Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

The Good
What's not to like about this game?

The graphics are beautiful and rich. I really liked the close-ups when you're interviewing people, and the in-game graphics are nicely done. Also, there are several comic-like cutscenes scattered throughout the game, which in my opinion add a lot.
The sounds are breathtaking. Music-wise, I've never heard MIDI sound this good, and it fits the story and world perfectly, contributing a great deal to the general atmosphere of the game, which can give you actual goosebumps. The voice acting is superb, and is my favorite to this day. Tim Curry (as Gabriel Knight) delivers a stellar performance, mixing just the right amount of sarcasm and cynicism in the everyday events in the game, but manages to convey a real sense of warmth, urgency or despair when they are called for. This is not to detract from the phenomenal voice acting of the other characters: Leah Remini (as Grace) is probably my favorite game character other than Gabriel himself, and Michael Dorn (as Dr. John) has the perfect voice for the role. Honestly, each and every actor does the job brilliantly.
The game's interface is Sierra's known point-and-click with icons, but the icons have changed slightly, to make your interaction with the world even richer. For example, there are two separate icons for general chatting and for asking specific questions. Or different icons for pick up, move, and open.
The puzzles are interesting and original, and more importantly fit surprisingly well into the plot, instead of being mix-and-match-items puzzles or the give-this-to-this-guy puzzles. They are there to advance the plot, not just to tease your brain.

And finally, we have the story.

Ah - the story.

Gabriel Knight has the best writing in a computer game ever, bar none. Once the plot grabs you by the throat (should happen by the beginning of day 4 or so), it simply does not let go of you, and you will not be able to let go of the game, until it's over.
What makes it so good? First of all the big story is a solid, interesting, suspenseful story. It's got twists and turns, and it even manages to surprise you several times. But more than that, Jane Jensen got everything done just right. The dialogs are crisp and brilliantly written, with quite a bit of humor mixed in, giving the voice actors real meaty roles to work with.
What's most contributing, at least for me, is the amount of backdrop the player receives. As early as Day 2, you'll find yourself learning a great deal about Voodoo, most (if not all) of which is absolutely correct. You'll even get to hear a lecture about Voodoo, detailing its rituals and customs further in the game. Most of what is said about New Orleans is true as well. Visiting it just a month ago, I actually knew my way around. The game world is so rich, diverse, and detailed, that you feel as though you really know the world and the characters and actually care about them.

Yes. That about describes the game. Perfect in every respect.



The Bad
I'm hard pressed to think of anything seriously wrong with the game.
I did encounter several places where the voiceover was "clicky" or slightly buggy, and some of the puzzles might be a bit annoying (the one with the police officer in the park on day 1, or the arcade-like sequence in the catacombs). But these in no way tarnish the great experience that is GK.

The Bottom Line
I'll use my one-line summary again: Flawless. Simply flawless. Everything, from music to voices to dialogs to story to every other aspect, comes together here.
10 years and countless games after first playing Gabriel Knight, it's still the best game ever from where I'm sitting. An ever-shining gem.

The Good
"The flesh is weak, Johnny. Only the soul is immortal." (You know what I'm talking about, right?)

The Bad
"I got a thing about chickens" :-P

The Bottom Line
It was the time when Sierra’s classic series had started to lose their splendor and brightness. Lacking the necessary originality and innovation, they somehow repeated themselves without offering something progressive. It was then that Jane Jensen, already an employee of the company, was given the chance to make her designing debut. The result was “Gabriel Knight”, an adventure that took the world of gaming by surprise and arguably is the genre’s finest hour.

The game casts us as Gabriel Knight, an unsuccessful writer who lives in his bookshop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, striving for a breakthrough in his career. He is not the kind of person who takes life very seriously. Also, he often displays laziness, bad manners and a bit of eccentricity. But he definitely has a charming personality to save him. His assistant, Grace, is the exact opposite of him. She is serious, organized and methodical. Very often their strong personalities come to disagreement, but undoubtedly there is an interesting chemistry between them. One of Gabriel’s few and greatest concerns are the inexplicable and horrible nightmares that haunt him and deeply depress him. He is currently working on a book inspired by the so-called ‘Voodoo Murders’ that are taking place in the city during the recent weeks. His best friend, Police Detective Mosely, provides him with some useful ‘inside-information’. In the coming days, Gabriel will meet his destiny. Day by day, a chain of supernatural events will change him forever. The scenario draws elements from the ‘neo-gothic’ lore. It is dark, mysterious, erotic, thrilling and dramatic. It could as well be the script of an actual film.

