The International House of Mojo

First and foremost: There is a games-topping bug in this second part of The Serpent's Curse. Actually, there is, apparently, more than one, but this one seems to be somewhat prevalent. I don't want to throw out too big of a spoiler, but… don't lie. Tell the truth. You'll know what I'm talking about when the time comes, and doing the "right" thing can save you hours.

Either way, just make use of the save function frequently.

Bug aside, I am left with very few complaints about The Serpent's Curse. This is truly the second part of the game, and not a Telltale style episode. You can play the game seamlessly from start to finish. In retrospect, that might have been the better way to go, but then, I don't really think patience is a virtue. Even with hindsight 20/20 and all that, I regret nothing. Nothing!

Being a second part of a full experience, it shouldn't come as a surprise that we summed up most major points in part one of our review. It's not like the graphics or whatever all of a sudden got worse. (In fact, it bares repeating: the game looks lovely.) The voice over actors are still the same. It's still the same game, just a second part of it.

That's not to say certain things don't continue developing from the first half. The story, for example, might not take a surprising turn, but a turn it takes all the same, straight into the supernatural realm. This is not a whole lot different from the previous games in the series, and it's done in that patented spirit of Broken Sword. It goes both a little bit creepy and a little bit action-y, remaining appropriately cheesy. Hey, I wouldn't want it any other way.

The puzzles, too, steadily get more complicated. This might be the one real issue I had with the second part: some of the puzzles just didn't seem particularly logical to me. I didn't need to resort using the hint system in the first part, but here I felt it becoming a crutch too often. (I mean, I might not be the brightest guy, but the whole engine puzzle? Oy…)

Still. I play these things for the stories more than anything, and, as mentioned, I have no complaints about the direction The Serpent's Curse takes. The odd puzzles do not get in the way of that.

Really, the only other issue I can think of -- and this is more of a nitpick -- is a somewhat abrupt ending. It wasn't not quite as epic as I had expected, though at least it ends with a good typical Broken Sword-y scene.

Simply summed up, The Serpent's Curse is one hell of an adventure game. It's old-school to its core, with a story and atmosphere not seen in many games these days. The Serpent's Curse isn't just a worthy Broken Sword sequel, it is an adventure game classic.

Buy it if you haven't. There's no reason why you shouldn't.

A review by the Remster, wearing his nostalgia boots.