Product Description: Gabriel Knight and his associate, Grace must rescue a missing heir and reveal secrets buried not only in the hills of France but also in the lineage of Gabriel Knight himself. The third in the Gabriel Knight mystery series, it's based on a real-life enigma.
Amazon.com Review: Jane Jensen's spooky private eye is back for another round of supernatural mystery in Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. This installment offers greater challenge and interactivity, with a fantastic 3-D engine designed specifically for the game. Each scene offers multiple vantage points and may or may not bring you another step closer to solving the game's ultimate mystery.
Play as Gabriel or his assistant, Grace, as they race against time to locate the young kidnapped son of a dethroned prince in the small French town of Rennes-le-Chateau. The backdrop is used to heighten the tension and add detail to the story, for just over 100 years ago bizarre real-world happenings enriched the parish church and may have led to the local priest's untimely demise.
The game offers a great balance of puzzles and investigative problem solving, often shifting from one to the other between scenes. Only rarely are hints offered, so if you get stuck, you may have to do some real-life investigation to track down other players who have published online help, but you shouldn't have to be an enlightened master to make it through the game. For the most part, persistence pays off, and the lush visuals and outstanding voice talent should help ease the sting of frustration enough to keep you going through the rough spots. Gabriel Knight 3 appeals to the eye, ear, and mind as well as the sense of the macabre--pick it up before the conspiracy hears about it!--Rob Lightner
Amazon.com Product Description: Generation after generation of religious historians, researchers of the occult, and covetous treasure hunters have tried to reveal the truths hidden in this unassuming village high in the mountains of France. Now it is Gabriel Knight's turn. Before he and his associate, Grace, are finished, they must rescue a missing heir and reveal secrets buried not only in the hills of France but in the lineage of Gabriel Knight himself. The real-time 3-D graphics and character animations make this game ultrarealistic.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Disappointing
"Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned" is the third installment of the Gabriel Knight games, a series of adventure games about the roguish detective/writer, Gabriel Knight. Gabriel and his companion, Grace, have been asked by Prince James of Albany to investigate a series of mysterious attacks by so-called "night visitors." When the son of Prince James is kidnapped, Gabriel pursues the night visitors to Rennes le Chateau, where he begins piecing together a mystery relating to the Holy Grail.
Despite the marketing, this game is not about vampires. Vampires have a token appearance in the game, but never command center stage, as did the voodoo hounfor in "Sins of the Fathers" or the werewolves in "The Beast Within." Gabriel and Grace make no attempt to uncover the true nature of vampires, or to research lore on vampires. Although the vampires do murder three people during the course of the game, their victims are chosen at random and have nothing to do with the main plot.
A large part of the charm of the first two Gabriel Knight installments was in the relationships which Gabriel formed with the villains. Through these relationships, the player could not help but sympathize with the villain, and thus the villain was transformed into more of a human and less of a monster. However, in "Blood of the Sacred," Gabriel's only interaction with the villain is through a single, cheesy interview, which does nothing to endear the villain to the player.
The roles that Gabriel and Grace play in this mystery are fairly futile. Gabriel spends his time snooping into the identities of members of a treasure-hunter tour group staying at his hotel, but what he uncovers amounts to nothing more than a red herring. Grace spends her time researching the mystery of Rennes le Chateau, but all her research is rendered superfluous by the presence of a perplexing ally who has known the answer to this mystery for centuries.
The actions of this perplexing ally and his polar opposite --- the vampire leader --- are insupportable. The ally leaves hints about the mystery of Rennes le Chateau in broad daylight and expects Grace (and not the other treasure hunters from the tour group) to find them. However, he could have revealed the mystery to Grace in its entirety on day 1, instead of putting the kidnapped child at risk for an additional 48 hours. And in the end, he simply tells Grace the mystery in its entirety anyway.
Meanwhile, the vampire leader fails to achieve the goals of centuries of scheming, because he chooses to refrain from action for two days after the kidnapping of the child. The only reason given for his decision to delay action is that he wants to savor his victory.
The game would have been much better had it been purely focussed on the Holy Grail. The kidnapping and vampires should have been omitted, replaced with a race against the Vatican to uncover the mystery of Rennes le Chateau. Since Gabriel is portrayed more than once as reluctantly Catholic, this conflict would have had many opportunities for character development.
All in all, the game was a disappointing installment in the series, despite an improved interface and the return of Tim Curry as the voice of Gabriel Knight.
Rating: - An extremely ambitious undertaking
From it's solid 3d presentation, to it's immersive free roaming gameplay, to it's unique integrated puzzles, GK3 ups the ante for adventure games on this release..The experience is quite an immersive one, although I found some of the puzzles too tedious and actually got burnt out with the game for a while because of it....Probally my fault though, as the extremely high praise for this game makes me remember what it was like to once install a game that actually attempted to be an experience, rather then a mere game.
Rating: - One of the Best!
If you like real mystery and a game with a real story line this is the game for you. If you have played the previous Gabriel Knight stories it is easier to get some of the jokes and little things in the plotline mean more but it is not necessary to play the previous games. If you liked the Di Vinci Code you must play this game. The way the game merges reality with fantasy is amazing and the secrets keep you entralled. Buy this game! You will not regret it.
Rating: - Wonderful story and characters
I was sorry to end the game -- you get very attached to the characters, and the historical background is fascinating. I liked the video in GK2 and would have to say that the villain there doesn't have an emotional equivalent here, but Grace gets to play an even more important role. Music is great, and there are lots of Easter eggs and humor as well.
If you are a religious Christian, you may not want to buy the game; the ending has the potential to offend.
I am truly sorry that GK4 appears to be unlikely, I would by it in a heartbeat.
Rating: - Bloody Good Game
Gabriel Knight has been a highlight of the Sierra titles since the first game came out years ago. BotS, BotD continues that tradition in a fully rendered 3-D environment that lets the player become immersed in the scenes of the crimes that truly adds to the fun of being an investigator of the paranormal, like a mix between CSI and The X-Files. Though the puzzles can be weird at times (getting cat hair with scotch tape to make a fake moustache), and the locals French accents get annoying, you'll love the story, adore the characters, and start to hope that Gabriel Knight 4 comes out very soon.
- Disappointing
- One of the Best!
