Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

About Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999) is Jane Jensen's 3D adventure in which Gabriel Knight and Grace Nakimura search for a kidnapped baby in southern France and uncover vampires, Templars and the Grail.

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned in Depth

Gabriel Knight, voiced again by Tim Curry, and Grace Nakimura, voiced by Charity James, take on a case to find a kidnapped infant and are drawn into a mystery involving vampires, the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Jesus in the Languedoc region of France. The story is inspired by the conspiracy theories surrounding Bérenger Saunière, a 19th-century priest said to have hidden a treasure around Rennes-le-Château. The game recreates a fictionalised version of the village, including the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, alongside the real Rennes-les-Bains and Château de Blanchefort.

The story covers three days divided into time blocks; Gabriel handles the opening chapters, after which most alternate between him and Grace. Each block has required actions that can be done in any order, plus optional ones that add background, and a ticking clock signals when an action has changed things elsewhere. An overhead map with hints shows key locations, and a running score tracks progress. Moving the cursor over an object brings up a bar of verbs to examine, take or talk, and interviews offer topics to question people about, though conversations cannot be reviewed afterwards. Unlike earlier games in the series it is fully 3D, with the camera freely controlled except in cut-scenes and conversations. Its huge Le Serpent Rouge puzzle was called one of the best-designed in adventure history.

Making Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

Sierra wanted the series in 3D to keep up with the times, but the team had little experience with it; programmer Scott Bilas joined mid-production to be told it was nearly finished, only to find features needed to make it playable were missing. Struggles with the engine caused delays, and some puzzles Jensen designed proved too complex and were replaced with ones she disliked. Jensen said "we were the last dinosaur on the block". Released for Windows in 1999, it was not a commercial success but received favourable reviews: IGN said it "proves that adventure games still have some life left in them", while IGN and GameSpot both criticised Curry's accent, some dialogue and the move to 3D.