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Review of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers by TimovieMan

Stars - 45

Rating by TimovieMan posted on Sep 30, 2013 | edit | delete


Adventure storytelling at its best.


It took me a good long while to get to what has long been hailed as one of the absolute best games the adventure genre has to offer. Now that I finally did, I’m left to wonder why I didn’t play this gem any sooner…
This fictional mystery story, which is based on real life legends, tells an absorbing tale that clearly shows the extensive research that has been done into New Orleans voodoo and its origins. Writer Jane Jensen more than did her homework on this, and it gives the game an aura of authenticity that slowly gets under your skin and draws you in. It basically sets the standard of how storystelling should be handled in adventure games.
You play as Gabriel Knight, a wisecracking womanizer who owns a bookstore and moonlights as an (unsuccessful) aspiring novelist. Gabriel is being troubled by a recurring nightmare of a woman burned alive at the stake, and a hanged man that closely resembles Gabriel himself. Knight thinks these nightmares have something to do with the recent spate of voodoo related murders that have happened in New Orleans, so he decides to investigate those with the aid of Grace Nakimura, the feisty intern that works at his bookstore, and by abusing his relationship with his childhood friend Mosely, who works as a detective on the voodoo murders case. Gabriel’s investigation initially serves merely as inspiration for a new novel, but it isn’t long before he stumbles upon a trail that leads back to his own ancestral legacy.
The game starts off at a really crawling pace, with little indication of where things are going, but the blend of fiction and history makes it compelling. You as a player get steadily drawn in, just as Gabriel Knight himself is, and the story becomes more and more engrossing as it goes along. This build-up is unlike any I’ve ever experienced in an adventure game. It creeps up on you, and the story, coupled with the massive amount of research that went into it, truly is the biggest strength of the game. Jane Jensen is a master storyteller, as is evident with the world she created for this game - a world that actually feels lived-in, and with characters that have an actual history between them. The lingering tension between Gabriel and Grace, for instance, is a good driving force between both characters, and despite detective Mosely constantly winding up as the butt of Gabriel’s antics (which provides a few chuckles throughout), he’s a good foil for Gabriel and not the bumbling detective he might seem at first glance.
The narrator in the game serves to add to the atmosphere by speaking in a soothing and moody Cajun dialect, immersing you further in the New Orleans lore. And it’s not just the narrator (voiced by Virginia Capers) that does a good job, practically the entire cast consists of Hollywood voice talent: Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Leah Remini and Michael Dorn are just a few of the many people you’ll hear in this game. Tim Curry obviously gets the biggest chunk as Gabriel Knight. Unfortunately his natural bravado slips into overacting at times, and while he does a good job overall, his performance sometimes gets a bit uneven. Luckily it doesn’t distract much.
The game sports a traditional point-and-click interface, where right-clicking changes the interface icon, representing a different action to take each time. This is rather cumbersome, however, since there are no less than eight actions in the game. Often it is easier and faster to just select the appropriate action from the menu at the top of the screen instead. Considering how closely related some actions (like ‘push’, ‘use’ and ‘open/close’) are, this could have been streamlined a bit better.
The menu at the top, a feature that most Sierra fans should be familiar with, also holds your classic inventory, as well as a tape recorder that serves as a means to playback any past dialogues - a handy feature indeed in a game that relies heavily on conversations. In fact, the detailed dialogue system enables you to discuss a plethora of topics with everybody, often getting multiple replies. Needless to say that a great deal of time in the game is spent engaging in dialogue. Sierra’s scoring system is also present to show you the progress you’ve made so far. A total of 342 points can be accumulated throughout the game, and a chime plays every time you perform a key action that earns you one or more points.
While the game doesn’t feature many fast-travel options, you do have a handy map of locations (several of which exist in real life!) you can travel to in New Orleans, the bulk of which can be found in the French Quarter.
The story itself is divided into ten chapters, each one depicting a different day. Each day starts with a highly similar cutscene that has mild variations throughout to keep it interesting. Key cutscenes during a chapter are depicted with comic-style artwork, which is a nice touch considering the game comes with a comic book that fleshes out some of the backstory. For the comic’s full effect in the game, it should ideally be read sometime halfway into the game (around day 6). That way you have a much needed frame of reference for it as it ties in with the history of Gabriel’s family - a history that only gets expanded on after a few days in the game world.
Apart from cutscenes, the overall graphics in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers are consistent, highly detailed, clear and at least on par with its contemporaries. The only bits that seem odd can be found in the very first room (Gabriel’s book shop): some items seem more detailed than the rest. Specific hotspots like the newspaper, magnifying glass and tweezers appear to be in a higher resolution than the rest of the game. Fortunately it isn’t jarring, and I didn’t spot any problems (as far as you can call them ‘problems’) elsewhere.
The great music composed by Robert Holmes is adept at setting the right mood in the game, whether that’s safe and secure, foreboding, suspenseful or reflecting a feeling of unease. At times it has too much of a synthetic feel, but that’s mainly due to restraints inherent in games back when this was released. The soundtrack, coupled with the voice acting, can make you genuinely nervous at certain key plot points. When Gabriel explores an ominous cave in Africa, the narrator’s sudden explamation of “a shadow flickers in the corner of Gabriel’s eye” made my skin crawl and my hairs rise up - a perfect reflection of the danger of the situation Gabriel finds himself in.
And there is danger in this game. While death is not as abundant as in most other Sierra games of that era, it is still possible. Yet it always fits with the actual peril that Gabriel finds himself in, and evidently the amount heightens near the end of the game. During the first couple of chapters you have nothing to fear. Once you start getting closer to the truth behind the voodoo murders, and characters you’ve been talking to start dying, it’s time to start using the ‘save’ option more often.
Most puzzles in the game are well-integrated in the story, and are not too far ‘out there’ to solve. Most are inventory based, but there are a few action oriented (and timed) puzzles, especially towards the end. Typically, these are the puzzles where your character can die in the game, but they’re handled exceptionally well: the timing is tight enough to make the situation tense, but loose enough to be doable. And best of all is the fact that there are no dead ends whatsoever in the game (a significant step up considering most of Sierra’s games up to that point in time). Dexterously challenged players will also be pleased to know that you can set your character’s speed in the option menu. Putting it at the fastest pace will have Gabriel rushing through various screens like the Flash. This can help in solving the more difficult timed segments.
Despite making perfect sense within the game world, there are a couple of really hard puzzles that will have your brain cells firing on all cylinders. Unlocking a secret compartment in a clock, writing a coded voodoo message and deciphering some rada drum codes are some of the instances that could prove to be quite the challenge for most players. The rest of the game - and it is a lengthy game: I clocked about 20 hours in total - is more forgiving yet never overly easy.
In summary, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers is an enduring adventure game that has withstood the test of time with honours. The main thing it has going for it is the quality of its script and the writing. They are of the absolute highest level, used to great effect to slowly draw you into the game’s wonderfully detailed mix of fact and fiction. The dedication and research that Jane Jensen has put into this game is apparent at each step, making this a true classic, and perhaps the pinnacle of Sierra’s entire catalogue.


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Time Played: Over 20 hours
Difficulty: Just Right

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