For those of you that weren’t around for my lost weekend when I not only played the pre-release of Broken Sword but completely finished it, Clinton has evidently recently went through his own bout with the game, causing him to say, “During this review I found myself playing late into the night simply because I was either stumped or eager to press on.  I can only imagine what this game must be like in the hands of a hardcore gamer!”

photo courtesy of Astraware

Trust me, you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to like Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars. You just have to enjoy solving puzzles as you play the role of George Stobbart, who is described on the Astraware site as “an American tourist on vacation in Europe, who becomes embroiled in a terrifying conspiracy when he witnesses the theft of an ancient manuscript and the assassination of its owner. The manuscript, created in the 14th century by the order of the Knights Templar, points to where their legendary power has been hidden for over six hundred years. Befriending a photojournalist, Nico Collard, the two find themselves on a global trail that ultimately reveals a deadly secret that will change their lives forever.”

I can tell you that playing this game on any VGA Pocket PC (such as the iPAQ 4700, HTC Universal, or the Dell Axim x52v) blows away the smaller screen sizes – though the game will still be “fun”, you can just see and pick up on so much more with the better screen.

Broken Sword is available for both Palm and Pocket PC, and you can read Clinton’s entire review here.