A few of the above comments reminded me of when I first played this game.
I loved GK1 (as some of you will have probably gathered!
) and I was really looking forward to playing GK2. However, when I first played it I actually gave up on it a couple of times because of how different it was.
Obviously the transition to FMV was a big one, and I hadn't played an FMV game before, but the biggest problem I had was old Gabe himself. I think that what I loved most about the first game was the Character of Gabriel, his comments, the way he related to others etc. and suddenly in the second game there was this guy I didn't recognise at all. I don't just mean that he looks different of course, but his whole personality seemed to have morphed into a fairly bland American sit-com star (these were my first impressions remember...) and much of his charm had simply gone.
Now obviously they couldn't get an actor who looked exactly like Gabe from the first one (pixelated faces are always hard to come by
), and in the absence of Tim Curry things weren't going to be exactly the same. However, this Gabriel seemed to me to be a bland and diluted version of the original without the wit and humour.
I should say though that even though I gave up on the game a couple of times in the first chapter I'm honestly glad I went back and played it as this is a really great game with some brilliantly compelling characters (although unfortunately Gabe isn't really one of them). So let me encourage anyone playing this for the first time who might feel like I did, persevere with this game, it's well worth it.
Did anyone else feel the same when they first played this game, or does anyone out there prefer the "new" Gabriel? Be very interested to hear your thoughts (first impressions only of course!).
