Gabriel Knight

The first part of the series was released in 1993. It has become one of many Sierra games made in a non-linear format. The first game is divided into "days", each of which requires a certain sequence of actions, after which the next "day" begins. Thus, the linear sequence of actions in the game is guaranteed to be fulfilled: without solving all the riddles of the previous “day”, it is impossible to move on to the next. All games in the series are organized in the same way: in the second part, “days” changed “chapters”, and in the third - “time intervals”.

Due to the successful combination of historical facts and the author’s imagination, as well as a deep study of the characters (for example, the development of relations between Gabriel and Grace - an important part of the plot of the series), the games were highly appreciated and recognized as an outstanding achievement in terms of art. The music for the series, written by husband Jane Jensen, Robert Holmes , greatly enhances the atmosphere of the game.

Gabriel Knight is the protagonist of the series, the alter ego of the player. By profession, a writer, as well as the owner of a small bookstore “St. George's Rare Books ” in his hometown of New Orleans . By vocation, Gabriel is a private investigator specializing in uncovered supernatural crimes. He is charismatic, resourceful, witty, a little sarcastic, has inhuman intuition, easily finds an approach to women, he can always pull the information he needs from his interlocutor.

At the beginning of the first part of the game, Gabriel appears as an unlucky fiction writer, intuitively approaching the clue of a series of murders, leading him, ultimately, to the discovery of family secrets. Gabriel discovers that he is a descendant of the Satten Jaegers, detectives investigating supernatural events. At the conclusion of the first game, Gabriel will have to go to Bavaria and declare his rights to the inheritance of the Sattenjäger.

The next two cases that fell to Gabriel, already as a professional “shadow hunter,” are described in the second and third parts of the trilogy.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993)

In the first game of the series, Gabriel Knight lives in New Orleans , managing his bookstore and simultaneously trying to write a new book. When a series of strange murders takes place in the city, accompanied by a voodoo ritual shortly before St. John's Day , Gabriel begins his own investigation and collects material for his future book. He very quickly finds out about Shadow Hunters when his relative tries to contact him. He also learns of an ancient curse placed on his family centuries ago when his ancestor in Charleston did not fulfill his duty. Since then, the curse has haunted his family, and now because of him, Gabriel’s life is closely intertwined with the life of the killer, which makes ritual killings of voodoo . Without wanting it, the new Schattenjäger goes to Germany and even to Africa to meet its fate.

Gabriel’s decision to be guided by his actions - love or a sense of duty - leads to one of two possible endings.

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within (1995)

At the beginning of the second game of the series (also sometimes called The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery ), we see Gabriel trying to write a sequel to his successful novel, Voodoo Murders . He moved to the home of his ancestors, Ritter Castle in the town of Rittersberg, which is located in Bavaria . The local population is well aware that members of the Gabriel family are Shadow Hunters, and soon Gabriel will have to investigate what they consider to be a werewolf attack in Munich .

Grace, having learned from a letter that Gabriel is to investigate, refuses to stay away from business in the States and goes to Rittersberg to help. Thus, the “chapters” of the game are divided between Grace and Gabriel.

Together they discover the legend of the Bavarian Black Wolf, find out what is hidden behind the tragic death of Bavarian King Ludwig II and find the lost Wagner opera .

When creating the second part of the series, technologies were used that were further used and developed in the Phantasmagoria game, where characters and many objects were filmed in real time and shown against the backdrop of “virtual scenery”, consisting mostly of background photographs (a technique known as Full Motion Video, or FMV ). "The Beast Inside" is considered one of the few successful examples of computer games using the FMV technique. The episodes that take place in Munich give a surprisingly accurate depiction of the city.

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999)

A family of aristocrats calls Gabriel to France to investigate the kidnapping of a child near the town of Rennes-le-Chateau .

The legendary treasure of the town, which has been searched for for many centuries and which, according to rumors, is associated with the Knights Templar and even with the death of Christ , seems to be a completely justified and intriguing motive, but it soon becomes clear that vampires can be involved in the abduction.

As in the second part, the game is divided between the two main characters - Gabriel and Grace. The engine used in this game is an improved version of the 3D system with a third-person view, which was also used in King's Quest VIII .

Gabriel Knight is voiced again by Tim Curry . “Blood of Saints, Blood of the Damned” is the latest quest released by Sierra Entertainment .

The stories “Sins of the Fathers” ( ISBN 0-451-45607-6 ) and “The Beast Within” ( ISBN 0-451-45621-1 ) were the basis of the novels. Both books are currently published. Some people criticized The Beast Within for being poorly edited because it contains a large number of errors where German is used .

