Ah, you’re kicking back at a quaint Paris sidewalk café. Life is sweet. You’re George Stobbart, a tourist from California enjoying some autumn Parisian ambience when out of nowhere, a guy dressed as a clown runs into the café and makes a hasty retreat. Somethin’ ain’t right here, man. You first feel the concussion, then the intense heat – the café has just been bombed. So much for ambience.

Revolution Software has developed a very worthy point and click adventure game entitled Circle of Blood (in the USA) and Broken Sword (elsewhere) and it is definitely worth your look. The game allows three install options – small, medium, or large. Spring for the large install. You’ll encounter the voice of a lovely British lady leading you through the install and options selection processes. Very nice touch!

Circle of Blood is designed with a third person perspective and presents the usually expected ubiquitous hot spots and morphing cursor. The game presents many scrolling perspectives as the characters move about. The inventory interface couldn’t be easier – left click an item to “use” and right click for a verbal explanation of exactly what the item is. This is very, very nice!

Okay, back to Paris. Being the stalwart hero that you are, you (as George) dart into the burning café in order to render aid to the injured. The gendarmes soon arrive and seem to focus their interest on you! Bad news. The good news – after your interrogation, you exit the café and meet a lovely young photographer, Nicole. Get to know her as she will assist you in your efforts to solve this dastardly crime. This is a sprawling adventure that whisks you to varied sites such as Spain, Syria, Ireland, and Scotland.

The story line is very well written and ultimately leads to your discovery of the involvement of a secret order – the Knights Templar. You journey deeper and deeper. Then Nicole is kidnapped. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Can you rescue Nicole and solve the crime? The resources are there and you’ll encounter many plot-relevant puzzles in your quest.

Each locale is rendered with realistic and beautiful artwork and the animation is consistently above average. The music scoring is excellent – matching the tenor of the plot lines. As you play this game, you will notice a special attention to detail. This is a quality game.

The only downer for me was enduring the sometimes endless dialog. Kinda verbose. But, hey, solve the puzzles, the crime, rescue Nicole and just maybe there will be a romantic payoff at the end. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Final Grade: B+

System Requirements:

• Windows 95+
• 486DX2-66
• 8MB RAM
• 2X CDROM drive
• 18MB free hard disk space