The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

aka: A Fera Interior: Um Mistério de Gabriel Knight, GK2, Gabriel Knight 2, Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, TBW, Ta'alumat Gabriel Knight: Ha-Khaya she Betokho, The Beast Within: Ein Gabriel Knight Krimi, Un Mystère avec Gabriel Knight : The Beast Within
Moby ID: 118
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$5.99 new on Steam

Description official descriptions

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery is a direct sequel to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, the first in the supernatural mystery adventure series telling the story of a bookstore owner and writer Gabriel Knight, the last offspring of generations of Schattenjaegers (shadow hunters), whose task is to fight the evil forces that abound in the world.

After leaving New Orleans, Gabriel moves to the Ritter Castle in Bavaria, Germany, his family heritage. One day, a group of peasants approach the castle, and the elder tells Gabriel about a terrible death of a little girl, who was killed by a vicious wolf. Suspecting the wolf could be a supernatural creature, the peasant asks the Schattenjaeger to purge the evil. The investigation brings Gabriel and his assistant Grace Nakimura to the mysterious Hunter Society and to Bavaria's dark past.

The game utilizes a cast of live actors and full-motion video technology: the actors are filmed over photorealistic images of Munich and its surroundings, and nearly every interaction with the environment leads to a FMV sequence. Despite its visual style, The Beast Within is not an interactive movie, but a full-fledged adventure game with many dialogues, detective work to do, and puzzles to solve. Unlike the first game, it is entirely controlled through point-and-click actions - all the icons have been replaced by a single cursor. Both Gabriel and Grace are available as playable characters during different chapters of the story.

Spellings

  • תעלומת Gabriel Knight: ×”×—×™×” שבתוכו - Hebrew spelling
  • 狩魔猎人2 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 247 ratings with 12 reviews)

The Quality FMV Game

The Good
The winning feature of Beast Within is the well crafted story. Jane Jenson's wonderful mix of history and fiction create a truly interesting world to explore. Moreover, the use of actual background shots from Germany provide a level of authenticity to the experience.

The game is also a giant step beyond Phantasmagoria, the most notable FMV game before this, regarding the technology is place. Backgrounds and character animation is much clearer. By using non-rendered backgrounds, the characters don't seem out of place. Also, numerous cut-scenes, despite a 640x480x256 resolution, are quite clear. The video compression must have been a step above.

The music is a bit disappointing. It's midi, and not very good midi at that. It certainly doesn't stand up to the original Gabriel Knight's moody standards, even when it reuses some themes. After some of the CD quality tracks from Phantasmagoria (or Return to Zork), the music really falls flat by comparison.

Many people complain that the game is extremely difficult. However, the puzzles are, for the most part, very clear. It is essential to listen carefully to all dialogue (which is time consuming) in order to know what to do next. A certain amount of game logic is abandoned in Beast Within as well. Players should be advised to think more as they would in real life.



The Bad
The acting can get a little out of control at times. The actress who places Grace is especially prone to mugging and ranting. This, matched with a cinematography style that tries hard to be creative, but comes of as amaturish, can be off-putting at times.

The use of German is interesting, but perhaps inappropriate. Numerous scenes involve German-only dialogue in the backgrounds. Knowing the language really opens some doors in terms of what is happening. The use of no subtitles deprives 99% of non-German speakers of an element of the game.

There are also some humerous moments in the game revolving around the German language. When Gabriel first attempts to speak to the police commissioner, he encounters a German-only speaking receptionist. He is asked, in German, who he is looking for. He replies "Leber", which is the name of the commissioner. However, he says "Lieber", pronouncing the word incorrectly. He, in effect, tells the old receptionist that he is looking for love. Intentional or not, it was amusing.

Moreover, aside from the poor pronunciation by Grace and Gabriel, many 'natives' speak like a three-year-old.

And while not a complaint against the game, the 'M' rating does not fit for this game. The story is complex, the gameplay revolving around details... it's less a rating for violence and more for simple thematic issues. Compared to Phantasmagoria, anyone can play it.

The Bottom Line
Beast Within is definitely a game to play, if only to see that FMV games could have worked, if only they had all been created as masterfully.

Windows · by Game22 (35) · 2004

Is it possible for something to be above the best!? Yup, I guess it is :)

The Good
Good and evil. Light and darkness. Have you all noticed how always good is on the first place, how always light is before the dark. You won't hear someone saying evil and good, or darkness and light, right? Hah, as if that's gonna help anyway. This time, Sierra went far beyond just the basic facts. Completely mind boggling adventure with a live cast of characters (we could call it actors as well) will unravel us the story that deserves to be among top adventures no matter the time.

