What Can You Tell Me About Voodoo?: ‘Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers’ at 30

Before Alan Wake hit the scene, PC gamers had Gabriel Knight as their horror author caught in a psychological nightmare. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers hit the PC back in December 1993, and despite its eventual sales figures deeming it to be a disappointment, Sins of the Fathers still received praise from critics and fans, thanks in part to its voice cast and mature story. Publisher Sierra still stuck with it, and kicked off a series that remains highly regarded among fans of the adventure genre.

Gabriel Knight is a cocky New Orleans book store owner and author struggling with a case of writer’s block. Compounding the situation for Gabriel are his recurring nightmares. Currently looking for material by researching a series of killings across New Orleans, Gabriel’s research leads him to determine that that the police’s theory about mob-related killings is wrong. Rather, the killings are the work of a voodoo practitioner. At the same time, Gabriel learns more about his past, including the revelation that an ancestor of his actually fought a voodoo practitioner, whose death at the stake echoes similar elements in his nightmares. As Gabriel digs deeper, more people begin to turn up dead, with Knight having more connection to the voodoo murders than he initially thought.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers  was created by writer Jane Jensen, who prior to Gabriel Knight, had worked her way up at Sierra On-Line by writing Police Quest III and EcoQuest. At the time, the majority of adventure titles from Sierra had a more fantastical and “lighter” side to them (as did a lot of adventure games at the time). Jensen brought a more “mature” tone to her storytelling, and after working with legendary veteran game designer Roberta Williams on King’s Quest VI (who would go on to create Phantasmagoria), Jensen was given the chance to direct her own title, which turned out to be Gabriel Knight.

Like many of Sierra’s adventure titles at the time, Gabriel Knight is a mouse-driven 2D game, with players moving around and interact with objects and characters. The dropdown interface features several buttons corresponding to the actions Gabriel can take in the game. Taking place over several chapters (divided up into “days”), you have to solve puzzles, gather clues and interrogate people. You have an inventory (to catalogue your items, naturally), as well as a recorder button that allows you to replay any conversations that you had with characters. The recorder is especially handy, since you’ll need to replay conversations with other characters in order to find clues, as well as give you an opportunity to soak in the writing and storytelling.

And really, it’s those areas where Gabriel Knight shines. Players are introduced to Gabriel Knight‘s more “adult” tone right away with the opening cinematic of Gabriel’s nightmare. A surreal dark sequence of events with a woman being burnt at the stake who suddenly shapeshifts into a jaguar, culminating in a vision of Knight himself being hung from a tree. Gabriel Knight isn’t outright horror, but is more a gothic mystery that teeters into horror on multiple occasions. If you mess up, Gabriel does meet a few gruesome ends, including having his heart torn out by zombies, stabbed in the throat or having his head bashed in. Jensen years later would say that the inspiration for Sins of the Fathers came from Alan Parker‘s 1987 film Angel Heart.

Gabriel Knight takes place of the course of ten days, with players actually spending the majority of the time soaking up the story as Gabriel makes his way around New Orleans, conducting his investigation and talking to people. This might sound tedious for non-adventure game types,  but the quality of Jansen’s writing draws you in. In fact, when you’re in a dialogue screen with another character, you’re presented with an option to just ask the other character to tell you about themselves. It might seem superfluous, but it’s that extra layer of character-building that keeps you interested in the game, and also just builds the world of Gabriel Knight. You can see where that Recorder feature is necessary.

As a character, Gabriel Knight is multi-layered. Apart from his wit and being a bit of a womanizer, you learn about his loyalty towards his friends and family through their interactions. It’s especially apparent with Mosely, who is not only a detective with the New Orleans police, but also Gabriel’s childhood friend. Players can either decide to delve into the details of the murders with Mosely, or just reminisce about growing up. To further drive home the idea of their lifelong relationship as friends, the two often take playful shots at each other, which is just not something you see very often when it comes to video game narratives. That’s in addition to Gabriel’s investigation of his family history, which involves visiting his grandmother, who details the family history of coming to America. And as mentioned before, this backstory includes details that factor into the situation with the murders in New Orleans.

Bringing Jensen’s writing to life is the voice cast, which was at that moment in time where Hollywood was beginning to dabble in video games. Tim Curry is on board as the voice of Gabriel, and while Curry certainly brings out the acerbic tone for the character, his New Orleans accent is a bit suspect. He obviously has an easier time with the Gedde family’s British butler. In contrast as the voice of Mosely, Mark Hamill does a better accent than Curry. Leah Remini handles Grace with ease, foiling Gabriel’s flirting with the appropriate sarcastic quips, as well as bringing a confident yet caring tone to the character, which adds that much more to Grace’s evolving relationship with Gabriel. Michael Dorn (aka Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation) honestly doesn’t have to do much other than let his voice drive the imposing stature of Dr. John. Contrasting Curry’s accent is Virginia Capers, who lays on a thick New Orleans accent as the game’s narrator. It definitely adds a nice bit of immersion in the game’s locale.

Graphically, Sins of the Fathers borrows heavily from graphic novels, as well as from film noir with the stylish shadows and lighting with its pixel work. In particular, the dialogue window where Gabriel and other characters converse has a distinct rim lighting effect for the character portraits. According to John Shroades, Sins of the Father‘s background art director, graphic novels were used as the basis for the game’s “cut panel” format to bring out specific moments in the game’s storyline. Tying it all together is the score by Bob Holmes, whose music further immerses the player in the game’s atmosphere.

Sins of the Fathers falters a bit when it comes to certain areas. While the game won’t let you progress until you complete all of the events on that particular day, you can put yourself in a soft-locked situation if you miss performing certain actions with your evidence, or at a later point, fail to pick up certain items. Puzzles aren’t too difficult, and you can save wherever you’d like. However, you can get Gabriel killed if you mess up a sequence, and it’s again possible to soft-lock yourself near the end of the game if you save in the wrong spot.

As mentioned, Sins of the Fathers wasn’t the hit that Sierra had expected, but it still garnered acclaim from press and fans, earning excellent review scores and a couple Adventure Game of the Year awards. And on the game’s 20th anniversary, fans were treated to a full-on remake, sporting 3D-rendered characters against redrawn 2D backdrops, a remastered soundtrack by Bob Holmes, and new puzzles and gameplay.

Unfortunately, given the low budget for the remake, the quality of the 3D characters and their animations are suspect (to put it lightly). Worse still, the masters of the original voice cast were unable to be found, and the files that the development team did have were of poor quality. Unable to hire the original actors because of budget constraints, the cast had to be changed. The new cast did an excellent job, but obviously nothing can compare to the original performances.

With newer horror adventure titles like Telltale’s The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain, you can see the influences that Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers had on the genre: Expertly-crafted stories with characters that have deep backstories and personalities that keep you coming back. The adventure game genre obviously is nowhere near what it was in its heyday, but the titles that do come out can certainly trace back to what Sins of the Fathers initially brought gamers. It’s definitely still worth it to go back and experience not only one of Sierra’s finest games, but also one of the best horror adventure games ever.