Grace Nakimura

Grace Nakimura (Grace Nakimura) - a permanent assistant and assistant to Gabriel, collects information, works in the archives, conducts preliminary research for the tasks assigned to Gabriel. Sometimes she has to directly participate in the investigation. At the very beginning of the trilogy, Grace leaves the university, where she was preparing for a degree and moves to New Orleans. By a strange whim, she goes to work at the St. Bookstore . George's Rare Books . Partly she is driven by a thirst for adventure, partly she does it in defiance of her parents, who, following Japanese traditions, in their own way represent their daughter's future, involuntarily putting pressure on her. In her warehouse, a cheerful and reasonable girl, Grace, however, has a keen intuitive sense of possible danger, prone to belief in the supernatural. But most importantly, Grace has a born researcher talent. Grace devotes free time from work in the store and research to high matters: she loves to paint with oil paints and is interested in Chinese philosophy, in the study of which she achieved impressive success. These talents of Grace were very useful subsequently to Gabriel in the investigation of his first case. In the second part of the game, Grace is much more active, she becomes a game character, who is allocated about half of the playing time. The entire historical component of the game is now at Grace’s disposal, Gabriel can only deal directly with the investigation of the case entrusted to him. Grace may be hostile to those who do not want to assist her in her research, especially Gerda, the custodian of Castle Ritter, on the first day they met. However, Grace's insistence, sometimes turning into stubbornness, became very useful for Gabriel's cause, and even saved his life. Gabriel had to reconsider his condescending and patronizing attitude towards his assistant, and in the third part of the game, Grace already appears as Gabriel's absolutely equal partner. Although Grace often speaks unflattering about Gabriel’s abilities and human qualities, it’s obvious that both heroes are actually very worried about each other, perhaps even more than ordinary partners.

Franklin Mosley

Franklin Mosely is Gabriel's best friend since childhood. At the beginning of the first game, Mosley works as a detective in the New Orleans police. He does not attach importance to the strange circumstances of the series of murders, refusing to believe in the supernatural nature of these incidents, but gradually, when the facts no longer leave room for any rational explanations, Mosley gives serious support to Gabriel in his investigation. In the second part of the game, Moseley does not appear, although the heroes mention him several times. Mosley "returns to duty" in the final part of the trilogy, "accidentally" finding himself on vacation in the same area of ​​France - Languedoc - where Gabriel is trying to unravel the case of the abduction. Mosley shows a suspicious interest in the Gabriel case and is extremely reluctant to confess to his true purpose of coming to France. She and Gabriel are constantly playing the irreconcilable couple of bosom friends; Mosley often witty ends Gabriel's playful phrases.

Gerda Hull

Gerde Hull, managing director of Ritter Castle, Gabriel’s family estate. When Gabriel first saw her, a young woman, passionately enthusiastic, enthusiastic, radiating optimism, appeared before him. Her unbridled desire and zeal to help Gabriel in search of his famous uncle Wolfgang clearly testified to her love for the great shattengerger. After Wolfgang's death in the first part of the game, Gerda agreed to stay in the castle and help Gabriel in memory of Wolfgang. In the second game, Gerda still mourns for her dead lover, sadness does not disappear from her face. She responds with courteous unfriendliness to the attempts that arrived at Grace Castle to oust her from the place of assistant Gabriel. After Grace accidentally finds out that she has no reason for jealousy of Grace to Gabriel, the two ladies decide to join forces to help the novice "shadow hunter", and possibly to save his life. Since Gerda considers it her duty to take care of Ritter Castle and the grave of its previous owner, she does not appear in the third part of the story, which takes place in France.

In the November 1996 issue, Computer Gaming World magazine awarded Gabriel Knight second place in the ranking of the most memorable characters in computer games.

• The Pendulum of Life is a fan site of the series, you can also find there: demo versions of the game, soundtracks, graphic novels, rare materials, fan art, and a large number of links. The site is under construction.
• Gabriel Knight fanpage
• Russian-language fan page of the series, fan translations of GK1 and GK2
• The Gabriel Knight 4 Campaign - site for the promotion of the Gabriel Knight series with the goal of creating the fourth part of the game
• Gabriel Knight 2000 - a site with patches for the first and second games, allowing you to easily run them on Windows XP . (Moved to http://vogons.zetafleet.com/gkpatches/ )
• Quest Studios - music from many Sierra games, including the Gabriel Knight series