Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

"The Beginning of the Best Game Series Ever Made"

GRAPHICS - Like most Sierra adventure games from the early 90's (King's Quest 5 and 6, Space Quest 4 and 5, Quest for Glory 3 and 4, etc.), the original Gabriel Knight featured hand painted backgrounds with 2D characters. However, the look of GK set it apart from any previous Sierra adventure, and from any adventure game released by other companies as well. There was a gothic graphic novel approach taken toward the game, which is evident in the strong dark colors and cut-panel story/animation sequences. The detail is incredible, as many intricate facets of New Orleans (where the game takes place) are faithfully recreated, with minor changes to service the plot. The atmosphere created by this game is very rich indeed; you will almost feel like you've visited New Orleans yourself afterward, even if that's not the case. Of course, that would be leaving out Germany and Africa...two other places this game lets you travel to. All of the environments are creatively painted, with a very film-like widescreen look. Of course, being made so long ago, the characters are somewhat blurry and undetailed, but this is remedied in discussion sequences where most get a high-resolution portrait. This is a graphically satisfying game though, still today. SCORE: 9.0

MUSIC - Composer Robert Holmes (husband of the GK series writer/designer, Jane Jensen) does a great job with creating interesting and fitting themes for this series. Since the mood portrayed by the visuals is that of a dark gothic world, Holmes mainly creates pieces that amplify this idea. In particular, the main theme during the opening credit sequence is great, but many others are very enjoyable as well. I really like the Police Station theme and the St. George's Books theme, and of course the ending stuff was very good. The only problem is that they are all MIDI sounding and don't really exploit the power of the CD they are on. For its time though, most other games were using the power of CD to feature just the voices as well, and the music was still MIDI. Sure, that means the music is not as cinematic and textured as it could have been, but it's still very satisfying. SCORE: 9.0

STORY - Wow! Here GK really gets a chance to shine, and Jane Jensen gets the opportunity to show off her extensive research. The plot begins simple enough, with the basics laid out before you. You play Gabriel Knight, a rugged sort of Southern guy who has lots of luck with the ladies, and far less luck as a novelist, bookstore owner, or decent sleeper (he has major nightmares that his ancestors had before him). The store he owns is called St. George's Rare Books, located right on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, where he is assisted by Grace Nakimura, an intelligent Japanese woman who was raised in America by a traditional Japanese family. Gabe is also close to his grandmother who lives nearby, and he has a longtime buddy named Mosely who works as a detective for the NOPD. When the game begins there have been a series of gruesome ritualistic voodoo style murders in the area. Hearts missing, patterns drawn around the bodies, etc. Gabriel hears destiny calling his name, and thinks he can make a successful novel out of what is going on. However, when the plot begins to thicken, Gabriel finds there is much more to this case than he ever imagined, and much is truly linked to him! He discovers that his true calling in life is to be a soldier of light, the German term Shattenjager (Shadow Hunter), and that all of his fathers before him carried this distinguished role. Even worse, he discovers that his entire family is paying for a "sin" of one of his ancestors, Gunter Ritter (an original graphic novel is included with the game which tells the story of poor old Gunter). Can Gabriel right the sin once and for all and bring his family back to prominence? Are his affections towards a local woman of great wealth and power, Malia Gedde, dangerous? Also, who is this
Wolfgang guy who continually calls claiming to be a lost relative, insisting that Gabriel is in trouble? The game asks many questions, and it supplies many fascinating answers. The plot is a true winner. SCORE: 9.5

CHARACTERS - Another one of GK's strongest points are the deep, interesting characters. Gabriel's history (particularly his family history) is intricate to the point of being complex, and his characterization as an individual is extremely solid. Grace has a detailed background that is explained throughout the game, though it's much more normal than Gabe's (whose isn't?). Then there's Malia Gedde, the game's second most complex character after Gabriel. Her family history is just as troubled as Gabriel's, and there is actually a link between their families too. Mosely is also a lot of fun, his growing up as a friend of Gabriel makes their discussions quite humorous and ripe with insults. Wolfgang is very interesting for the fact that he'll sacrifice anything to get his family out of their cursed state, and he thinks Gabriel is the only way. I could go on and on... Grandma Knight, Dr. John, Gerde...there are many great characters. SCORE: 10.0

GAMEPLAY - This is a very challenging and satisfying adventure because of the gameplay as well. While it uses the traditional Sierra adventure game interface, there are many elaborations. This game has more different cursors to choose from including Look, Open, Pick Up, Operate, Question, Statement, etc. More challenge results since there are many more cursors available to the player and the game doesn't just "assume" things for you. The game is played out the same way as any adventure game...go from location to location (this is done by using the game's two maps labeled with icons for locations), find items, and use items in the correct place to advance things. You must also interrogate a great number of people and this is done on a separate screen where you have enormous dialogue trees available so you can go through the subjects. The game also uses a point-based system. Certain things in the game are optional and don't have to be done in order to beat the game. However, there is incentive to play the game through again to get all the points available and truly experience the full product. One other point of interest, the original GK is the only one in the series to feature multiple endings. There are only two, but they are drastically different, and are only affected by the very final choice you make in the game. This is traditional adventure gaming at its best. SCORE: 9.5

VOICE ACTING - While the cast features many big names, the voice acting is not what you'd expect from such a veteran cast. Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Congo, Legend, The Three Musketeers) is probably the best of the lot, as Gabriel, and Michael Dorn (yes, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame) is suitably intimidating as Dr. John. Even Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker himself) does a decent job as Detective Mosely, but it's just nothing to write home about. Luckily, there were only a few points where I nearly gagged because the acting was so poor. The only extremely terrible voices in the game are those of the narrator and Tetelo. For the most part though it's easily bearable, and better than much interactive voice-over work. Still, I usually prefer to play this GK game with the text turned on and the voices turned off. Having said that, the option to get rid of the voices is a wonderful one, so I'm going to be very generous with this score. SCORE: 9.0

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/04