“Gabriel Knight” is a ‘pseudo-3d’ adventure that utilizes the icon-based system. Specifically, it makes a new approach to this system. First of all, the game introduces a new way of making conversations with other people. Except for the ‘TALK’ one, we now have the ‘ASK’ icon. The first is used for interactions of a more open and general nature. Now the second one brings us in the ‘interrogation mode’. There, between the portraits of Gabriel and of the interviewed person, is a list of subjects for discussion. Most of them apply to all the people we interact with, but there are some that solely concern certain individuals. Talking will usually lead to other subjects that will arise. The immensity and the depth of this procedure are simply remarkable. Apart from giving us clues on how to continue our investigation, it nicely outlines the richly designed personalities of the characters we interact with. We can later hear all the dialogues through the ‘RECORDER’ option. The typical ‘HAND’ icon is here divided in four different ones. There are the ‘PICK UP’, ‘OPEN/CLOSE’, ‘OPERATE’ and ‘MOVE’ icons. This separation makes for more demanding playing, as the player must have a clear idea of what he needs to do rather than randomly clicking on things.

Visually, the title reaches excellence. It is not only that its graphics are brilliantly designed. Above all, it is how successfully they fit its environment. Their dark style, coloring and shading strongly grasp the ‘film-noir’ concept. There are many places to visit. All of them are designed in great detail and with a certain ‘dim’ effect that makes them mystifying and enigmatic. That ‘dark detail’ is present everywhere, in the sprites, in the character-portraits, in the foregrounds and the backgrounds. In some places, like the cemetery, we constantly have the feeling that something unexpected is about to suddenly take place. The graphics include several superb cut-scenes. There are two kinds of them, the first are the ones that appear every night, during Gabriel’s tormenting dreams. They consist of series of still images that succeed each other very fast, radiating a terrifying and sometimes paranoid feeling. The other ones take place during the actual playing time. They are made of small graphical strips that emerge from the left of the screen moving to the right, in a comics-like fashion.

The sound aspect of the game is also superior. The musical score is simply an outstanding classic. It contains distinctive themes for every location and occasion of the game, all wisely chosen to amplify the impact and the sensation. Relaxed pieces of music and more powerful ones appropriately. Also, several high-quality sound effects support the experience.

There are all kinds of puzzles in this adventure. Some of them require the correct use of items. Others are about being in the right place in the right moment. A few are based on close observation of factors. And finally there are those of a larger scale that involve more than one location. They are all based on logic and reason and are made with respect and care for the player and his entertainment. During playing we will also encounter several, full of agony, time-sequences* where swift moving and acting is essential. The game is generally of high difficulty and lasts for many intriguing hours.

Some months after its release in floppy disks, the game became available in CD format. The CD version has two major updates compared with the diskettes one. Firstly, it has full speech support for every person in the game. All the voices are convincing and sound right in terms of acting performance. The voice-cast even includes two quite known actors, Tim Curry and Mark Hamill as Gabriel and Detective Mosely respectively. Tim Curry satisfactorily captures the accent and the mentality of the stereotyped Southerner, overdoing it only in a couple of instances. The second important improvement is that, thanks to the CD’s capacity, the cut-scenes of the dreams now have animation that makes them much more fluid. Needless to say, anyone who wants to play this game is encouraged to prefer the enhanced CD edition.

“Gabriel Knight” had two great sequels. Each one had drastic changes in the technology and method it used. But both of them are inferior to their predecessor. It seems that they could not reach the unrepeatable atmosphere and feel of it. This timeless masterpiece is unlike anything we have ever seen. Recommended to every self-respecting gamer “Gabriel Knight” is, especially for us passionate adventurers, an experience of a lifetime.

• In the sixth day of the game, the use of a slow-down utility (e.g. Turbo) is needed for passing the time-sequence in the police station.

The Good
The story, the story, the story, I can't say it enough, Jane Jensen did a marvelous job of constructing a complex, and riveting story, at the same time developing it into an excellent game. This title was a boost in the adventure genre's arm, telling a good story in a modern environment, that was not only chilling, but frightening realistic! The research into the subject matter is deep and thorough, this becomes clear as you progress into the game. The story is what kept me playing, but the puzzles were also top notch and imaginative, there are a few that take are abstarct, but they don't take from the game. The dialogue is also great Tim Curry does a top notch job as do the other voice acters.

The Bad
Nothing really, this is the ideal adventure game, perfectly blending a deep story, with excellent gameplay.

The Bottom Line
Buy it, Buy it NOW!