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Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition #984474
10/20/14 09:42 PM
10/20/14 09:42 PM
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oldmariner Offline OP
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Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father 20th Anniversary Edition: Pinkerton Road Studio

The version under review is the GOG (DRM free,) download file. I am aware of the game being available through GOG, Phoenix Online Studios and Steam. It is possible you may find it elsewhere, though I have not seen any others offering the game. I mention this to caution my remarks regarding mechanics and performance speak to only the version tested in my play through. Additional tweaks may be present on other versions that may or may not impact playing on your machines. At the end I listed the minimum and recommended requirements for this version only. The game itself should be identical for all versions.

Mechanics

Anyone who is familiar with the original game will recognize the remake presents a large improvement. There are no overly dark areas with most scenes being pleasantly bright. Some are muted to suit the mood and the torturous old pixel hunting does not occur as in the past. There is one exception I will mention below under game play.

The voice acting is performed by a different cast than the 1993 production. I read somewhere Jane Jensen commented in an interview, voice actors who performed in the original were either not available or not cost effective. Whatever the reason, voice acting is credible and mostly very well done. I’m sure some fans of the 1993 game might take objection but for me this version is well done in that regard.

Those boxes popping up when characters are in conversation are present in this game as well. The renditions of character likenesses are all redone not always for the better. In my opinion compared to 1993 Gabe, this new one is lame. My opinion has nothing to do with whether you will like the game or not, bad me. Once again how you react to this is a matter of personal taste Be aware they are not the same old pictures of Gabe, Grace, and Mosley et all. Yes, those boxes are rendered in similar fashion to be true to the game. As a player, you ask questions posed in the same format as before. My one gripe here is they should have dropped off a question from the list when all possible answers have been posed. Forcing you to sit through the same comment over again gets painful after awhile. Interestingly enough the developers highlighted some questions in yellow hinting that you should not miss asking these. I suggest you start with those because when I did not, one of the important questions disappeared before I could click on it.

I forget to mention something that to Gabriel Knight fans is obvious. The game is fully point and click and in third person. I did find character rendition in their movements a bit blocky here and there but it is not something I felt was problematical.

[Gameplay

It is the same ten day format where you must exhaust all required triggers before you can advance to the next day. Sending you back and forth trying to do something you missed can be a pain. Think of it this way it prevents you from needing something days later and not having it. The redesigned game does not follow the same progression as it did in the first game. You may not visit the same areas you did in day one that was required in the older version. For the most part doing the same things and gathering the same clues is untouched. The difference is in how you get it done. As an example there is the addition of an alley beside the police station that was not in the original GK-1. It should tell you something is different. One day when you go to visit Mosley a car is parked out front and there is a bloody spot behind it. You did not see that the last time. Whatever you are trying to do at point might require something that is not in those old walkthroughs. The daily order may be different and a few new tasks may have been added with some being dropped, but the changes are small. It is mostly the same game.

Because relocation of required scenes is shifted to different days use of a walkthrough becomes problematical. You can still use them and for the most part they can get you through the day. You might be forced to guess a bit. Primarily what you need to accomplish at Grandmother’s is the same as it was twenty years ago. It did not change but some were tweaked and you go about it slightly differently. You get to do it on a different day. There is a built in hint system which is not a complete guide but it can fill in the blanks. You find hints in Gabriel’s journal, (Lower left bottom of your screen.) The inventory is on the bottom right. They show as permanent icons and you do not have to sweep the screen searching for a pop up or something. Regarding pixel hunting, as I said it is mostly a thing of the past. But that snake scale at the crime scene can be sticky to locate. We need something to nit pic about after all. It is what reviewers do when they don’t know how make a game themselves. They complain about creative people who can.

There are a couple places where instant death can occur. In that event you are given the choice to restart, retry or load a different saved game.
Click to reveal..
Save your game before walking into the museum for the last time. Then again on day 9 whatever you do save before you stick that spear into the wall to turn the mummies loose. You might have to try extricating yourself multiple times. On day ten before you send the drum message to Dr. John save because running into him before you get what you are looking for can be problematic. Again on day ten when you finally locate Grace save because the final scene can get ugly if you miss something.


The save slots appear unlimited. I made forty-one so you can use at least that many. They are located on your hard drive here----Local disk C/Users/User name/Appdata/local low/phoenix online studios/GK1 It can drive you nuts trying to find them. I hope this helps.

