Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

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Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon

Developer(s)	Revolution Software
Publisher(s)	^EU THQ ^NA The Adventure Company
Designer(s)	Charles Cecil
Series	Broken Sword series
Engine	RenderWare
Release date(s)	^EU November 14, 2003 (WIN, PS2, Xbox) ^NA November 17, 2003 (WIN) ^NA December 4, 2003 (Xbox)
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 6+ PEGI: 12+
Platform(s)	Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Media	2 CD-ROMs (WIN) 1 DVD (PS2, Xbox)
System requirements	750 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, 64 MB video card RAM, 8X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 8.1, 2 GB available hard disk space, Windows 98/2000/XP (WIN)
Input	Keyboard, Mouse or Gamepad

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is the third installment in the Broken Sword series of computer games, and was released on November 17, 2003.

George and Nico return in the third Broken Sword game, released in October 2003 by THQ (Europe) and The Adventure Company (North America). This time the game is 3D (though the camera does not rotate, as in Resident Evil games), unlike the two previous games which are traditional 2D point-and-click games. The Knights Templar return in another globetrotting adventure, taking the protagonists to Glastonbury, Paris, Cairo, Prague and the Congo.

Rolf Saxon leads the cast, reprising his role as George, and Sarah Crook takes on the role of Nicole Collard.

It was released as Les Chevaliers de Baphomet: Le manuscrit de Voynich in France, Baphomets Fluch: Der schlafende Drache in Germany, Broken Sword: Il sonno del drago in Italy and Broken Sword: El sueño del dragón in Spain.

Ports of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon were released on Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 platforms, however, the PlayStation 2 version can only be found in Europe. Revolution's director Charles Cecil stated in an interview that the development costs of the third Broken Sword game was £2 million ^[1].

[edit] Locations

The first play area in the game

The Congo - George travels here at the start of the game on business to meet with the scientist, Dudley Cholmondely who has a laboratory deep in the jungle. He returns to Cholmondely's laboratory later in the game in search of the Alpha stone.

Paris - The third time George visits the city of Paris. He yet again revisits Montfaucon Square, which featured in both the previous games, and goes once again into the catacombs under the sewers to discover the St Stefan sector of the Templars. Nico's flat also features heavily once again in this game, having been left out of Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror.

England - George is led here on the trail of Bruno Ostvalt to Glastonbury, England when trying to delve into the mystery of Cholmondely's death. He then returns there at the end of the game (this time accompanied with Nico) at on the Glastonbury Tor the game meets it epic conclusion...

Czech Republic - In order to rescue Bruno Ostvalt, George and Nico are led to Susarro's medieval castle in Prague which is well protected by his private army.

Egypt - Using the Alphabet stones the heroes discover the location of the Armillery, which is in Egypt. Here George and Nico are faced with the return of an enemy long thought dead and a trap that will lead to a dear friend making a huge sacrifice...

[edit] Trivia

When playing as Nico for the first time in Paris, after coming straight out of Vernon's apartment, go over to the skater. Use the lipstick on him. Now, leave the area by the Park, and you will come to a secret area, which features a bridge crossing over a river, and a dog. There are no new items in this area, no one to interact with (except the dog) and doesn't progress the story. Fans of the game think that this may be an area which was going to be used, but was scrapped, but kept in the game anyway. This is also the only use for the lipstick in the entire game.

In Vernon Blier's bedroom there is a poster of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars boxart.

In Nico's apartment the small statue of Tezcatlipoca from Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror and the clown's red nose from Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars can be both be viewed.

It is rumored that a key press cheat exists within the first 20 seconds of the game, if the right combination of events occur then the player should be privileged to a developer menu.