Gabriel Knight is a series of adventure games produced by the Sierra Corporation in the 1990s. Three episodes were developed in this series, and it is unlikely to expand in the future, as Sierra has left behind its legacy of adventure games. The game series is the product of writer Jane Jensen who also worked on a Sierra horror game, Phantasmagoria, with famed game designer Roberta Williams (well known for the King's Quest series of games). All three episodes of the series focus on the adventures of Gabriel Knight, a New Orleans author turned witch hunter. The second two episodes also closely follow the adventures of Grace, Knight's assistant and keeper of his bookstore, St. George's Books, in New Orleans.
The first episode of the series was released in 1993 as one of many of Sierra's games featuring a nonlinear format. To provide the format, the first episode used a system of "days" over which the episode unfolded. Each "day" has a required set of actions to be performed and will not complete until they are. As a result, linear dependencies of actions in the game are guaranteed to be resolved. The "day" format was used throughout the series
Generalized description of the three episodes follow:
- Gabriel Knight- Sins of the Father*-- The first game in the series follows Gabriel Knight on his daily life managing his bookstore and attempting to write a mystery novel. When a series of strange voodoo-related murders spring up near St. John's Eve, Gabriel begins an investigation for his book. What he uncovers is his family's heritage as Schattenjagers, or witch hunters, and an ancient curse placed upon his family when an ancestor of his failed in his duty in colonial Charleston centuries ago. The curse has plagued Gabriel's family ever since and intertwines Gabriel's life with the voodoo killer. Gabriel's decision to place love or duty as the priority in his actions provides one of two possible endings. The game was produced using fairly standard Sierra animation techniques. A CD-ROM version featured famous voices such as Tim Curry and Michael Dorn.
- Gabriel Knight II- The Beast Within*-- The second game in the series follows Gabriel Knight as he struggles to write his second novel. His novel based on the voodoo murders is a bestseller and he has moved to his ancestral home, Schloss Ritter, in the town of Rittersburg, Germany. Gabriel is called upon by people in Munich to investigate what is believed to be a werewolf attack. Grace travels to Rittersburg to assist in the investigation, and "days" of the episode alternate between the exploits of Gabriel and Grace. Together, they uncover the myth of the Black Wolf of Bavaria, suspicions of lycanthropy plaguing King Ludwig of Bavaria, and a lost Wagner opera sonically designed to force a werewolf to take wolf form. Gabriel, bitten by the Black Wolf and a werewolf himself, hunts down and kills the Black Wolf, freeing him from his lycanthropy. The game was created using techniques developed in Phantasmagoria, making it almost completely done in real-time video or video overlayed on rendered photograph.
- Gabriel Knight III- Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned*-- Gabriel travels to Italy to investigate an incident of vampirism in a noble family. As in the second episode, the game shifts back and forth between Gabriel and Grace. The engine used in this game is the third-person 3D system used in the latter episode of the King's Quest series and featured Tim Curry as the voice of Gabriel.
