A gritty, present day thriller, Broken Sword throws the player into the criminal underworld of Paris, as an American caught up in the seedy side of life who accidentally discovers a ruthless gang of fascists. With hand-drawn backgrounds, sprites that expand and contract according to their position on screen and ten-layer parallax scrolling, the game is as handsome as it is atmospheric. The FMV sequences and sprite handling are a joy to behold: Broken Sword runs at an impressive 30 fps. The point-and-click interface is perfectly suited to the PlayStation mouse, though the traditional controller works just as well.