Gray Matter Demo (2010) (PC) (WizarBox)
3There's a lot of talk these days about exploring new ways of presenting narrative in games, and much is made of the potential of everything from ambitious big budget releases like David Cage's "Heavy Rain" (2010, PS3) to various indie projects like "Facade" (2005, PC). Beyond all this fancy experimental stuff, however, there is another, often over-looked approach to revolutionizing how the narrative is utilized in video games; and that's to simply tell a great story. So many developers come up with clever, visually arresting ways of presenting a story which, due to a bad script and/or poorly thought-out premise, is simply not very compelling to begin with.
Fiction writer and long-time game designer Jane Jensen clearly knows what really matters when it comes to storytelling in games. As the co-designer of Sierra classics like King's Quest VI and the creator of the Gabriel Knight series, she is one of the veterans of the traditional adventure game genre - with an emphasis on quality writing over structural pyrotechnics - and her much-delayed return to the genre with Gray Matter has been hotly anticipated ever since its first announcement way back in 2003. Because the game was delayed and moved around between various obscure European companies (from Hungarian developer Tonuzaba to the equally obscure French studio WizarBox) it's not hard to see why so many have been nervous about this project and feared it would result in an abysmal failure. Thankfully, while the game has yet to be properly released in most countries (although the continental European release includes both German and English localizations) the first reports from people who have played the full version seem to indicate that this is a well-rounded adventure game which make up for a somewhat rudimentary puzzle design by delivering an intriguing plot, well-written dialogue and a great atmosphere.
I'm not a big fan of adventure games myself - I appreciate their storytelling but lack the creative, logical mindset as well as the sheer patience needed to solve most of their puzzles - but one of Jensen's earlier games easily rank among my top 10 gaming experiences of all time. The underappreciated "Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned" (1999, PC) completely blew me away with its meticulously researched plot, hauntingly beautiful music and nuanced, non-stereotypical portrayal of a female protagonist (Grace Nakimura). Thus, I hope Gray Matter has some of that GK magic to it (and the demo is promising), and will probably pick it up once it finally emerges from the depths of continental Europe sometime in February.
Download demo (includes English voice acting/text):
http://www.gray-matter.de/
Hardcore Gaming 101 has an excellent, in-depth article on the game:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/graymatter/graymatter.htm