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Cheet Sheets 1995 August
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2ABKNIGH.TXT
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1995-08-07
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3KB
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60 lines
~Gabriel Knight
2
GKNIGT01.PCX
GKNIGT02.PCX
Reviewed by Martin Keen
There's some real talent involved with this game. Not with the coders
or graphic artists but with the voices. The superb Tim Curry takes the
lead role, and Mark Hamill (from Star Wars) plus Michael Dorm (from
Star Trek) are also there. One of the girls who appeared on Saved By
The Bell during the summer holiday at the country club makes an audio
appearance too. Of course this is only relevant if you buy the CD
version. Somehow the humourous delivery of Tim Curry's lines are lost
in purely text format. Can't think why...
Gabriel Knight is a supernatural psycho-triller if you believe Sierra
or a graphic adventure for the rest of us. It's been designed by
Jane Jenson who's worked on recent Kings Quest games and has just
finished Phantasmagoria (which fills an incredible 6 CDs). Shes a
frustrated novelist whos turned her hand to adventure games but to
make her creations feel more like the books she really wanted them to
be every game she ever does is divided up into chapters. She'd
probably add page numbers too if she thought she'd get away with it.
Gabriel Knight is brilliant. Lets get that clear straight away. The
plot about voodoo murders in New Orleans unfolds superbly as
the game progresses. Theres even some neat plot twists to keep you
guessing. Most characters can be interrigated with a set list of
questions which grows as you learn more about the story along with
another set of questions which apply specifically to the person you
are interviewing.
Theres also plenty of puzzles to be solved which involve finding
objects and using them with other objects. Unfortunately this is
where the game comes unstuck. The puzzles are Sierra puzzles which
should give a vague idea of what to expect. Fortunately the sudden
death syndrome hasn't been implemented here although it is possible
to die near the end. But many of the puzzles are illogical so its
often a case of trying every object on everything else. Even more
annoying is about half way through the game where you must pick up an
item for use later on. Its not instantly obvious how to get hold of it
but if you don't the game progresses anyway and when the item is
required you'll be stuck because it is no longer available. I had to
start several chapters back again because of this and its just plain
poor game design. This sort of thing happens much too often in Sierra
products.
This gripe prevents Gabriel Knight ascending the dizzy heights as such
greats as Sam & Max Hit The Road but the refreshing storyline and
building atmosphere make it one of Sierra's best adventures to date.
Gabriel Knight is also a very big game. Its quite likely it will take
you months to complete - even with the occasional hint from Cheet
Sheets.
Sierra have very nearly cracked it. Maybe the forthcoming Gabriel
Knight 2 will be able to compete with LucasArts but until then here
is a very worthy game that every adult adventurer should own.