Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
Credits Temp Page | Cast Credits Temp Page
 Gabriel Knight 2 Cover | |
Chapter 1 | |
| Release Date: | December 21, 1995 Citation Required[1] |
|---|---|
| Project Status: | N/A |
| Latest Version: | 1.11 |
| Developer(s): | Sierra |
| Publisher: | Sierra |
| Designer(s): | Jane Jensen |
| Source Available: | No |
| Category: | FMV Game |
| Type: | Full |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Theme(s): | Detective, Horror, Mystery, Noir, Supernatural |
| Engine: | SCI2 |
| CP Scheme: | None |
| ESRB Rating: | Mature |
| Platform: | MS-DOS, Windows 3x, Windows 9x, Macintosh |
| Localization: | English, French, German, Italian[2], Portuguese |
| Website: | www.sierra.com |
A.K.A.
- The Beast Within
- Gabriel Knight 2
- GK2
Description
Jane Jensen's The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery is a 1997 SCI2.1 FMV Adventure Game. It is the 2nd installment of the Gabriel Knight Series.
Synopsis
Novelist Gabriel Knight has taken over residency of his Ritter family's ancestral castle Schloss Ritter in Rittersberg, Germany, after writing a bestseller novel entitled The Voodoo Murders based on his experiences from the previous year in New Orleans (Sins of the Fathers). While seeking inspiration for a new manuscript, Gabriel is still adjusting to his new responsibilities as the latest Schattenjäger ("shadow hunter") – a role his ancestors have assumed in combating supernatural evils. One night, the local citizens ask Gabriel to investigate a mysterious death they believe was caused by a werewolf. Gabriel asks Gerde Hull, caretaker of Schloss Ritter, to do research on the matter while he investigates the crime scene in Munich.
In Munich, Gabriel learns of recent killings that the press and local police believe may be committed by escaped zoo wolves. Gabriel's evidence however points to a wolf-like but different, larger animal as the culprit. His investigation leads him to an exclusive hunting club; its leader Baron Friedrich Von Glower, intrigued by Gabriel and noting he comes from an admirable German bloodline, welcomes him as a member.
Meanwhile, Gabriel's assistant Grace Nakimura, left to tend his bookshop in New Orleans, flies to Rittersberg upon receiving word from him about his new case. She becomes annoyed when she can't track Gabriel down and Gerde will not volunteer his whereabouts. After mistakenly concluding that Gerde and Gabriel have a romantic relationship, she grows angry and insists she take over research duties. Grace later realizes her mistake and apologizes for her behavior. Grace discovers information about the Black Wolf, a werewolf who terrorized the area centuries before, and a connection to King Ludwig II of Bavaria. She sends her findings to Gabriel via his family lawyer.
In Munich, Gabriel is annoyed Grace has come to Germany, believing this case is too dangerous. To keep her at safe distance, he suggests she investigate Ludwig's connection. Gabriel learns that the hunting club has a philosophy that humanity has become complacent and should revitalize lost animal instincts, often through hunting and hedonism. While Gabriel comes to suspect club member Von Zell, he also develops a friendship with Von Glower.
Grace visits museums including King Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle, gains access to his diary and discovers that Ludwig II suffered from lycanthropy thanks to the Black Wolf. Ludwig and Richard Wagner conducted experiments together to produce a sound combination to force a werewolf's transformation, written in an opera by Wagner. However, their plan to expose and kill the Black Wolf with the opera was halted by Wagner's death, and Ludwig hid the score sheets before being arrested on grounds of insanity, leaving the opera lost.
Gabriel partakes as the hunting club goes on a hunting trip, and he discovers proof of Von Zell being a werewolf: Gabriel witnesses him eating human remains in a hideout in the forest. Gabriel reveals this to Von Glower, who, horrified of what he learns, agrees to help kill him. Gabriel is bitten by the werewolf before Von Glower arrives and, hesitant to shoot, throws Gabriel his rifle. Gabriel kills the wolf before passing out, now infected with lycanthropy. Grace arrives in Munich and finds Gabriel, who is put into quarantine.
Grace and Gabriel learn Von Glower is the centuries-old Black Wolf; as the source of the curse he is the "alpha" whom Gabriel must kill to cure himself. In a letter, Von Glower discloses he infected Von Zell (who then went insane) in a failed attempt to gain a companion, and pleads to Gabriel as a kindred spirit, asking that he embrace lycanthropy and join him as a werewolf. Grace finds the score to Wagner's lost opera, and a great performance is arranged. The opera is performed with Von Glower in the audience, and at the opera's climax Von Glower and Gabriel both turn into wolves. They run to the opera house's basement where Grace and Gabriel force Von Glower into an incinerator, burning him to death and thus curing Gabriel's lycanthropy. Afterward, Gabriel mourns Von Glower, admiring the man despite his actions. He then assures Grace that he will no longer keep her at a distance during dangerous cases.
About
Unlike its predecessor, the game was designed like an interactive movie, produced entirely in full-motion video (FMV) – a technology that was popular at the time for game production but expensive to use – with computer-generated scenery used for locations in the game, and a strict filming and voice-over schedule. In addition, the involvement of live-action scenes required a recasting of the main characters, with Dean Erickson and Joanne Takahashi portraying the lead roles, both of whom are playable during the story at different intervals.
The Beast Within garnered critical praise for its storytelling and characterization, as well as its presentation, but was not a commercial success as Jensen hoped for. Despite this, it received a sequel, Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, in 1999.
Where to Get It
GOG
Amazon
Humble Bundle
eBay
Internet Archive
- Not available at this time.
References
Related Links
- Gabriel Knight Series
- Gabriel Knight
- Gabriel Knight on Wikipedia
- Gabriel Knight 2 on Wikipedia
- Gabriel Knight Series on Wikipedia
- Gabriel Knight 2 on MobyGames
- Gabriel Knight Series on MobyGames
- Gabriel Knight 2 on IMDb
- www.sierrastudios.com/games/gk2/ (Official homepage on the web archive)
- Sierra SCI Release List
- Sierra Release List
