The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

"A FMV Game Thats Good? Blasphamy"

The Beast Within is the second Gabriel Knight mystery. The first game was a great blend of thriller, suspense, and even some humor. The Beast Within is a much different game. Besides the fact that it's Full-Motion Video, the game is much darker. Gabriel is portrayed as a cocky, self-centered jerk rather than smooth talking guy we all know and love from the first game. Grace also comes across as very short-tempered and even violent in this game, almost complete opposite of the first game. Plus, this game takes place completely in Germany. One might think that all these changes, coupled with Sierra's bad streak of FMV games, would completely ruin this game. That is not quite the case however.

Graphics
It's hard to say if the graphics are good or bad. The whole game is full motion video. So there really isn't any “graphics” to speak of. So let's talk about the acting and camera work. All the locations are so beautiful they make me want to go to Germany, especially the scenes with the Castle overlooking the Alps. The acting is, I'm very happy to say, fantastic. All the actors are either character actors or limelight actors, but of which are normally very low key. Yet all the acting in this game is superb. Although you might not like what has become of some of the characters, all the parts are played well.

Sound
Again, there is not too much to say here. All the Germans speak German and English with the typical accents you would expect from real people. The music, however, is really intense, and is played just as if it were a movie.

Controls
A five year old could figure out how to play this game. There is only one cursor, and it blinks if you move it over something that you can interact with. To use an item, select it from inventory and then click it where you want to use it. It's as simple as that. Clicking can also skip the long dialog scenes, but I recommend you don't this, at least your first time through because you could miss a lot of important stuff.

Game-play
This is an adventure game that is more puzzle oriented than anything else. There is an intense story and you must solve various puzzles to continue through the game. Most of the puzzles are relative to the story, and make sense. For example, you see an animal footprint at the scene of a murder, you need to analyze it, but you can't do it yourself. So you need to make a casting. You look around and find items to make a casting, and you do it. You then take the casting to an expert, and so on.

Story
The story is the core of the game. This game is really more of an interactive movie than a game, but it's FULLY interactive. You play both as Gabriel and as Grace, swapping control with each new chapter. It starts with Gabriel receiving a new case, which involves Werewolves. Day 1 involves you scouting for various clues and following a few leads. Day 2 switches you to Grace who does some research on her own that also has to do with the new case. It all ends with a very surprising showdown on the final day. The game is very well researched, especially with the parts involves Richard Wagner and King Ludwig II. Whether or not the werewolves' info is accurate in this game is anyone's guess.

The only thing I can find wrong with this game is its ending, which is not even that bad. I was just expecting a little more info to tie everything up. Well, I also was never a fan of FMV, mainly because the game is way too linear. However, I enjoyed it none, the less.

Overall, this is a truly engrossing “interactive movie”. This game will suck you in and not let go. The story and acting are both brilliant. The controls are very simple and easy to work with. Its one of those old Sierra adventure games you make you want to keep a windows 98 PC running somewhere in your basement. Any fan of the old Sierra adventure “quests”, or adventure gamers in general, should try and pick this collectors item up.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/03/06