The bottom line for this version is there are no bugs rearing their ugly heads. Everything worked smoothly. The graphics alone add value likely to be appreciated by fans of the original. I found the game to be more forgiving than its predecessor both in abolishing pixel hunting and it visual appearance overall. The additional puzzles were not difficult and served to enhance the story. Speaking of pixel hunting pressing the space bar highlights everything you can look at and interact with. There is an awful lot to explore.

I am a great fan of the first game and thoroughly enjoyed this one. For those of you who have never played the game because of required tweaking to get it to run on modern machines or simply did not want to deal with dated graphics you should give this one a try.

Requirements as listed by GOG

Minimum system requirements - Windows: Windows 7 / 8 Processor: 2.0 GHz Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: ATI or NVidia with 512 MB RAM Hard Drive: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: Minimum suggested screen resolution is 1024x768. Not recommended for play on Intel systems with integrated/shared video memory.

Recommended system requirements - Windows: Windows 7 / 8 Processor: 2.0 GHz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: ATI or NVidia with 1 GB RAM Hard Drive: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: Not recommended for play on Intel systems with integrated/shared video memory.

Minimum system requirements - Mac: Mac OS X 10.7.0 Processor: 2.4 GHz Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: 512 MB Hard Drive: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: Minimum suggested screen resolution is 1024x768. Not recommended for play on Intel systems with integrated/shared video memory.

Recommended system requirements - Mac: Mac OS X 10.7.0 Processor: 2.4 GHz or higher Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: 1 GB or higher Hard Drive: 4 GB available space Additional Notes: Not recommended for play on Intel systems with integrated/shared video memory
[/u][u]

Last edited by MaG; 10/20/14 11:29 PM. Reason: Yikes my eyes I haven't reached that part yet. :lol:
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #984478
10/20/14 09:54 PM
10/20/14 09:54 PM
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Marian Offline
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Thanks so much for this informative review, oldmariner. I'm sure a lot of folks will benefit from reading it. I'm looking forward to giving this new version a try. wave

Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: Marian] #985384
10/25/14 04:12 PM
10/25/14 04:12 PM
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Mad Offline
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Thank you, oldmariner, for your detailed review thumbsup

Even after all these years I still think GK1 is the best Adventure game EVER and to read that you feel it has not "suffered" from its "modernisation" is just wonderful !! dance


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #985423
10/25/14 10:11 PM
10/25/14 10:11 PM
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oldmariner Offline OP
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You are welcome Marian. I'm happy to be able to do it.

Mad, in many ways I thought the game is improved. The voice acting is good, though I expect Tim curry fans may not like that aspect. Visually, it is great. They did a wonderful job creating a glitch free game that ran without any issues. (GOG version) Who knows what the others are like?

Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #985477
10/26/14 01:40 PM
10/26/14 01:40 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 34,312
United Kingdom
Mad Offline
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No Tim Curry ????

I thought BrownEyedTigre confirmed Tim Curry would do the Gabriel voice over ....

From This Thread ....


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #985517
10/26/14 06:42 PM
10/26/14 06:42 PM
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oldmariner Offline OP
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Mad,
I read that link as well saying Tim Curry would be back. When I played the game it did not sound like him, though it was not bad. For the review I tried to find out info on who the voice actors are, without luck. It's likely in the credits at the end of the game but I did not think to look. There is a good writeup about the game on a New Orleans Television station. Here is a quote from that article quoting a game rep, saying no Tim Curry

Quote:
"Financially, we're on an 'indie' budget, so while we'd love to be able to [go] all-out, we can only do so much. One example is the voice acting -- the original cast was star-studded: Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Leah Remini, Michael Dorn, etc. But getting those actors today wasn't possible for a number of reasons, budget among them (Also, some are retired, and they're all 20 years older and wouldn't sound the same.) But, we worked with Bay Area Sound, who've worked on the Telltale Games and also our earlier game Moebius, and they did a fantastic job," Hallahan said.


Here is a link if you wish to read the whole article. I usually look stuff up before I say something rather than suffer from hoof and mouth.

