Customer Reviews

Gabriel Knight Mysteries: Limited Edition

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What can I say? The Gabriel Knight series is to traditional 3rd person adventure what the MYST series is to atmospheric 1st person adventure: the best of its kind. Briefly put, they follow the adventures and experiences of author and bookstore owner, Gabriel Knight, as he unravels various occult mysteries and at the same time explores his odd heritage.

The stories are incredibly engaging and well developed; the author, Jane Jensen, put a remarkable amount of research into the subject matter. The characters are likable and believable, and the voice acting -- and in GK2, the acting -- is some of the best. Everything about these games is excellently done.

For the collector, the GK series is a little history of the adventure genre. GK1 is made with the 2D animation typical of the early 90s, while GK2 explores the FMV trend popular in the middle of the decade. In both the main action consists of finding and applying inventory items and gathering information by talking to a wide range of characters, with a spattering of arcade type puzzles and brain teasers to keep things interesting. One feature that I liked was that you are awarded points for completing puzzles, but you don't have to complete every puzzle to complete the game. This makes the games highly replayable as you can play through once for the bones of the story and then play again to go back and pick up what you might have missed the first time. There are also a lot of fun easter eggs that you can stumble on by chance.

Though the subject matter is sometimes grim, dealing with murders, conspiracies, and such occult subjects as voodoo and werewolves, there is a levening of humour in the character interactions that keeps the darkness at bay.

I found these games totally absorbing; it was not unusual to play for 7 - 10 hours at a stretch without even realising it. They are also very long -- a plus as far as I'm concerned -- taking a week to ten days to complete. You can be killed, but it happens rarely and when it does you are given the option to try again from a point right before you made your fatal mistake, so if you haven't saved recently it isn't such a big deal.

Die Hard fans of first person, MYST-like adventures may have a hard time relating to the Gabriel Knight series because it's so different, and players of shooters or pure action games will probably not like GK at all. If you like games like _The Longest Journey_, however, you will like these.

The collectors edition pack contains a lot of extras -- books, soundtracks, and the like. That's a plus and well worth having, because I was so sorry when the games were over that I wanted to keep reliving the experience again and again. I'd pay twice the price just to have one of these games. They truly are the best.

Gabriel Knight 1 runs under DOS, and will play under XP if you run it under DOSBox, (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net), an open-source DOS emulator. I've tried it and it works, with sound and everything. You need to press Ctrl-F12 a couple of times to increase the speed though. One reviewer mentioned something about having to set the display 256 colors in XP... this is not necessary as Gabriel is not a Windows program.

Overall, Gabriel Knight 1 is a great game, and it really immerses you into the New Orleans milieu. This game made me want to visit New Orleans, even though I live in Montreal, and it's far more French here than in any other city in North America.

I can't say what compelled me to buy the Gabriel Knight Mysteries Limited Edition. Fate, perhaps. But within the first few moments of Sins of the Fathers, I was hooked. The puzzles are traditional Sierra (give this, get that -- not that I mind at all), but the plot is what stands out. I have never been so immersed in the story of a computer game. Game designer Jane Jensen blends together fiction and history so masterfully that in-game research is actually fun. I just wish my term papers were that easy.

Bottom line: both Gabriel Knights are must-plays. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

The Gabriel Knight series is probably one of Sierra's best selling adventure games to date. The reason being that the story's creator Jane Jensen digs deep into her research and then magically weaves in her unique method of storytelling. Her characters are strong and memorable and the game play is edge of your seat. You will want to keep coming back for more. The graphics in the two games are completely different- the second is shot with live actors- but both are equally as captivating. Kudos to Jane Jensen and the development team at Sierra for this excellent series. It's one of the best I've gotten into since I read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.

Gabriel Knight wants to be a slacker and a writer--it turns out he has a destiny instead, one that sends him tracking down voodoo priestesses and werewolves on a regular basis.

The first Gabriel Knight game had an excellent story and cool characters, even if they were just little sprites running around. The Beast Within, the second game, really came alive with superb use of FMV, and excellent casting (for everyone except Gabriel, but the rest are so good, and even he shines sometimes, that you don't mind too much). Plus, the story is rich and complex, drawing from reality and fiction equally, and blending them so skillfully, you aren't sure what's "real" and what isn't by the time you're done.

And the music...wow. I'm not even referring to the opera they wrote--the score for the game itself had me on the edge of my seat more than once. You owe it to yourself to play these games, now!

