Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition: Review

Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition Review Screen 1

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers is a Point & Click, Mystery, Adventure Game which first hit PC monitors in 1993 and was developed/published by the famous Sierra Entertainment Inc. The remake (20th Anniversary Edition) features high res graphics, a new remastered sound track along with artwork and interviews running alongside the story.

I’ve played quite a few titles in this genre like the Broken Sword series, Sherlock Holmes and Telltale’s The Walking Dead which is what first drew me to this game, sadly though it is not on par. The opening intro reminded me of Angela Lansbury’s famous Murder She Wrote series, this then brings you into a beautifully graphical street in New Orleans. The main protagonist Gabriel Knight is a Rare Bookshop owner/Author that has hit a writer’s block but dabbles in private detective work via his lead in the local police department.

Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition Review Screen 3

The main menu of the game gives you all the general features plus a Graphic Novel that gives you a back story of the game and characters but does warn you not to read too much as it will compromise the story. I really like this idea in games especially if you are new to a series or like this is a remake as it gives you more of an insight and back story which can enhance game play.

The games main overlay shows a Score Bar in the top left hand side where points can be earned through key events, solving puzzles and exploring/interacting with the world. There is pause button that is located top right which stops gameplay and allows you to enter the menu system. The bottom bar holds the Journal that records clues and important information and a Bronze Star displays Special Edition content like concept art and interviews. Your Inventory Bag holds all the items you have collected throughout your adventure.

You control Gabriel via the traditional point and click of this genre and allows you to explore, examine and interact in his bookshop as kind of tutorial. The first thing that hit me is the voice acting. Gabriel looks like an early to mid 30’s guy that sounds like is being voiced by a poor Elvis Presley impersonator and the narrator is played by what i can only assume was a bored women that they had dragged off a nearby reception desk to give her 15 minutes of fame.

Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition Review Screen 3

If you can shrug that off and explore the world, for a real fan this game has a very rich immersive storyline. It will see you juggling a multitude of locations that all hide ways of increasing and adding to the ever mounting tension on The Voodoo Murders. You will eventually get to use your detective skills at Crime Scenes and Character Interrogation to squeeze information out of them about clues and leads you’ve discovered using the bookshop as your base of operation.

Unfortunately though the game lacks drive and leaves you in a vague quandary of what to do next. Where as in most games of this genre they lead you to strive and to find out new and fresh ideas but alas not this one. In 1993 from what I’ve researched the original looked like a hit but possibly the game should have been left 20 year in the past as the remakes bugs and glitches can’t really be overcome, although the game is still playable.

I have to give this game a disappointing 6/10 it just doesn’t live up to other games of its style, it does offer a Free Demo for anyone wanting to prove me wrong but if i had £12.99 to spend on Steam I’d get the £9.99 Broken Sword Triple Pack giving me a good month of gaming and saving me £3.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox