Sure, the graphics are dated compared to today, and the characters' faces look painted on, but you won't care, not with an engaging story and a mystery that draws you, trying to solve it. Gabriel Knight 3 is a classic of Sierra's adventure games, and its a good title to enjoy. The controls are good, the locations are nicely done (if a bit blocky!), the puzzles are well made, particularly one puzzle that is the smartest one to be made for an adventure game, and there are plenty of optional tasks here that will make you attempt to do everything to achieve that the maximum amount of points you can get; it won't award you anything, but its still satisfactory, none the less. The voice acting is great as well, as Tim Curry definitely brings to life the character of Gabriel, while the music creates the right atmosphere, from a calming hotel lobby, to a situation where you got to make a quick decision or risk failing badly. The story's use of vampires, conspiracies and Knights Templars, coupled with a more notable religious element, provides a fascinating backdrop to the main plot. Yes, the graphics are a bit dated - remember this was a title around the turn of the millennium - but even fans of 2d adventure games will like this title. It is a must for any adventuring pros.
"Your sword's blowing glue.... Wait, let me try that again. Your sword's glowing blue!" That is just one example of what makes this a great adventure game; the fact it taps into the quirky nature of the world of Zork, and the comedic touches it brings out, are all part of the fun that comes from adventuring in this wonderfully fantastic world of adventure. Forget finding rupees and delving into dungeons to beat bosses and collect heart containers. Forget battling ginormous bosses using magic, summonable creatures, and a couple of potions. Forget trying to smuggle out a document pass the noses of some hired goons who'd find it when frisking you when you leave the hotel. Zork is more about just giving you good puzzles to solve, and avoiding death and other nasty surprises that could end your game. Zork is about a witty story populated by hilarious characters and creatures, amusing background lore, and a reminder of what adventure games were like when it was all: ">INSERT COIN INTO SLOT "You insert the coin into the slot, causing a ticket to appear from the machine." This is a brilliant classic of an adventure game. The story is memorable, as are the characters, the puzzles are nicely done, and overall, it is great fun to play. A must for any adventure loving fans, and particularly those who love the Zork series.
After playing this for maybe an hour or so, I can say that this is a good title, but ruined by unfinished work, glitches, and a stale aftertaste after playing it a bit. How to begin this review, I wonder... Well, for the good points about it, the controls are simple to get accustomed to, the interface is very nice to work with, and the story is very sound from what I saw. The voice acting is nice, the environments you traverse are well made, that it has lots of promising elements to make you want to play it. But the start is the only good bit of the game you can work with, because after this, the problems arise. Among a number of minor issues, the game goes stale with repetitive dungeon "mazes", the difficulty shoots up to a level so immensely punishable that you have to think of what you did to the game to deserve it treating you like this, and then there are glitches that can cause considerable issues with playing it. I got so fed up, that I just discontinued immensely with the game. Overall, its a not a bad game, but you may have to consider if you can put up with the issues to play through it. If not for these issues, I think it might have just been a good game amongst the likes of Diablo for example.
In all honesty, this looks like a good attempt to update the game, but there are sadly so many issues here. While I applaud the effort to update the locations and make settlements more vibrant, the tweaks in the graphics of the world map, and the improvement of the UI to allow control of more mercs, this is where things go downhill. Firstly, the difficulty of the game is a lot harder; even on an easier setting, you still find yourself getting your mercs being hit and having trouble taking down a goon. Secondly, the story is nowhere different to the original. Where are the mafia and the drugs? You can tell that this is mentioned within the in-game e-mails, but cutscenes are exactly the same as the original, as if they didn't bother to make new ones, only tweaked by the changes in location setups. There are other changes which just make this not a worthwhile title to play. All in all, if you are looking to play a more updated version of Jagged Alliance 2, this is for you. But if you want to experience the Jagged Alliance series, stick to the originals - if Dmitri could say it, he'd be more willing to fight in the original Arulco than this updated look...
