The Beast Within : A Gabriel Knight Mystery
Developer : Sierra On-Line
Publisher : Sierra On-Line
Year : 1995
The video game developer Jane Jensen is a quite known, and influential name in the adventure gaming industry. She also happens to be one of my favorite writers. Not only did she create great games, but also wrote some pretty good books like Dante's Equation, which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. Having started her writing career as part of the writing staff in Sierra Online with the games Police Quest III and Ecoquest, she eventually went on to create her own series, the oft-celebrated Gabriel Knight.
Her writing M.O., which started with the first game in the GK series is creating a perfect blending of fantasy and reality, which is accomplished by her obviously extensive research of the topics she is including in her stories, and her masterful weave of the fantasy into the truths. She mixes historical, and even scientific facts with supernatural concepts and fictional monsters so well you almost buy it.
In Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, she managed to conceive of a somehow believable secret evil voodoo cult in the good old New Orleans. On top of that, she created a very interesting protagonist which is for most people a love or hate type of character, Gabriel Knight: a sarcastic, womanizing, utterly selfish man who doesn't care about what other people think or want, though his heart (like very deep inside) is in the right place. And although he doesn't care one iota about books, he owns a bookstore which he inherited from his father. He is also struggling big time with being a writer just because he has to pay his bills somehow, it does not seem to remotely come from a place of passion. His interest in the voodoo murders for his book research unexpectedly set him on a path to discover his unknown lineage, the German monkish nobles called Schättenjagers (Shadowhunters in German), who were waging a war on the forces of evil and darkness since the medieval times.
Without much choice he bowed down to his destiny, by using everyone around him in any way he could think of, managed to expose the murderous voodoo cult (of course, also stole their money before the police came) with the help of his secretary Grace Nakamura, and his balding pal Detective Mosley, and became a force of light, while somehow still being smug, arrogant, and self-serving as ever. Quite an interesting character, indeed.
A New Case
The second game takes place one year later, and continues on his life story. Gabriel wrote his first book based on his experiences with the Voodoo case, and it actually became a hit in the USA. He even has fans. Though now in his Bavarian ancestral castle, nothing changed with his creative talents as he is still struggling very hard to write his second book. Luckily his second case arrives just at the right time to put him out of his writer's block, supposedly about a werewolf terrorizing the countryside. Gabriel doesn't seem to take his job of the Shadow Hunter seriously which is hardly surprising, even refusing to wear his protective talisman because "the damn thing is heavy", but is persuaded to look into it. And thus begins his second gaze into the depths of evil, and this time evil is gazing back to him as well.
The game is one of those FMV (Full-Motion Video) games that uses real life actors, which were trending at the time it was developed. Unfortunately, the gameplay in FMV adventure games can cause some problems which made their lifespan very short. The things players will be able to do will naturally be very limited, as shooting scenes just for trivial things would be very expensive and time consuming. As a result some of them did not feel like a game at all, and the experience became weird, and unattractive. But Gabriel Knight 2 has surprisingly handled this very well, and there is essentially not that much difference from a regular point and click adventure game. In fact its classic adventure style, together with shooting the right scenes in the right way created the believable, and realistic experience FMV games were aiming for in the end. I think it is fair to say GK2 has mastered this niche of the genre, and it is arguably the best FMV game ever made.
Some scenes can feel unnecessarily dramatic or even cheesy at parts, but in general all of the actors do a more than enough job for an FMV game. While at first I couldn't merge the actor Dean Erickson's portrayal with the Gabriel in the first game, I quickly found out his Gabriel's smug, even condescending attitude and aloof demeanor quite fit the character. I had laughed a lot watching his belittling looks and narcissistic tendencies. Other actors did not do a bad job either, but Peter J. Lucas' intense acting (who plays Baron Von Glower, one of the main suspects in the game) has to be particularly noted, and apparently virtually everyone agrees.
The game took a lot of hard work behind the scenes as well. According to the interviews, and the comments given by its developers in their reunion later on, the director's work (Will Binder) turned out to be quite difficult. He actually had a very busy schedule and experienced technical problems, and almost didn't complete the game in time, but somehow was able to pull it all off with his limited resources. So congratulations to everyone who took a part on this project.
Gameplay & Puzzles
The gameplay is divided into two distinct styles. This time we also take control of Gabriel's secretary, Grace Nakamura. Gabriel's parts are about detective work, interrogating witnesses and suspects, tricking and using people as usual, and dangerous tasks of the case, while Grace's parts are about historical research through which you also learn a lot, and also cleaning up Gabriel's mess. This contrast builds a very interesting and compatible dynamic, and each one's inputs turn out to be equally critical for the Schättenjager task at hand.
Besides a couple of puzzles (including the infamous cuckoo clock puzzle, which is just hard because of the lack of hints presented), all the solutions you have to think of are very logical, and they are a good blending of interrogation, detective shenanigans, and classic adventure riddles. Particulary the final puzzle is very well designed. It can be argued that some input from the characters were needed to tell you what you need to do, but figuring out the objective itself is also entertaining I would think. Gamers nowadays (even adventure players) have little patience for these kinds of things because they are used to games holding their hands every step of the way, so probably many will find that puzzle unfair (I am not criticizing anyone, honest!). But the whole sequence is actually skillfully put together and expects you to think critically which is definitely a bonus.
