Broken Sword 2 Reforged Is Going Big on Human-Made Art With 55,000 Redrawn Frames

For Broken Sword – The Smoking Mirror: Reforged, Revolution has turned to human artists for roughly 55,000 frames of animation.

Broken Sword creator and Revolution Software co-founder Charles Cecil says AI has a place, but not for the kind of human expression and character work the studio wanted from its Reforged edition. AI was used during the initial upscaling process, with artists then redrawing and refining the artwork by hand.

“Going forward, people are going to seek out human-crafted art,” Cecil said. 

Broken Sword – The Smoking Mirror: Reforged follows American tourist George Stobbart and French journalist Nico Collard as they become caught up in a conspiracy surrounding an ancient Mayan artifact. Originally released in 1997, it is the second game in the Broken Sword franchise. 

For the new Reforged edition, players will be able to switch between the original and Reforged presentation. The restoration features more than 55,000 frames of animation, allowing tiny details such as eye movement and facial expressions to convey far more than the handful of pixels available in 1997. 

Revolution has also gone back and corrected visual oddities that were difficult to identify in the low-resolution original. Around 40 previously unused recorded voice lines have been restored, including dialogue that existed in the original game files but was never triggered.

There is also a new three-level hint system, and Cecil has finally added a detailed map of Paris, something he says he has wanted in the game for around 30 years.

When Is Broken Sword 2 Reforged Coming Out?

The game was originally expected in 2026, with Revolution’s Kickstarter rewards estimating digital delivery for September 2026. However, Steam still lists The Smoking Mirror: Reforged simply as “Coming soon,” while more recent reporting now places the game in 2027. 

There is, however, a confirmed physical release date of February 19, 2027. Red Art Games lists physical versions for Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series, with a Deluxe Edition adding extras including a sleeve, paper manual, soundtrack CD and Nico keychain. 

Broken Sword Has Been Here Before

This is not the first time Revolution has revisited the early Broken Sword games.

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars received a Director’s Cut in 2009, adding new Nico sections, puzzles, a hint system, diary and new artwork. It was then given the much more ambitious Reforged treatment in 2024, with 4K visuals, remastered audio and the ability to switch between the original and Reforged presentation. 

Even Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror has been remastered before. The Smoking Mirror: Remastered arrived in 2010 with enhanced visuals, facial animation, improved audio and other modern additions. The upcoming Reforged edition is going considerably further. 

Revolution Software was founded in 1990 by Charles Cecil, Noirin Carmody, Tony Warriner and David Sykes. Now based in York, the studio has become best known for Broken Sword alongside games such as Beneath a Steel Sky.

What About the Rest of Broken Sword?

So far, the main series consists of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars from 1996, The Smoking Mirror from 1997, The Sleeping Dragon from 2003, The Angel of Death from 2006, and The Serpent’s Curse, which was first released in 2013.

The move into 3D proved more divisive. The Sleeping Dragon currently has Mixed Steam reviews, with 55% positive, while The Angel of Death sits at just 43% positive. By comparison, The Serpent’s Curse returned to a more traditional 2D point-and-click style and currently holds very positive Steam reviews, with 89% positive. 

Despite the decision to revisit the classics, the Broken Sword series hopefully isn’t finished with new stories either.

Broken Sword: Parzival’s Stone is planned as the sixth main game, reuniting George and Nico for another conspiracy involving treasure hunters, medieval history and quantum physics.

Development has taken considerably longer than originally hoped. Cecil has previously said that a publisher pulled back from the project, leaving Revolution working on it part-time while attention shifted toward the Reforged games. For now, there is still no confirmed release date.

Hopefully, once The Smoking Mirror: Reforged is finally out the door, we will hear more about what comes next for George and Nico.

Having grown up on point-and-click adventure games, with Broken Sword being one of my earliest core gaming memories, I, for one, am very excited to play.