A great mix of nostalgia and innovation - best point and click title on the DS to date...
Broken Sword: Directors Cut does exactly what it says on the tin and it does it extremely well. Unlike the original PC title you begin the game from Nico's point of view, investigating the murder of some well-to-do chap she was supposed to be interviewing for La Liberteire. This then quickly connects seamlessly to the familiar scene of George in the Parisian café and we see for the first time the story from both sides. Ever wonder what Nico was doing while George was running around France chasing clowns, dropping her the odd line? Well now you'll know. It's actually an ingenious way of adding content to the game without 'spoiling' it so to speak.
The mechanics of the original game are still prominent. You have your inventory bar on the bottom of the touch screen and during character interactions you have the 'conversation options' appearing at the top. The top screen isn't particularly utilized much during gameplay but this is not missed at all - it displays some very nice scenery according to which setting you're in and during conversations it provides some nice character animation. The one thing that this game is lacking is the superb voice acting of its predecessor. This is what made the original Broken Sword so memorable and if you ever played it, I think you'll agree. Playing Broken Sword without george's familiar voice or Nico's mocking french comments is kind of difficult to get in to really. One of my main concerns is that the reason I actually like this game is because I've played on the original and can patch in some of this game with fond memories of my initial play.
However there are still reasons to play this game even if you aren't familiar with the series. For one it's the best point and click game on the DS. The graphics are smooth and the touch screen feels pixel perfect. You can push your stylus around the screen and points of interest will show themselves if you get near them. Don't think that this makes the game easy though - as it most certainly doesn't. For example, you might be able to interact with an item (say...a drawer) and then think you're done with it. Then you may go back to the drawer thinking you missed something and something new will happen - you might search behind the drawer or remove it completely to reveal something integral to the plot. There are 3 main actions you can take when approaching an item; you can operate/interact, you can simply view the item for a description of it or you can investigate it. This 'investigate' option signified by a magnifying glass more often than not leads to a close up on the touch screen. For example, if you were to investigate the desk you will be presented with a close up view of the desk where you can read documents.... or it may lead you to a mini game such as picking a lock or solving a puzzle.
All of these elements make this a great experience for anyone - but particularly those that are familiar with the series. If you played the previous games on the PC and enjoyed them you should definitely give this game a look. It stays true to the original and even though there is no voice acting and the score doesn't do it as much justice, the intuitive touch screen controls, added storyline and character close-ups/animations more than make up for it...