This time, a gate to elaboration is closed, and you can only have pieces of imagination to keep up with. The speculations can seem limitless, but the answer is only one. Good and evil, past and presence, time and existence, are all heavily extended to the very detailed end. I guess blood and violence are fairly weak weapons comparing to a good story and unexpected acts. As much as you probably saw many movies during your past time, you are hardly to guess the outcome of almost anything (except your dirty li'l tricks you do on purpose).

Don't dare to confuze this game for 'Phantasmagoria' series. As much as it is from Sierra, and the actual gameplay is fairly simmilar to both games, 'Phantasmagoria' is very large piece of crap. This, on the contrary, is very good, rather amazing adventure that don't base its roots and qualities on horror scenes and effects, but on the story itself, and lovely characters. Even The Black Wolf (Von Glover), who wanted you to join him, is rather nice person, when he could be called a person, of course. No matter, all the cast are set in place they couldn't be set better.

Ahh, playing 'Phantasmagoria' long gone now, I learned I should be prepared for my heart to stop ticking any minute as I played the game. For some reson, I was alwayse tensed playing this game, but when something's good, then it's darn good. What scary scenes, what rushing sounds or camera spin-offs? This won't do you any harm, but keep you at distance from totaly loosin' up. No matter these were all life-taken pictures, I couldn't notice some things, like white rug on the pale grey floor, so I had to do cursor-changing trick for some things.

Let us take a few shots upon the game itself...

The whole game is from third-person perspective, much to as the movie scenes, except at one point. After Wagner's opera, when you turn into the wolf itself, you walk using first-person perspective, and your sniffing abilities. Your menus and items you carry are suited at the bottom, the game itself, along with the movies is in the middle, and at the top, you see where you are, and over which artifact your mouse curzor is (if any).

Gabriel Knight: you play with two characters during the game. Mostly, each chapter one, except in the last chapter when you play with both characters. As the story of this sequel swiftly fading away, you, as Gabriel Knight, a voodoo maniac from The Sins of the Fathers somehow inherited a castle Ritter (Schloss Ritter). During the last year, you were busy writing a book called 'Voodoo Murders' or something like that, and it appeared to be a great hit, hitting the shelves in USA and going straight among top #20 bestselling books. Since your last name is Knight, which on german stands for Ritter, it's no doubt you have a deep roots in here. Your family (at least your uncle, Wolfgang Ritter) belong to the Shattenjagger myth, a Shadowhunter chain, you're the next one to be considered as a part of that blood.

One night, a villagers came to ask you for your help. You can't refuse such a curiously made story, taking your amulet you go along with the task, asking your secretary and helpful friend Gerda to search for the similar things you're going after. You wake up at the farm of the Hubers, they lend you their car and house until you track down and hunt the (Were)Wolf who killed their daughter. I know it's not the only victim, but temporarily the last one, and with the most fresh tracks to do the research. Police probably couldn't find all the evidence, since they didn't count any supernatural things on their minds. However, the loval Kommisar Lieber will be here for 'some kinda' help.

Beside following the story, Gabriel is self independent pompous a$$ thinking of nothing more then a story to arise again, since his brains get stucked, and abviously can't think of anything unseen to write. Well, let's give 'em something to see. Beside that, he's charming li'l fella, who affraids to admit his feelings to anyone, especially Grace, but not as much as she does to him. After being bitten by a warewolf, there are only two options left to choose. Admit the face of the nature and true gruesome existence, or will he try to embrace the reason for living. It's not literally that hard choice, but I think it's harder for player then for Gabriel himself.

Grace Nakimura: being in Gabriel's New Orleans bookstore, while Gabriel is having all the fun, she realizes her place is with him, no matter the price of admission. And beside that point, the letter he sent her were driving her nutz in this borring piece of town. She packs her things, and first thing you know, she's already at the schloss Ritter. So, the fight begins. Grace and Gerda will not pass as a perfect friends, at least not for some time. Maybe after half of the game has been left behind, the friendship and endurance between them will grow, and sorrow will come to interfere and join them to friends.

Grace will actually investigate pretty much more then Gabriel himself. All the interesting facts will come from a woman's hand, the past, presence, and the story will be up to her to discover. Sinking more into investigation, as Gabriel's life is on the loose, she'll find a way to cure him, and succeed where king Ludwig II and Wolfgang have failed.

The game elements in global...

I don't think I need to say anything more about the story. Jane Jensen made it more then we could possibly expect, and it is a real experience for every adventurer who plays with a heart, not just mechanically. Just once more, in the shortest as I can... you're Gabriel Knight (and Grace Nakimura), and you're up to uncover all those mysterious killings, that are more... unhuman taste. Become involved into the club where you don't know who's the hunter and who's hunted. Act upon yout own thoughts.

