Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

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Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror

Developer(s)	Revolution Software
Publisher(s)	Virgin Interactive Entertainment (WIN) Sony Computer Entertainment (PS)
Designer(s)	Charles Cecil (director)
Series	Broken Sword series
Engine	Virtual Theatre
Release date(s)	October 31, 1997 (WIN) November 14, 1997 (PS)
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 12+
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and many more through ScummVM
Media	2 CD-ROMs (WIN) 1 CD-ROM (PS)
System requirements	90 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 2 MB video card RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 5.0, Windows 95 (WIN)
Input	Keyboard, mouse (WIN)

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is the second game in the Broken Sword series of computer games, and was released on October 31, 1997.

The game opens with George Stobbart witnessing the kidnapping of his girlfriend, Nicole Collard, followed by being tied to a chair in a burning house with a deadly spider on the loose. From here follows an adventure involving an evil Mayan god and a conspiracy revolving around the forthcoming solar eclipse.

As in the first game, the music is composed by Barrington Pheloung, and Rolf Saxon returns to lead the cast, with a different actress playing Nico Collard. Graphics are of the same high standard seen in the first game, with a few tweaks to the engine to include smoke effects.^{[citation needed]}

The game was often described as "rushed" citing reasons such as an unpolished storyline and linear gameplay (there is no freedom of movement from location to location, but from one another after certain tasks are completed).^{[citation needed]} Even so, the game was a critical and commercial success, but on a smaller scale than the game's predecessor.^{[citation needed]}

Released as Les Boucliers de Quetzacoatl (France), Baphomets Fluch II: Die Spiegel der Finsternis (Germany), Broken Sword II: La Profezia dei Maya (Italy) and Broken Sword: Las Fuerzas del Mal (Spain). The game was called Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror in all English speaking countries (and many countries with minor game market, like Poland) except the United States, where it was retitled Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror.

A port of Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror was released for the Sony PlayStation platform.

[edit] Locations

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

George in the Caribbean

Paris - The second time George visits the city of Paris, Nico is captured and George's stay is brief. He visits Montfaucon Square, an area he visits in The Shadow of the Templars. He also breaks out of a mansion, and visits a small museum.

Marseille - George heads to the docks of Marseille to find Nico, and uncover a sinister drug ring. George is to sneak past a guard and his dog, avoid the bustling Pablo, and break his girlfriend out.

Quaramonte - The small town of Quaramonte is where George Stobbart and Nico Collard head to next. Here he is forced to break a prisoner out of jail, and help out an old friend, while Nico distracts the General of a Police Station.

Jungle - George is swept up on the shores of an unknown jungle, and manages to find shelter in an old priest's tree house. Soon enough he reaches an ancient village, in search of a mysterious root.

Caribbean - George finds him self negotiating the future of a Captain's museum, while looking for one of the three Mayan Stones.

Zombie Island - In search of one of the three Mayan stones, George heads to the dangerous land of Zombie Island. He ends up standing on a movie set, and eventually stars in the movie itself.

London - Nico reaches London in search of one of the three Mayan stones, which eventually takes her to The British Museum, then underground to an abandoned train station.

Pyramids - The home of the imprisoned god, Tezcatlipoca, George and Nico head here to entrap the monster. It's not without its problems, with the evil drug ring attempting to stop the duo from doing so.

[edit] Trivia

When playing as Nico in the Abandonded Underground Station, when you walk to the right of the screen, a ghost of a woman looking similar to Khan's woman disguise in Scotland on Broken Sword 1 appears. Quickly use the chocolate bar on her. A secret exit appears to the far left of the screen. Going down it will unlock a screen set in the world of Beneath a Steel Sky, an earlier Revolution game.