Unfortunately, much of the challenge will come from finding the hotspots that can be clicked on, namely pixel hunting which is the bane of old adventure games. This is even a bigger problem than it should have been, because even if they are more or less irrelevant to the story or the actual goals Gabriel and Grace have, you still have to find and click on most of the spots, and listen to the commentary the protagonists give so the game can progress. This is especially a problem in Chapter 4, which is a very entertaining chapter in its own right, but getting totally stuck just because Grace hasn't heard about a random info about some German saga can be frustrating.
On the plus side, the game features very well made, pure detective work, and I honestly felt like I was a real life investigator which I absolutely enjoyed. Gabriel's investigations feel very realistic, and the FMV style definitely helps here. Few of his actions and snoopings are illogical, which I must confess is very rare in adventure games, as much as I love the underplayed genre. The paradoxical Schattenjager has reason and motive to do virtually every task he does, from examining the crime scenes to pestering a police officer to infiltrating a hunting club because it is one of his only leads. The sensible actions of the protagonists are also one of the reasons why the unraveling of the plot feels so smooth and real.
The pacing of the game is one of the best I have seen. Like the other entries in the series it starts off slow, you begin your quest, and look around and get the hang of the game's map, and characters, and it almost feels boring, just like what I imagine a real life investigation would be like. Slowly you collect your evidence, interrogate witnesses, and suspects, and eventually combine the clues to paint a picture, all the while hiding behind your novelist persona, and not mentioning that you believe a freaking werewolf might be responsible for the grizzly murders, and you mean to hunt it. When the whole thing culminates, and the dangerous moments start, it all becomes very exciting, and you see the build-up was orchestrated perfectly. This aspect is shared by the other entries of the series as well, but arguably the style is at its most effective here.
As in other GK games, and unlike many in the adventure genre, you can die in this game. Fortunately there is no need to worry and obsessively save your progress in every step of the playthrough, because even if you have screwed up a long time ago, the retry option will send you just before the part you did. This is a great workaround for dead-end problems which infested the earlier Sierra games.
Deep Plot & Characterization
The fantasy and truth again blend very well in the superb game that is The Beast Within. This time, Jane Jensen has put her inquisitory sights on King Ludwig II, and she has woven the fictional and supernatural parts into the eccentric real life of this last king of Bavaria perfectly. Most of the facts presented about the unusual king are actually true, and through Grace's research you learn a lot about him. Finding out real life information is always a welcome addition in games, and I've increased my knowledge a lot via Jensen's entries. Not only does she teach you about the various topics featured in the game, she also includes many informative facts about the city or village or wherever her games take place in. I still feel like I've visited New Orleans thanks to the first game. This time we roam around Munich, breathing its atmosphere, and visit a few of its many famous landmarks including the Neuschweinstein Castle (and I do mean visit), and it is simply educative fun in the end.
As in other Gabriel Knight games, the second entry also includes great evolution for its characters. Gabriel and Grace go through a serious, and demanding ordeal, which is sometimes surprisingly dark and grim, and they change and mature from it. The concept of the battle between darkness and light, temptations of evil, and the trial of the soul versus the animalistic ego were mixed into the plot very well, and both characters face their demons through the experience. In addition to mystery and horror, this one is a spiritual game at heart, and the story it tells, and the conclusion feel very rewarding and satisfactory.
One of the notable characterization moments has to be particularly mentioned, and it warrants some info about the later stages of the game so be warned, spoilers ahead. As I said the game, and its characters feel very real in spite of the supernatural topic at hand. When the chips are down, and Gabriel is face to face with the werewolf for the first time, he becomes quite scared, and messes up big time, bungling the job like an amateur. Which he is, after all he only solved one supernatural case yet, and most of it included trickery and deception. When the monster rears its ugly head he doesn't suddenly become a perfect hero, unleash the Schattenjager inside, casting spells, and wielding his dagger with the skills of a master. Even the game's main villain notices how much of an amateur he turned out to be, and seems disappointed with him. It makes a lot of sense that Gabriel would neither have the know-how nor the experience to hunt down a rabid dog, let alone a terrifying werewolf. All this realistic characterization makes the story very believable.
Robert Holmes' Magic
No Gabriel Knight game review can end without praise to its music. Robert Holmes, who is actually Jane Jensen's husband adds exceptionally fitting music to the scenes. Whether the setting is romantic, mystical, or stuff of nightmares, he delivers it. The composer even wrote a full blown opera for this game, with help from Jay Usher. There is a reason why I smile whenever I see a police station, because Gabriel Knight's awesome theme that plays in Police Stations starts to play in my head.
The Verdict
If you are a fan of adventure and/or mystery, and do not find FMV games particularly distasteful, you will most likely love this game. It does start slow and has its imperfections, but overall the second entry delivers a very unique experience that you will not find in other games. I just hope we'll be gifted with Gabriel Knight 4 someday.
Rating : A-