The first Broken Sword: Director’s Cut game ported to the iPad was a fantastic effort, and is a classic graphic adventure which has managed to age well, and transition to a touch interface without suffering. Revolution Software has now ported the sequel, The Smoking Mirror – with some polishing up of the original. Let’s see if they can do it again.
Everyone who’s seen Indiana Jones movies will have felt the desire to unearth some incredible historic relic, and go an adventures. That’s precisely what this game allows you to do. Starting in France you discover an old Central American pot, which gradually draws you in to a more sinister discovery. The game begins with Nicole being kidnapped, and your character, George, being tied to a chair in a burning room. After the escape you begin your quest to discover exactly what is going on. With each new clue you end up further away from where you thought you would be, and the mystery continues.
The game works fairly simply. When in a level, you have to explore the area you are in and find clues. You can interact with people and objects, and collect items that can be used in discussion or as tools later on. To investigate an area you drag your finger around the place until you see blue circles, when you tap the blue circle you get two options. You then look, utilize, or pick up objects. When a circle appears on a person you can choose to chat to them, you often get most of your answers and clues just from talking to other characters. To move your character, you just tap where you want him to go, and he walks.
