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Deshrill · 10-09-2003, 05:27 AM

I just wanted to try writing a review for the first (and, in my opinion, best) game of the Gabriel Knight trilogy: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (hereafter referred to as GK 1). I imagine a lot of people have played this game, but it's old enough where some new adventure game fans might not have heard of it. I'll try not to describe the story in too much details, but there might be some MILD SPOILERS in the review.

STORY: In GK 1, you play the part of Gabriel Knight, a crude, womanizing novelist in his early 30's who owns St. George's Bookstore in New Orleans. He has written a few novels, although none were major successes. He runs the bookstore with another employee: Grace Nakimura. Grace is a recent college graduate in her early 20's planning to start grad school in a few months. She's very smart and practical, in some ways the opposite of Gabriel. The main plot of the game involves Gabriel researching a series of brutal voodoo murders in New Orleans for a new book he's writing. The voodoo murders end up unlocking parts of Gabriel's family legacy that will end up changing him forever...

The plot in this game is extremely well done. At times the sheer amount of dialogue makes it feel more like a novel than a game. When talking to important characters in the game, you can interrogate them on a number of subjects, resulting in a number of colorful responses. If GK 1 was a movie, it would be rated R: there is some strong language in the game and the murder scenes are often grisly. There is even brief nudity towards the end, but it's done in a way that relates to the plot. Although the plot of the game gets rather dark at times, there is enough humor thrown around throughout to keep the game from being too serious.

GAMEPLAY: The interface for GK 1 is very similar to that of King's Quest 5, Space Quest IV, Lesiure Suit Larry V, etc.-- it's done with a mouse. You can right-click to change the different actions you can do (walk, talk, pick up, examine, etc) and it works pretty well. A few of the puzzles are of the annoying pixel-hunting variety, but for the most part the puzzles work well with the story. Towards the end of the game there are a few arcade sequences that are a bit frustrating, but it's nothing too hard to deal with. The game is a bit buggy at times and has problems running on newer machines due to timed sequences, although it should run OK with an emulator to slow down your computer.

GRAPHICS: By today's standards, the VGA graphics look rather pixelated. Still, there are a lot of detail in the backgrounds and the animation works pretty well. The best graphics in the game are during the cut-scenes interspersed throughout; it literally feels like you're watching an interactive graphic novel at times. Another example of good graphics in the game are when you interrogate someone; the interface switches to a close-up to where it shows a detailed portrait of the character you are speaking to; the lip-synching is done well and it really adds to drawing you into the story.

SOUND: Although the graphics are dated, the voice-acting and music is where this game truly shines. Although it was released on floppies, the best version of GK1 to get is the CD-ROM version. The voice-acting is done by various talent and all of it works. Tim Curry plays Gabriel Knight (he would later reprise this role in GK: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned) with an exagerrated Southern accent that works for the rowdy, slightly thick-headed aspects of the character. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker of 'Star Wars' fame) does a wonderful job as Gabriel's friend Detective Mosely and Leah Remini (from 'King of Queens') works for the snappy yet smart anctics of Grace Nakimura.

The music of GK 1 is one of my favorite computer game scores ever. Robert Holmes captures a jazzy feel in a lot of the pieces to represent the New Orleans setting of much of the game. My favorite music in the game is either the dark, forboding arrangement of the Gabriel Knight theme over the end credits or the jazzy music played on the radio in Gabriel's bedroom.

DIFFICULTY: GK 1 is tougher than your average adventure game. Although a lot of the puzzles in the game work for the story, some of them are a bit challenging to figure out. The arcade bits towards the end aren't as hard as they are frustrating.

10-09-2003, 05:27 AM	#1
Deshrill Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 260	Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father I just wanted to try writing a review for the first (and, in my opinion, best) game of the Gabriel Knight trilogy: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (hereafter referred to as GK 1). I imagine a lot of people have played this game, but it's old enough where some new adventure game fans might not have heard of it. I'll try not to describe the story in too much details, but there might be some MILD SPOILERS in the review. STORY: In GK 1, you play the part of Gabriel Knight, a crude, womanizing novelist in his early 30's who owns St. George's Bookstore in New Orleans. He has written a few novels, although none were major successes. He runs the bookstore with another employee: Grace Nakimura. Grace is a recent college graduate in her early 20's planning to start grad school in a few months. She's very smart and practical, in some ways the opposite of Gabriel. The main plot of the game involves Gabriel researching a series of brutal voodoo murders in New Orleans for a new book he's writing. The voodoo murders end up unlocking parts of Gabriel's family legacy that will end up changing him forever... The plot in this game is extremely well done. At times the sheer amount of dialogue makes it feel more like a novel than a game. When talking to important characters in the game, you can interrogate them on a number of subjects, resulting in a number of colorful responses. If GK 1 was a movie, it would be rated R: there is some strong language in the game and the murder scenes are often grisly. There is even brief nudity towards the end, but it's done in a way that relates to the plot. Although the plot of the game gets rather dark at times, there is enough humor thrown around throughout to keep the game from being too serious. GAMEPLAY: The interface for GK 1 is very similar to that of King's Quest 5, Space Quest IV, Lesiure Suit Larry V, etc.-- it's done with a mouse. You can right-click to change the different actions you can do (walk, talk, pick up, examine, etc) and it works pretty well. A few of the puzzles are of the annoying pixel-hunting variety, but for the most part the puzzles work well with the story. Towards the end of the game there are a few arcade sequences that are a bit frustrating, but it's nothing too hard to deal with. The game is a bit buggy at times and has problems running on newer machines due to timed sequences, although it should run OK with an emulator to slow down your computer. GRAPHICS: By today's standards, the VGA graphics look rather pixelated. Still, there are a lot of detail in the backgrounds and the animation works pretty well. The best graphics in the game are during the cut-scenes interspersed throughout; it literally feels like you're watching an interactive graphic novel at times. Another example of good graphics in the game are when you interrogate someone; the interface switches to a close-up to where it shows a detailed portrait of the character you are speaking to; the lip-synching is done well and it really adds to drawing you into the story. SOUND: Although the graphics are dated, the voice-acting and music is where this game truly shines. Although it was released on floppies, the best version of GK1 to get is the CD-ROM version. The voice-acting is done by various talent and all of it works. Tim Curry plays Gabriel Knight (he would later reprise this role in GK: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned) with an exagerrated Southern accent that works for the rowdy, slightly thick-headed aspects of the character. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker of 'Star Wars' fame) does a wonderful job as Gabriel's friend Detective Mosely and Leah Remini (from 'King of Queens') works for the snappy yet smart anctics of Grace Nakimura. The music of GK 1 is one of my favorite computer game scores ever. Robert Holmes captures a jazzy feel in a lot of the pieces to represent the New Orleans setting of much of the game. My favorite music in the game is either the dark, forboding arrangement of the Gabriel Knight theme over the end credits or the jazzy music played on the radio in Gabriel's bedroom. DIFFICULTY: GK 1 is tougher than your average adventure game. Although a lot of the puzzles in the game work for the story, some of them are a bit challenging to figure out. The arcade bits towards the end aren't as hard as they are frustrating.