Now let's give some brightness upon the music. Inspite conversations have some smaller flaws, the music shadows it all. The music is simply great. I heard from the Sins of the Fathers and Gabriel Knight III, and loved them both, but his one... phew! This one is better then from the sequel and prequel. I know many of you guys wouldn't agree with me, but the atmosphere in this game is clearly shown by the music in it, and you wouldn't need any nature sounds to get a grip of it. Such a lovely piano music inside the schloss Ritter is one of the best piano pieces I've ever heard. Really, thank you Robert, for making us easier to play and live it the whole time (which in my case was only three days, sigh).

Graphics is simply breathtaking. I played it under windows and under 1024x768 pixcels resolution, and no matter the game keeps its 640x480 or such resolution, without stretching under windows, the game was extraodinary in every aspect.

The Bad
Not a smallest spark of darkness.

The Bottom Line
If you like adventures, don't wait. If you're not sure, take a move forward. If you're scared, don't be, as the box cover has absolutely nothing with the game itself, though I like the cover just as it is. One thing's for sure, you won't move until the very last moment. Fare the well, and think about playing it. I'm sure you'll love it... if you're adventurer.

Windows · by MAT (240759) · 2012

The best interactive movie Sierra has ever done

The Good
The Beast Within was the first interactive movie that I played, and this was at a time when big game companies like Sierra took advantage of CD-ROM technology. It is a very good game. In fact, it's far better than the interactive movies that were on offer. The game was directed by Will Binder, who worked on a series of documentaries and short movies, and GK2 was considered his big break. I think that this is the first and only Sierra game to be directed by someone outside of Sierra.

After stopping the voodoo cult operating out of New Orleans and recovering the talisman that his great uncle sacrificed his life for, Gabriel Knight (played by Dean Erickson) is now in Schloss Ritter, working on his Blake Backlash novel about the events that occurred two years before. He hears a knock on the door and finds out it is the local townspeople who, after being told he is the new Schattenjäger, ask him to investigate a werewolf attack that claimed the life of a child. After agreeing to help them, Gabriel stays at the farm just outside Munich where the attack took place. His investigation eventually leads to a hunt club run by a charming man named Friedrich von Glower (Peter Lucas). Having found out that Gabriel is a member of the Ritter family, von Glower welcomes him with open arms.

Later on, his secretary Grace Nakimura (Joanne Takahashi) joins him in Germany, feeling that she may be of use to him. She is disappointed to find out that she just missed Gabriel. However, once she learns that Gabriel's case involves werewolves, she does some research for him and finds out that the attacks date back to the days of King Ludwig II. I like how the story of Ludwig was modified slightly so that it involves werewolfry, and that leads to some more research, this time on Richard Wagner and his lost opera. Although I found most of the research boring, I was impressed at how that all came together at the end.

The game is divided into six chapters, with the player alternating between Gabriel and Grace until the last chapter where they have to play both. Each chapter is stored on the six CDs that came with the game, and this means that you have to do some disc-swapping unless you have the version from GOG.

The Beast Within comes at a time when Sierra decided to drop the point-and-click interface we all know and love, and replace it with a simplified interface where you only have one mouse cursor to interact with the environment. Although I found this approach annoying, I think that this is much easier for players new to the adventure genre. The inventory is accessed by clicking the icon on the right that looks like a duffel bag. Both Gabriel and Grace have their own items. Among the items Gabriel has at the start of the game is the tape recorder which has the ability to isolate pieces of audio and place this audio onto a blank tape. Doing this is necessary to solve the first puzzle of the game.

All the actors that appear in the game deliver good performances, and I was most impressed by Erickson's. He comes across as one of those types that tries to keep his cool even when he becomes involved in a heated argument, and he also has a sense of humor to go along with it. He said that if the rest of the GK games were interactive movies, he would star in all of them. I wish that was the case. Also, people praised him for his role via his Facebook page, but I'm not one of them.

The Beast Within uses FMV technology to display cut-scenes that are triggered when the player initiates some action or starts a conversation with one of the characters. I know that some players loathe watching the main protagonists open and close doors, write letters, walk into buildings, get in cars, etc., but this adds to the realism. There are movies at the beginning and ending of each chapter, and it's good that Sierra gives you the option of watching them again.

The locations that Gabriel and Grace visit in the game are actual locations, which also adds to the realism. The Munich Zoo (Thalkirchen) even has a wolf enclosure. When a game uses locations based on real-life ones, the gamer has to go over and see it for themselves. Just ask YouTuber IPKISS4LIFE.

The CD-quality soundtrack by Robert Holmes is excellent. Most of the soundtracks are unique to each chapter, and they blend in with the situations the player will deal with. I enjoyed listening to the orchestral versions of the music from the first game, as well as the music for the chase sequence at the end of the game. In fact, it is used as my ringtone. It makes you hurry up and answer the damn phone!

