Broken Sword old and new: Parzival’s Stone and Shadow of the Templars: Reforged unsheathed at Gamescom

• Features by Jack Allin
• Published:

The only thing better than one new Broken Sword announcement is TWO new Broken Sword announcements. Or at least, one new and one old-is-new-again announcement in the form of Parzival's Stone and a 4K remaster of the classic Shadow of the Templars, respectively, just unveiled by Revolution Software at this year's gamescom event in Germany.

The long-rumoured Parzival’s Stone represents the sixth installment in the popular globetrotting, conspiracy-laden adventure series starring George Stobbart and Nico Collard. Here the pair begin investigating an old manuscript and soon find themselves swept up in another international mystery filled with "Nazi treasure hunters, ancient mediaeval histories, and Quantum Physics." The clues on the manuscript are believed to lead to the secret location of "the Grail (but not as one might expect): a mythical treasure, lost for a thousand years." Of course, George and Nico aren't the only ones looking for it, so our protagonists will need to contend with "rival ruthless technology entrepreneurs, corrupt government agencies, and billion-dollar global energy corporations" in a race to get there first. And the stakes couldn't be higher, as doing so may just be "the only thing stopping the whole world from armageddon."

In development for PC, consoles and mobile devices, the latest sequel will retain the familiar point-and-click, dialogue-rich puzzling gameplay of its predecessors, but with a new game comes new technology, as Parzival's Stone features a "Super 2D" graphical style. We can look forward to the same stunning hand-drawn environments we've come to expect, but this time "applied to 3D geometry which delivers the visual style, in high resolution, but with the flexibility to create incredible cinematography that is only possible in 3D," allowing for the best of both worlds.

Along with a brand new Broken Sword adventure comes word that the original 1996 classic The Shadow of the Templars (or Circle of Blood as it was inexplicably renamed in North America) is being "completely revitalised" in a 4K remaster. The "Reforged" edition will take us back to where it all started in the first explosive meeting (literally) of George and Nico at a cafe in Paris, as a series of assassinations leads them across Europe and the Middle East in a conspiracy involving a sinister cult that seems to be related to the famed ancient military order, the Templars. While retaining all the elements that made the game so beloved, Revolution will be "re-drawing backgrounds, re-animating sprites and honing many other aspects of the original game to deliver this adventure classic in full 4K, with upscaled audio lifting the quality of the speech to match the new refined visuals." (No indication of any new content, as with the somewhat controversial new scenes in the 2009 "Director's Cut.")

There is no target release date for Parzival's Stone, but Shadow of the Templars: Reforged is due to be launched on PC, consoles and mobile devices sometime in early 2024. Adventure Game Hotspot will be meeting with Revolution's Charles Cecil at gamescom, so stay tuned for additional coverage of both games in the coming days.

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