Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within
Adventure game that tries to create an alternate history
Gabriel Knight has always been an interesting adventure series; it always wanted to create alternate histories, or, rather, to include real historic fact or mythos into the weaving of its own stories, to give it a sort of edge, that relied on real facts or myths. In this second game of the series the fact that is exploited is that of King's Ludwig the second death, as well as the mystery that surrounds one of Wagner's operas, namely one that had gotten lost. Now, as you'd imagine, the game takes place in Germany, and it is really a beautiful game for it; yes, it can be bleak at times as some of the 1000 locales can be a little but dark, such as the catacombs, the burial places and so on,, but the high density, high pixel count backgrounds are really toiled over, and are almost always little works of art. Thus, with this photo realistic locales ace in its sleeve, Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within is set to be a great game, but wait till you actually get inside the puzzles! These are great too, sometimes with a forensic edge over them, sometimes just puzzles that work great in a given context, and with classic adventure game production. At any rate, the entire Gabriel Knight series is a great one, and specifically interesting for history buffs and those that are in the know about classic myths and mythologies.
A fascinating thriller
Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within is a point-and-click adventure game released by Sierra in 1995, and the second of the Gabriel Knight series. Also, its particularity is represented by the cinematic interactive aspect, since the action develops like a full motion video. The story follows the main character, writer Gabriel Knight and his assistant Grace Nakimura in their way of solving a crime investigation. They have to search for clues in a mysterious case that implies the death of a little girl. It is believed that a werewolf killed her. Unlike the first Gabriel Knight game, this edition is more complex, from a technological point of view. You will get fond of the main character because he is smart, funny and pays attention to small details around him. During the investigation, you will meet interesting people and explore different locations. The acting was very good and the graphics are very realistic, because as I said, everything is a movie. The ambiance and the narration will fascinate you, and that's why nothing can stop you completing the abundant work in order to solve the case. I warn you: some of the puzzles will cause serious mental exhaustion. Another minus is that the scary cover of this game doesn't compare with the lack of darkness in the story. This game remains a great one even today, and if you are looking for a classic virtual experience, The Beast Within is perfect for you.
