Gabriel Knight
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Gabriel Knight is the title character in a series of adventure games produced by the Sierra Corporation in the 1990s. Three games were released in the series; it is unlikely that any more will follow, however, due to Sierra's dismantling by parent company Vivendi and the general decline of adventure game sales. The Gabriel Knight characters and games were created by writer Jane Jensen, who also worked on King's Quest VI with famed game designer Roberta Williams. All three games in the series focus on the adventures of Gabriel Knight, a New Orleans author and bookstore owner who finds that his destiny is to become a Schattenjäger, or "Shadow Hunter". Gabriel's assistant Grace Nakimura is a major supporting character and romantic interest.
The first episode of the series was released in 1993, one of many of Sierra's games of the time to feature a nonlinear format. The first game used a system of "days", each of which had a required set of actions to be performed before proceeding to the next. As a result, linear dependencies of actions in the game are guaranteed to be resolved: a puzzle in the second "day" must have been completed to reach the third "day". This format was used throughout the series, replacing "days" with "chapters" and "time blocks" respectively.
Generalized description of the three games follows:
- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993) -- The first game in the series follows Gabriel Knight on his daily life managing his bookstore and struggling to write a mystery novel. When a series of strange murders with voodoo overtones occur near St. John's Eve, Gabriel begins an investigation for his book. He uncovers his heritage as Schattenjäger and an ancient curse placed upon his family centuries ago when an ancestor in colonial Charleston failed in his duty. The curse has plagued Gabriel's family ever since and intertwines Gabriel's life with that of the voodoo killer. Gabriel's decision whether to choose love or duty as the priority in his actions provides two possible endings. A CD-ROM version featured voice talents of such well-known actors as Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn.
- Gabriel Knight II: The Beast Within (1995) -- The second game in the series follows Gabriel Knight as he wrestles with writing a followup to his successful novel The Voodoo Murders. He has moved to his ancestral home, Schloss Ritter, in the town of Rittersberg, Bavaria (Germany). The local population is well aware of his family's reputation as Schattenjägers, and soon Gabriel is called upon to investigate what is believed to be a werewolf attack in Munich. Grace travels to Rittersberg to assist in the investigation, and "chapters" of the episode alternate between the exploits of Gabriel and Grace. Together, they uncover the legend of the Black Wolf of Bavaria, hints that Ludwig II of Bavaria was tormented by lycanthropy, and a lost Wagner opera. The game was created using techniques developed in Phantasmagoria, with the characters and many objects captured in real-time video and appearing on "virtual sets" consisting largely of rendered backgrounds. Unlike Phantasmagoria, however, GK2 is considered one of the few successful examples of full-motion-video computer games. Actor Dean Erickson plays Gabriel Knight and Joanne Takahashi plays Grace Nakimura. The game contains a magnificent soundtrack by Robert Holmes, who even composed an original opera for story ("Wagner's Lost Opera").
- Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999) -- A family of nobles summons Gabriel to France to investigate the abduction of an infant boy near the town of Rennes-le-Château. The town's legendary treasure, sought for centuries and rumored to be linked to the Knights Templar, makes for an intriguing enough backdrop, but soon it appears that vampirism may be involved in the abduction. Portions of the plot are loosely inspired by the theories presented in the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail. As in the second episode, the game shifts back and forth between Gabriel and Grace as main characters. The engine used in this game is the third-person 3D system used in King's Quest VIII, and Tim Curry returns as the voice of Gabriel Knight. Gabriel Knight III is the last adventure game published by Sierra Entertainment to date.
With a balanced mix of historical facts and fictional elements, as well as an emphasis on character development (e.g. a relationship between Gabriel and Grace is an important subplot throughout the series), the Gabriel Knight games have been praised as outstanding achievements in storytelling, regardless of the medium. The music in the series, composed by Robert Holmes (who is, incidentally, Jensen's husband), contributes significantly to the storytelling and atmosphere.
Sins of the Fathers and The Beast Within are also the titles of first two games' novelisations, both written by Jensen.
External links
- Quest Studios (http://queststudios.com) - music from Sierra Games, including Gabriel Knight.
- Schloss Ritter - Ancestral Residence of the Schateenjagers (http://www.geocities.com/ourchairweb/ritter) - a detailed fansite.
- - Gabriel Knight 2000 (http://www.gabrielknight2k.tk/) - a website with patches for the first and second game, allowing them to run correctly in Windows XP.it:Gabriel Knight