Now first off I must take note on the reviews that gave these games a single star. From their reviews it sounds like they are only mindless gamers. These games are not for those people. However, for the rest of the thinking population GET THIS PACK! While they are visually dated, they are timeless classics for ever reason that make an adventure game great:consuming and deep storylines, characters that you feel for, and rewarding puzzles that are always logical.

If you enjoy adventure games and you haven't played the Gabriel Knight Series, there is no reason as to why you shouldn't buy these games. And if your someone that enjoys being able to put some thought into the games your playing, then I strongly recommend you play these games. You won't regret it.

Sins of the Fathers (first game): While primitive-looking by today's standards, this is a surprisngly deep and compelling game. The characters convey actual personality (from Gabriel's machismo to Grace's waspishness), and you can't help but be swept up in this story of voodoo and destiny. Even the midi music is pretty cool, though it might drive you insane if you stay in one area too long....

Beast Within (second game): A full-motion-video game that shows you just how good the format can be. While I didn't care so much for the guy who played Gabriel, everyone else (especially Grace!) did an incredible job. In this game Gabriel has accepted his heritage, to a point, but won't accept help from Grace. Not that that stops Grace (little does). In this game, you switch between the two, as they work on the case from both ends (I found myself enjoying Grace's detective work more than Gabriel's good ol' boy attempts at sleuthing--though both are fun). Werewolves, missing Wagnerian operas, and dead Bavarian kings all combine in an enthralling story that sweeps you along, impatient for the next video clip. And the music...both the opera itself and the incidental music set the mood, and immerse you fully in this epic.

I only recently discovered Gabriel Knight and immideately became hooked on the series. They involve very real feeling characters, historical facts tweaked juuust enough to make a mystery, and environments to explore that leave you with just the right feeling of creepyness.

The first game is a bit old, but the graphics are still wonderful and the storyline is great. (The voice acting is top notch as well, featuring a cast that includes Tim Curry and Mark Hammill) The setting is New Orleans and you play the role of Gabriel Knight, a struggling southern man who owns a failing bookstore and who dreams of writing murder/mystery novels.

He follows a series of odd mutulation murders that have voodoo undertones to them to research the novel he's trying to write -- and is inadvertantly plunged into a side of reality that he didn't know existed, and learns of his family's heritage steeped in fighting such darkness.

The second game is a cinema quality live action game with actors. I was highly impressed at the acting skills Sierra had managed to recruit and how involved the gameplay was.

While the first game focused on New Orleans, the second takes place in Germany as Gabriel is called upon his first true role as a Shattenger (Shadow Hunter) to deal with a werewolf that has been mauling people on the edges of town. You take up the role of Gabriel again as he explores the streets of Germany, and his assistant Grace who follows after him and tries to track him down.

One word of warning, although there is no blatant nudity, there is blood, profanity, and some implied sexuality. This isn't a game for the kiddies.

Neither of these games are quickie things that could be finished in one evening. They both promise long gameplay and good replayability. As an added bonus the novel gives you an insight on the characters that the games can't. I highly reccomend purchasing this package, especually if you're a diehard adventure gamer.

So what if the graphics aren't in "stunning 3d"? These games don't need them. They may show their age in various areas, but it doesn't matter. If you want solid story-telling, great characters, and amazing mysteries, buy this set. If you're looking for thoughful entertainment, pick this up, by all means. If you want flashy graphics and lots of monsters to kill... go look elsewhere. These games are about thinking, not shooting... solving mysteries, not killing alien creatures. I adore them, and I always will.

Gabriel Knight is probably the best adventure game ever created. The story is fantastic, as good as any movie you can watch. The characters are extremely well written, the dialogue funny, dark, surprising, erotic. Everything you can wish for and everything you do not expect in an adventure game.

Gabriel Knight is a bookshop owner and a struggling writer who is haunted by odd dreams. Suddenly, he finds himself in the middle of a mystery involving the 'voodoo murders' in New Orleans, he investigates both the murders, and his dreams and the result are surprising to both him and the player! Gabriel Knight 2 sees Gabriel is Germany, a best-selling author and hunting 'werewolf' murders this time.

Gabriel Knight II is just as good. The game incorporates real-video scenes, which I truly enjoyed, they make the game so real, almost like a movie that you control. The story takes off where sins of the fathers ended, and as usual, it is fantastic.. Jane Jensen (the writer) has the ability to grip your mind so that the game takes over.. This is one of them games that you'll feel sorry is over!

Don't buy these games if you're addicted to point-and-shoot games, you won't enjoy it. But if you're looking for an enjoyable, and sometimes educational, experience that requires more than just manual dexterity, don't even hesitate.