Gray Matter

Posted by Philip Jong.
First posted on 29 November 2010. Last updated on 10 March 2011.
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It is not an exaggeration to call Gray Matter one of the most anticipated adventure games in history. Created by veteran designer Jane Jensen, the game has had a turbulent development history since its first announcement in 2003. Initially dubbed Project Jane-J, the game has suffered numerous unforeseen delays, including a change in both the developer and the publisher. In fact, Gray Matter is…

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Previous Comments

Very Good

being a huge fan of the GK series as well, i was looking forward to this for years. and i have to say it... only partly disappointed.

yes, it is not the genius game that i would have hoped for. not as dark as i had hoped (which i was already afraid of when i saw the age rating for the first time) and sometimes, the production value was a bit disappointing. not in terms of graphics though, i thought. IMO, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous! quite a bit more detailed than i expected. in harsh contrast to back then when i first played gabriel knight 3. i thought to myself "jeez, what is this?!".

no, what was disappointing in terms of production value to me was the fact that apparently, at least two characters were dubbed by the same voice actor. and maybe even three. and they're even major characters! so i kept thinking about the other character whenever i heard her speak. very annoying.
the style of the cutscenes was not exactly my cup of tea in the beginning either but i find it's easy to get used to it.

everything else... i felt the difficulty was alright, i actually applaud the fact that there were only as much as needed interactable objects in the environment (pretty much like GK2 & 3. wouldn't have it any other way) and the story clearly has its JJ mark.

so all in all, this game is almost what i had hoped for and i can only hope that there will indeed be a sequel. and hopefully these few issues will be taken care of then and we will have once again a true masterpiece in our hands.

Canada By sh4dow • On 28 January 2011 • From Toronto, Canada

Very Good

Pretty well made game.

As a fan of GK series I have to comment that this is NOT a gabriel knight game...
Whoever searches something like that... well good luck.

As a fan of adventure games (played since 1993) this is a really good game but obviously rushed to be published.
Also it seems like a low budget production.
Besides all these I had a great time playing it. The game really absorbed my thoughts and mind into its great moody/gothic atmosphere.

Negatives:
-Riddles are mainly on the easy side
(It was targeted for them to be easy as some of them would be really harder if some minor changes were made)
-Low interactive background
(More hotspots required to make the game feel larger and know the characters a little better)

Possitives:
-The Plot.
-The mystery that (still) hides behind the main characters.
-The music.
-Riddles that are greatly implemented to a real 2010 world.

As for some complaints made here and elsewere online i have to say the following:
I totally disagree with the dialogues complaints. Some lines are "huge" and deserve better.
Also I felt connected with both characters and I always wanted more!!!
Finally I didn't find the story cliche, in contrary with the "Wispered world" which many consider the greatest adventure game of some years now.

France By DarkEnlil • On 25 December 2010 • From Athens, Greece

Good

Very cliche story, but good narrative style..

Nice but motionless background graphics and character graphics with bad animation..

Successful sound and music..

Very easy puzzles..

Result; good adventure but could have been much better...

Turkey By FullGrim • On 24 December 2010 • From Istanbul, Turkey

Good

I've started using computers since 1997. Gabriel Knight The beast within was a game I really enjoyed for many weeks. Next the Sacred blood Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned was by far the best game I ever played. I started playing in an illegal copy but soon afterwards I bought it. Until now I have the original box and CDs placed at my bookshelf. It was just excellent in all aspects.

Now with gray matter I'm a little disappointed. I admit that the story line is excellent however the general appearance of the game is bellow average.
I was waiting for this game since its announcement in 2005. Every Gabriel Knight had technical achievements for their time. What a pity for the gray matter. Jane Jensen is a computer programmer and she could at least, point something at the general development. I have the sense that she lost her willing after so many delays. Nevertheless the game story is good and worth to be played.
I hope after 10 years of waiting to see another game from Jane Jensen that will be as good as her talent.

My dream is a game for Jane just for Playstation with great graphics. It would be less pirated and more enjoyable.

Greece By Kostas Palaiologos • On 24 December 2010 • From Athens, Greece

Poor

After a long wait it was finaly there.

I "played" it to the end.

Wat a disappointment !!!

Substandard in EVERY aspect of the "game".

Sorry to say , it was a wate of time.

paul de bruin

Netherlands By paul de bruin • On 18 December 2010 • From assen ,holland

Good

I would say this game was neither disappointing nor satisfying! Iv always been a big fan of gabriel knight series and was expecting the intrigue and thrill of that kind! but what i got instead was surreal graphics, gloomy to be precise , with background that looks totally dead! No cut scenes at all! which is supposed to be a very important aspect of a game! and finally no emotional bonding with the characters!
On the plus side, the game had an excellent storyline, good lead characters and a good voice acting!
So its just a game where, if you are dieing of boredom you can play and maybe, just maybe enjoy!!!

Pakistan By Mishal • On 13 December 2010 • From Pakistan

Poor

I'm very very sad to say this but I honestly hated it. Spent all of today playing it and I'm really really disappointed in the story most of all.

Plots just come and go and you feel absolutely no attachment to either the main character or any others (except maybe the doc who sometimes is lovable but has huge moodswings: one day he doesn't know who samantha is and refuses to use anything but her last name and the next, being angry at her as well, casually calls her sam)

And let me not get started about the plot evolution... It starts off... all right I guess, with the first weird thing going on being a huge surprise and quite well done but then we just get more of the same thing. nothing has the impact of that first scene or the weirdness.

stacking weights? really? uuh, i'm terrified.

I'm just sad that such a promising game has such a horrible tale after the first couple of hours or so.

I really enjoyed seeing things from a dual perspective though, like finding out what certain things in the house actually were but disliked the disconnect, especially when she goes to London...

and the ending is such a bore SPOILERS. who would have expected SPOILERS to have the shy girl be not only secretly in love with the mad scientist but also paranormal and all that. what a load of crap. and here i was expecting an intelligent explanation to everything that was going on and instead all i got was a quick fix ending. i don't even have to get rid of the bloody tool, she kills herself. what a drag...

and SPOILER the whole motivation of the main character was to get cash? not even at least the boring cliche of oh how they made love after these events...

i'm really sad it had such a crap story because otherwise it was a pretty awesome game.

oh, and bugs. but i won't get into that because it's too annoying...

Germany By Adrian Tache • On 12 December 2010 • From Bucharest, Romania

Excellent

I trully believe u have to play again guys! The game is awesome, and supernatural events are taking place all over the game...It is JJ that wrote this one , so , supernature is present as it was expected! I enjoyed playing this one! Thumbs up!!!

Greece By Tommy Ikonomidis • On 05 December 2010 • From Greece

Poor

Long awaited this game.
It was finaly there.

wat a huge disappointment.

In every aspect of the game.

shallow stupid schoolgirl fantasy .

Netherlands By arthur dent • On 02 December 2010 • From luxemburg

Poor

I'm a fun of the gabriel knight saga and adventures in general.

Gray Matter is a really poor adventure.

I know there are so few adventure in this years, but this is not a resone to claim that every one we see is great.

This one is really poor. Bad puzzles, stupid conversations, ...

France By Marco • On 30 November 2010 • From Italy
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