Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within

"Gabriel Knight II" was by no means a terrible game, but it's not a stellar one either. The game was extremely linear and predictable. With the exception of a few occasions where the puzzles were convoluted and far-fetched (i.e., the tape cassettes), this game was quick to play and fully anticipatable (for a "whodunnit" story, this one kills all mystery). The eggregious over-acting was also distracting. I know this is part and parcel of FMV, but the characters did not feel like they carried over from part I at all. Despite this, the game was surprisingly nice to play, and the music was excellent and the environments were cool (even if they were a tourism plug for Baveria ;).

I've held off for some years because I had the feeling that the 'movie' style adventure just didn't work. Wow I was wrong! As a GK fan of many years, I felt that GKII not only captured the same feelings provided by GK, but went one further. The retro graphics/movies take you back to the nostalgic 90's, where adventure games were cool! Glad I gave it a go... now for GK 3... and Dreamfall Chapters... and Broken Sword 4/5... the list of adventures I NEED to play goes on. One at a time I suppose!

With the possible exception of what I thought was an aversive opera scene in the game (I loathe opera), this was, and is, the perfect FMV game. To those of you out there who are new to the concept of 'full motion video' in a computer game, you are lucky. Most FMV stuff is absolute rubbish, and is only loved by those who can appreciate it's 'camp factor'. Because of the novelty involved with FMV, most of these games just pushed the video gimmick as a substitution for actual gameplay, leading your character from one scene to the next, slowly completing a story sequence through to the end. I will not pretend that the game designers work was easy. The work and preparation involved in FMV is basically similar to shooting a movie, and all of the organization that is necessary is part of it. Unfortunately, all the hard work was seldom backed up by a good story, and even less often by decent talent. Also, it quickly became apparent to the audience that FMV does not make a "game." These kind of story "games" still exist, and are very common here in Japan where I live to this day, but they are not treated as games, more like interactive DVD's. In any case, Gabriel Knight avoided the pitfalls of other FMVs by 1. having a great story 2. having good actors and 3. actually having a video game underneath all of the movie sequences. "The Beast Within" takes it's cues from the traditional adventure game structure. There are plenty of puzzle items to work with in the adventure game tradition, and you may even find yourself a bit stuck once in a while. However, getting stuck in GK is a blessing in disguise as it allows you to explore the beautiful locations, and peruse the abundant literature throughout the game. Which brings me to another good point... this is a game for people who don't mind reading. It is an intelligent game with a fantastic story that is supported by a lot of real historical research and a good deal of imagination. It is possible to finish the game without reading everything, but what would be the point? The only possible flaw in the whole game is that, for me, it could have been a little harder, but it is still the best FMV game ever made. Final Analysis: anybody who likes adventure games or FMV absolutely owes it to themselves to play this game. This is a "must play" kind of deal.

FMV usually sucks. Weird logic puzzles, bad acting, boring. But GK2 is different. 1 The puzzles feel like real adventure game puzzles. Yes, there is an occasional moment where you better use a walkthrough, but these moments are rare. 2 The acting is not bad, actually it's pretty good. The characters themselves reach from awesome to horrible. But the acting is always good! 3 The story is great! There went a lot of work into it, many of the history is absolutely solid. Except for the werewolf parts of course! If you are not only an adventure friend but also a German history buff you will enjoy this game even more. 4 The characters. Gabriel is not bad, but he is no Tim Curry. In the end it is a totally diffent Knight character. Grace reaches from fantastic (in her first scene) to horrible btch (after that) to again great (later in the game). The supporting cast is fun to interact with, especially the Lady in the Ludwig museum. No, in Germany no one in a museum is such a dick :) But my, I love her! There is a German dub, and it's so ridiculous that it's fantastic comedy material. They tried to shadowmask the language barriers with hard to understand German dialects, it's awesome! But the better way is to play it in English. If you speak English and German you have the best experience possible! You can read (well written) articles and signs that the main actors don't understand, so you always know a little more than them. You can skip the video sequences (for example getting in the car and driving away or walking up the stairs, or walking in the next room), thanks to the hard drive installation it's a pretty fluid experience, I don't want to imagine how that must have felt with 6 CDs. Also you can't die very often, it's pretty rare. Non the less, I advise to save often, you can skip a video but something was supposed to happen, and you missed it, so at least you can go back. If I had a top ten of adventure games, this game would be in it! Highly recommended!

Does it run on Linux?