It won't be a Gabriel Knight game without a gripping plot based on real-world myths, and The Beast Within does not disappoint. The backdrops, which are computer-enhanced images based on actual photographs taken in Munich and surrounding area, are simply stunning. Although some actors are a bit over-the-top, overall the acting ranks among some of the best seen in a computer game.
The cast is simply top-notch- Peter Lucas in particular deserves special notice as the mysterious, charming Baron von Glower. But spend only a few minutes with the game, and it becomes obvious that once again Jane Jansen shows great mastery of her medium. Gabriel soon finds himself on Huber's farm, where his troubles are just beginning.Īnyone who has played Sins of The Fathers will likely be sceptical and disappointed at the decision to make The Beast Within a full-motion video game as opposed to 2D adventure of the original. Their leader, Werner Huber, tells Gabriel that as local Schattenjäger, he is needed to track down and kill a supposed werewolf who killed a young girl at the outskirts of Munich.
While hitting a writer's block trying to churn out a sequel to his best-selling novel The Voodoo Murders, a group of distressed villagers knocks on the castle's door. Gabriel has moved into Schloss Ritter, the family castle that he inherits from uncle Wolfgang after he sacrificed his life to save Gabriel's. The Beast Within picks up where Sins of The Fathers left off. Similarly, the amazing character-independent movement modes and interface in Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned is testament to how 3D can actually enhance gameplay in adventure genre.
While The Beast Within seemingly succumbed to the FMV (full-motion video) fad in late 1990s, the game today stands as prime example of how an FMV game should be done: with outstanding acting, gripping atmosphere, and an intuitive interface that sacrifices none of the challenging puzzles. In Sins of The Fathers, Jane stretched the capabilities of Sierra's icon-based interface by adding new commands, and use it in several new ways (such as allowing the player to write whole passages in Voodoo language, or send drum codes).
Every new Gabriel Knight game not only has an even better story than the last, but also pushed the technological envelope at Sierra in creative ways that no other designer can match. Jane Jensen has created in a disheveled, egotistical, and tormented New Orleans writer one of the most memorable computer game protagonists of all time, and thrust the term Schattenjäger into the public spotlight. Arguably the best adventure game series ever made, Gabriel Knight not only sets new standards of interactive storytelling, but also proves that computer games can be no less literate, mature, well-informed, and thought-provoking than other media.
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