Winningly retains charm and humour, another great adventure from Revolution.
Shortly after the eradication of the Neo-Templars, George Stobbart left Paris to be with his dying Father. Six months later Stobbart returns to Paris, where he is reunited with his girlfriend Nico, who coerces him into joining her on a visit to a professor's mansion regarding an obsidian stone she is studying. Obliging her request to accompany her, George and Nico make way there. Upon entering the house, an Asian butler leads them upstairs. Only when George is punched out and Nico is shot in the neck with a poison dart is it revealed the whole thing was a trap.
Our game starts here, our intrepid hero tied to a chair in a burning room, with a deadly spider about to kill him. First mission is to squash the spider, escape, and then figure out what the hell is going on. To do this, George will have to once again trot across the globe, encountering many colourful characters; some who will shed light, and some who will hinder his journey. Again, the arduous trials will require George and Nico to rely on their most powerful weapons - wit and logic.
Humourously scripted with superb characterisation, including another fine turn from Rolf Saxon as Stobbart, The Smoking Mirror's blend of comedy, drama and a hint of fantasy work exquisitely. The humour is more confident and definitely the driving force of the story this time and while there are a few inconsistencies in the calculation of the plot - for example, the threat of fire in Oubier's mansion is laughable, and Stobbart meandering with his arch-nemesis over the disappearance of Nico rather than calling the police is incredibly dense - on the majority, the pacing of the plot is thoroughly engaging and quite amusing.
The formula of thwarting evil by using wits and logic prevails once more; Smoking Mirror will require you to procure obscure items in the beautifully drawn locales, and solve the odd puzzle here and then. While utilising acquired items as well as combining them with others is frequent, the relative lack of puzzles is somewhat disappointing. Although thankfully there's no mind-boggling and stupid scenarios such as the goat in Ireland in the previous game (though interestingly there's a witty observation about a goat in Quaramonte). But for such an intelligently written game, the gameplay hardly tests the intelligence of the player. Gripes aside, the comic value of Stobbart and the interesting developments in the plot elevate the gameplay from being anywhere near tedious, and proves to be quite a lot of fun regardless.
Broken Sword used colourful pastel graphics with impeccably drawn backgrounds that were eye-catching. Smoking Mirror is roughly made up of the same components, albeit a stronger sense of colour is employed in the locales. This creates a lot of atmosphere, such as the dismal setting of the docks in Marseilles, or the crisp look of the Carribean. Generally there is more lighthearted feel to the graphics, complimenting an overall theme in the game in comparison to its predeccessor. My only critcism, and believe me it is a small one, is the odd use of colour for the subtitles - at times they blend in with the background, making them hard to read.
Accompanying this is the surprisingly excellent compositions. Barrington Pheulong has returned for the Smoking Mirror, helming evocative orchestral melodies that loop beautifully and add more dynamic to the events of the game. Although not a detriment to the quality of the music, and this can be configured, the crescendos of the music tend to drown out the speech.
Flawless sound effects are in tact once more, followed by some perky performances as the quirky characters - most notably Rolf Saxon and his sarcastically driven turn as George Stobbart. Generally, the voice acting helps bring the comedy factor to the table, namely in the scenario involving the eccentric tourist couple Pearl and Dwayne Henderson (with the husband charmingly confused as to whether he's a C.I.A agent or not). With the exception of Nico, however, some of the European characters have an American twangs in their accents, which sounds unconvincing at times.
Broken Sword 2 is a consistently enjoyable adventure, and will appeal to those who tapped into the humour of the first game. Thankfully the best elements of the last game are prevalent the sequel - George Stobbart, genuinely funny script and accessible gameplay. While it is perfectly safe for Charles Cecil to stick with the standard formula of point-and-click adventure for now, the next move in the series will require a step up in evolution and style. But in the now, enjoy the Smoking Mirror for all of its surprising thrills and endless grins you're bound to get out of playing it.