WDSU TV





Last edited by oldmariner; 10/26/14 06:43 PM.
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #985559
10/27/14 01:22 AM
10/27/14 01:22 AM
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Mad Offline
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Yes. It seems you are correct, oldmariner cry

I found this : HERE

"Alas, the original game’s voice cast—Sins of the Father was one of the first games to use Hollywood actors like Tim Curry and Mark Hamill—had to trade places with a new one. Jensen says the decision was purely practical: the original’s actors didn’t sound like their 20-year-younger selves, or had grown so successful that Pinkerton Road couldn’t afford them.

Jensen, who says the remake was done on a “shoestring” budget, turned to Bay Area Sound, a studio known for its work with developer Telltale Games on its episodic The Walking Dead games as well as Jensen’s recently released original adventure, Moebius: Empire Rising.

“Jason [Victor], who’s doing the voice [of Gabriel Knight] now, he has his own take on it. It’s a much more laid back, you know, much more comic take, which is a lot of fun,” she says.
"


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #985669
10/27/14 06:55 PM
10/27/14 06:55 PM
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looney4labs Offline
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That was quite the original cast wave


"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."
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Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: looney4labs] #986236
10/31/14 01:32 AM
10/31/14 01:32 AM
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Mad Offline
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I'm quite a way into the game now and REALLY enjoying it a LOT dance

But I do have to say that, for me, the original Gabriel Knight "look" and the voice of Tim Curry are greatly missed yes


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: Mad] #986424
11/01/14 02:01 AM
11/01/14 02:01 AM
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oldmariner Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: Mad
I'm quite a way into the game now and REALLY enjoying it a LOT dance

But I do have to say that, for me, the original Gabriel Knight "look" and the voice of Tim Curry are greatly missed yes


Mad if you are referring to the closeup avatar of Gabe I agree completely. The new Gabe is lame.

The voice is not Tim Curry and the new one isn't horrible you'll get used to it. It's kind of like some putz coming along and making a recording of your favorite song. It does not matter, whoever makes the cover is killing the song.

Last edited by oldmariner; 11/01/14 02:04 AM.
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #986530
11/01/14 04:22 PM
11/01/14 04:22 PM
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I said before on one of the boards that I'd treat this anniversary release as a "stand alone newie" (because of the differences between it and the original) and that's what I'm doing - and I'm enjoying it - but the original is still my favourite grin


Time : The Most Precious Commodity
Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #988038
11/11/14 11:51 AM
11/11/14 11:51 AM
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Jenny100 Offline
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Originally Posted By: oldmariner
Those boxes popping up when characters are in conversation are present in this game as well. The renditions of character likenesses are all redone not always for the better. In my opinion compared to 1993 Gabe, this new one is lame.

Yes, there was some discussion of the new "portrait" over at AG -- and "nomadsoul" posted a
***picture of a Sims model for a blond man***
he found using Google -- which resembles the new Gabriel portrait so much it's scary.
http://www.adventuregamers.com/forums/viewthread/114/P1230/#73065

At the same time, the portraits for the desk sargeant and the graveyard worker are exceptionally well done, which makes you wonder why the main character of the game didn't get a better portrait.

Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: Jenny100] #988254
11/12/14 03:41 PM
11/12/14 03:41 PM
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Mad Offline
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"At the same time, the portraits for the desk sargeant and the graveyard worker are exceptionally well done, which makes you wonder why the main character of the game didn't get a better portrait."

I agree, Jenny100 yes


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Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #989611
11/21/14 04:20 PM
11/21/14 04:20 PM
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Thank you for your thoughts oldmariner - it's nice to see so many positive comments by a player familiar with the original game which I played many years after it's release. I overcame having to play it in windowed mode & struggled with the interface until I got used to it but it was so worth it as it was such a great story & I'm over the moon that it's been remade!

Re: Gabriel Knight 20 year Anniversary Edition [Re: oldmariner] #989614
11/21/14 04:33 PM
11/21/14 04:33 PM
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oldmariner Offline OP
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Thank you Chrissie
They really did a fine job with the remake. It looks great graphically even if one dislikes Gabe's pop up avatar. He looks fine from a distance. They altered the time line regarding the order you visit places. A few puzzles were added and some dropped. Don't look for the vendor in the park when you need to enter Mosley's office. They gave you a new route to figure out and it is pretty good. In fact it makes more sense than the old way. You can follow old walk throughs just remember to go back to what you skipped and so on. The game is very true to the original. It looks great on Win 7. I have the GOG Drm free version with no tweaks, no hiccups and it ran flawlessly.

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