The iPhone’s Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut has had a history as deep as its plot. Originally released in 1996, the classic mystery game was recently remade for the Nintendo DS and Wii. Much like the DS and Wii’s unique interface, the iPhone provides one of the best platforms for a point-and-click game. Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut uses the best of what the iPhone has to offer through beautifully animated cutscenes, an intuitive control scheme, and a fantastic mystery unfolding right under your finger.

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is a point-and-click mystery game set in Paris, and features a struggling French journalist named Nico Collard and an American tourist named George Stobbart. While Nico visits Pierre Carchon, a wealthy French mogul, she stumbles upon the murder scene for the very man she intended to interview.

Taking this opportunity to spark her “big break” as a journalist, Nico convinces Pierre’s widow to let her perform her own investigation rather than get the police involved. This begins the twisting mystery of Broken Sword, and the subsequent unfolding of the discovery that Nico’s involvement in the investigation is more than just “being in the right place at the right time”.

During Nico’s search for the man she dubbed the “Costume Killer”, she crosses paths with curious George Stobbart, an American vacationing in Paris. While eating at a cafe, George nearly dies in a bombing by the Costume Killer, and makes it his personal mission to track down the man responsible for his near death experience. After George discovers crucial evidence, he convinces Nico to let him work on the case too, and the pair set off to take on the Costume Killer together.

Gameplay – 8.0

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut relies entirely on the point-and-click mechanic, where you tap your finger on a suspecting item and decide whether you want to inspect or activate it. Because of the nature of this control scheme, the iPhone and iPod Touch are perfect platforms for this type of exploratory game.

The point-and-click controls work exactly as intended, and holding your finger in the general area of a usable object will initiate small bubbles on it, signifying its intent. This is an extremely helpful tactic upon entering a new room, as you get a feel for what will be accessible. Furthermore, the bubble appearing over small objects ensure that even the tiniest of hairpins gets noticed.

Possibly one of the best gameplay features in Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is the guarantee that nothing of importance will get missed. Simply put, you can’t leave an area unless you’ve solved its intended puzzle or obtained all the necessary items to advance. Additionally, pausing the game brings up a small hint, indicating the next step to take, so always are pointed in the right direction if needed.

In addition to being an unfolding mystery, Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is inherently a puzzle game. Often times, you will be pegged with completing mini-games like deciphering a code or a sliding-block puzzle. The game also takes this one step further by requiring specific items to be combined to achieve a goal.

While it is unfair to complain about the difficulty of puzzles (it is, after all, the basis of the gameplay), there are few occasions where brute force trial and error are the only way to solve the presented riddle. While this could be frustrating at times, it is neither too frequent nor too much of a burden.

Presentation (including Graphics) – 9.0

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut not only has a solid story, but also delivers it perfectly. With an art style that would make fans of the Professor Layton series proud, Broken Sword has its action unfold during vividly animated cutscenes.

The iPhone has always thrived as an excellent media device, and Broken Sword takes full advantage of its capabilities. There is even a bunch of customization available, such as the option to skip a cinematic scene or to toggle on or off preferences such as captions or the characters’ voices.

The final presentation piece that stands out from Broken Sword is the voice acting. Each character is fully voiced and filled with the appropriate amount of emotion. Occasionally, it does seem like George Stobbard slips in a little more passion than necessary and sounds a little out of place, but overall, the voice acting is very well done.

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is an excellent example of a game made utilizing the best the iPhone has to offer. Broken Sword caters perfectly for those gamers looking for a long, enjoyable commitment, and if you are in the market to spend a couple dollars on a game for your iPhone, then Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut is the game for you.

Score: 8/10

• Pros:
  • Point-and-Click controls are perfect for the iPhone
  • Bubbles appearing over usable objects are extremely helpful
  • You are unable to leave an area before its mystery is solved, ensuring that no item gets left behind
  • The game features a lot of unexpected humor, providing a pleasant surprise
• Cons:
  • A few puzzles require brute force trial and error
  • Occasionally the typically good voice acting gets a little too over-the-top
• Random Fact:
  • Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut was originally made for the PC in 1996 and later remade for the Nintendo DS and Wii before being ported to the iPhone and iPod Touch. It was also announced that it will be re-released on the PC, but a release date has not been set.

Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut was created by Revolution Software and released on January 24, 2010.