all time.  Broken sword 3 was very different, and I didn’t feel like it quite lived up to the first two.  However, it was a pretty good game in its own way.  Angel of Death was a good mix of the elements from BS1 &2 with the elements of BS3. Also a good game. 

Broken Sword 5 was a master piece.  I’m not sure, but it might be my favorite one now.  If nothing else, it is just as good as the original two.  The 2D point and click style is back and better than ever.  Though it was 2D, it often felt kind of 3D.  The visual style was very reminiscent of original series, but maybe even better due to modern resolutions, etc.  The game is beautiful and stylized.  The humor was excellent as well.  The game kept me intrigued and laughing.  The puzzles where difficult enough to be interesting, but not so hard that you end up getting bored long before you solve them. 

The game was a sheer joy to play.  I can’t think of a single thing that I didn’t like about it!..  Except for one.  In BS4 there was this slightly disturbing and offensive idea that Moses engaged in human sacrifice.  In BS5, this strange dip into religion continues.  I was made uncomfortable with the ideas promoted in the game like Satan is actually good, and equal in power with Jehovah.  I’m actually well versed in Church history and the different “Gnostic” movements that sprung up at different times, and I know that this might be some attempt to continue that theme of events that occurred around the time of the Knights Templar.  However, I’d rather they just leave religion out of it.  Someone will be offended no matter what position you take making a game religious.  This game was so fun, hilarious, beautiful, and engaging, why ruin it by dragging in religious opinions?  It is crucial to spread what we believe is truth in my religion.  Maybe the most important thing in my religion is to spread the Gospel, but playing a game to enjoy my down time and unwind doesn’t feel like the right time to have religious ideas imposed on me.  Especially when it isn’t a conversation or a debate.  To try and tell someone their savior isn’t real, while they are trying to enjoy themselves seems too heavy.  George and Nico are a part of my childhood, and I feel that they almost belong to the fans as much as the writer. Maybe I am making too big of a deal out of this, but it is how I feel.

I can forgive the one issue I had with this game.  For one thing, though it was insinuated, the religious ideas were never actually 100% confirmed one way or the other.  Something else could have been going on entirely, that is how I chose to look at it.  Furthermore, the game was just so awesome on every other level.  Hands down, one of my favorite broken sword adventures and one of my favorite games of all time.

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Time Played: 10-20 hours
Difficulty: Just Right