The Bad
Speaking of the chase sequence, the whole thing is just one maze where you have to lure the antagonist into a certain room, done by closing certain doors. This is too difficult because once you close a door, you cannot open it back up. Furthermore, it is too easy to die by making a wrong decision.

The quality of the FMV is not that great. It uses QuickTime compression, and I have noticed audio static in some of the movies.

The Bottom Line
You don't have to play the last game in order to enjoy this one; there are hardly any references to it. As an interactive movie, it is very good. The excellent script helped cement Jane Jensen as the most high-profile storyteller on the planet. The soundtrack is also excellent, and the ability to play both Gabriel and Grace is a welcome relief, and this is carried over to the next game. The puzzles are not that hard to solve once you know what to do. If you’re a Gabriel Knight fan, then you’ll like this one. As an interactive movie, it is far better than Phantasmagoria and its sequel.

DOS · by Katakis | ă‚«ă‚żă‚­ă‚ą (43092) · 2017

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

The Beast Within was originally intended to take place over the course of nine chapters instead of six. The additional three would have had the player shift into the past in order to play as King Ludwig II. These chapters were ultimately cut from the game due to time constraints, budgetary limitations, and the fact that this would have required even more CDs for a game that already requires six discs.

The game's backgrounds were created from photographs taken on location in Germany.

German language

Most Germans in The Beast Within are played by American actors. They thus speak German with a bemusing English accent. In the completely localized German version of the game, quite a few "German" characters have a notable American accent, which is even stranger. Additionally, because Gabriel and Grace speak German in the localized version, the translators had a problem in dealing with scenes in which one of the protagonists speaks to a German and doesn't understand him. The problem was solved somewhat half-heartedly by suggesting that Gabriel and company speak High German, whereas the locals speak in a Bavarian dialect.

German version

When the game was first released in Germany it was the un-dubbed and un-subtitled version which had a few scenes censored (for example, a character sitting in his cave and eating flesh from a human bone). The screen would go black and instead of being able to see what was happening the player would instead see a short message on the screen in German simply describing the scene. When the game was later released in its localized German these scenes were uncensored.

French version

Though the game was greeted with excellent critical reviews in France by the time of its release, the French-dubbed version is now quite infamous for its supposed mediocrity, despite being the work of a professional dubbing team. Among the numerous recriminations against the French version, one of the most famous is that you can actually hear several times the dubbing actors making mistakes while reading and then deciding to start again without any kind of editing.

Inaccuracies

  • In the game's opening movie, the camera shows a close-up of a scar on Gabriel's arm (acquired in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers). The scar is on the wrong arm.
  • There is no sign of the chapel in Schloss Ritter that featured so prominently in Sins of the Fathers.
  • When Grace browses the part of the Schattenjäger library that is supposed to contain books on the occult, she finds a book on Lycantrophy between volumes with such German titles as Das Nest and Der Arzt von Stalingrad. These are novels without any relation to occultism.
  • On looking at a window display of watches in Munich, Gabriel claims that he can't stand wearing things on his wrist. In a later scene, a watch is clearly visible on his arm.
  • German Volkswagen Golf keys have a standardized look. The car key that Gabriel carries around in his inventory will unlock anything except the Golf he drives. His car also has no license plate.
  • Even though Grace doesn't speak German, she has no problem reading loudly from Cosima Wagner's diary, which was most likely not written in English.
  • In the book Lore and Law it is said that in Brazil there's a priesthood society called "Manos Del Sol" (Hands of the Sun). But the language spoken in Brazil is Portuguese, and "Manos Del Sol" is in Spanish. The correct name would be "Homens do Sol", as is seen in Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, when Gabriel researches the same subject on SIDNEY, the computer database of shadow hunter data.

Actors

Kay Kuter (Werner Huber) seems to enjoy playing the role of a bartender; he also plays one (Griswold Goodsoup) in The Curse of Monkey Island.

Novel

Jane Jensen, the series' designer, has written a novelization of this game as well as one of the first game (Sins of the Fathers).

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • June 1996 (Issue #143) – Game of the Year
    • November 1996 (15h anniversary issue) - #17 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #10 Hardest Computer Game
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #7 Most Memorable Game Villain (Fredrick von Glower)
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #4 Most Rewarding Ending of All Time
    • November 2003 (Issue #232) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2005 - #33 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list

Information also contributed by -Chris, Adam Schoales, Alan Chan, chiriniea, Foxhack, PCGamer77 and Swordmaster

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Eurythmic.

Macintosh added by chirinea. DOS added by MAT.

Additional contributors: Trixter, MAT, Adam Baratz, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, The cranky hermit, formercontrib, Zeppin, Dudujones, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, RetroArchives.fr.

Game added May 15, 1999. Last modified January 23, 2024.