Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

Oh, this is gonna be good!

For some reason my dad wanted to pick up this game series, but I payed for it. We got it in a double combo of the first two games as a promotion for the third game. And due to the computer we didn't get it working... and the second game actually had a scratched CD (nr 3 of 6). So a bit of a downer, but the games are fantastic. It also came with a novel of the game... aka a walkthrough. I actually read it and it was rather interesting to see how the story worked in a coherent way compared to my try anything and see if it works. Of course I was able to cheat on some puzzles, like the cemetery code, the drum code and the clock code. In short a lot of codes. Funny enough it has a picture of the actor from the second game on the front.

My walkthrough

It is actually worth reading even if you played the game since it is more creepy at times than the game. For example near the end sneaking in to the police station nothing out of the ordinary happens, but the book hints that all the police in the office is actually controlled by the voodoo cult and if no one is there, they are lifeless zombies. It's a really creepy moment. But before I get a head of myself, let's start from the beginning. You play as Gabriel Knight (amazingly voiced by Tim Curry) who has constant nightmares since he began researching the so called Voodoo Murders that are plaguing New Orleans. He is helped by his part-time co-worker Grace and police officer Mosley (voiced by Mark Hamill) who gives him inside information on the cases. As he gets deeper he finds out about this ancient voodoo cult that lurks in the shadows and how it ties together with Knights own family, the Ritters of Rittersburg. The family is an ancient family of shadow hunter... or shattenjaegers which translates to Shadow hunter. For two millennia the Ritters have hunted the paranormal until one ancestor used the powers in their talisman to save a voodoo witch by empowering her leading to the death of a settlement in the new world and stealing the talisman. The loss of the talisman have lead the Ritters to ruin as Gabriel is the only one left since most Ritters die untimely death, including Gabriels father and grandfather. 

I'm already remembering being to scarred to play as a kid

If you don't get it is the same voodoo cult so he has get the talisman back and stop them. And if you wonder they are basically drug smugglers so they are obviously evil. The music is by Robert Holmes and is fantastic, creepy and atmospheric. The voice acting is amazing... except maybe for the narrator and some minor roles that just sound off. There is a remake, but I haven't played it and since it lacks the original voices I don't feel inclined to. The graphics of the old game is still good, but it might be my taste. It's also rather informative on both the mythical voodoo, but also it's real life origins. New Orleans history with Marie Levou is gone into detail and I get that the recreation of New Orleans was kinda good (well, at least before... Katrina was it?). I highly recommend it.