Gray Matter (video game)
Encyclopedia
Gray Matter is a point-and-click adventure
video game designed by Jane Jensen
, renowned for the Sierra Entertainment
Gabriel Knight
series. The game was developed by WizarBox and published by dtp entertainment
for Microsoft Windows
and Xbox 360
. It was released on November 2010 in Continental Europe
and in English-speaking territories in 2011. There are plans for a Wii
version.
The game takes place in Oxford
and, to a lesser extent, in London
. It follows the story of Samantha Everett, a street performer and magician
, and Professor David Styles, an acclaimed and mysterious neurobiologist
.
Eventually, Sam is ordered to recruit six students as test subjects for David's research. Through clever manipulation and magic tricks, Sam manages to find four students willing to volunteer for the experiment. The professor recalls her to Dread Hill, letting her know that he found a fifth candidate and making Sam herself the sixth.
As the game progresses, Sam learns about the professor's past, his research on the paranormal, the prestigious members-only Daedalus magic club
, a series of bizarre events that take place at Oxford University, and how these elements are connected.
). The cursor is contextual, meaning that it will change automatically to actions such as "Talk to...", "Pick up...", and so on, depending on the object (and state of the object) it is hovering over at the time. Item labels may be toggled at any time.
The game is divided by chapters (whereas the first and third Gabriel Knight games [the second game, The Beast Within
, has a structure similar to Gray Matter] were divided into "days"). Each chapter requires completion of certain objectives. Bonus objectives are also available for every chapter but are not required to advance the main story.
Puzzles include riddles, word games, visual puzzles, mazes, and magic tricks. As an aspiring magician, Sam often adapts tricks out of her magician's handbook to the situation at hand. The tricks vary from creating misdirection to using gimmicks or taking or planting objects through sleight of hand. If each required step is not performed correctly, the player has the opporunity to redo the trick from the last correct step.
The player controls Sam for most of the game, alternating to Professor Styles at certain moments in the story. The gameplay is the same for both characters, albeit with access to different areas.
The voice of Professor Styles was played by Steven Pacey
, while Sam Everett is played by Philippa Alexander.
and 75.36% on GameRankings. Xbox 360 version received an aggregated score of 65.78% on GameRankings. Zen Review commented that, "While it does pale in comparison to what was one of the pinnacle of adventure gaming [Gabriel Knight], for being such a refined product of well-told story and carefully crafted multimedia experience, it has been well worth the decade-long wait for the fans of Jensen's work." Adventure Classic Gaming stated that, "for the rest of gamers who opt to evaluate this game on its own merits, Gray Matter is a game that can easily measure up against the best of what the genre can offer. Gray Matter succeeds not because of its pedigree but because of what it can deliver." Most of the criticisms of the game are directed at the quality of the cut scenes, which are considered out of keeping with the quality of the rendered graphics. Official Xbox Magazine UK gave the game an unfavorable review, criticizing the clunky interference and "patronizing" depiction of England. The A.V. Club
gave it an A- rating, praising the puzzles and writing and calling it "the best traditional adventure game in a decade."
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
video game designed by Jane Jensen
Jane Jensen
Jane Jensen is the game designer of the popular and critically acclaimed Gabriel Knight adventure games and author of the novels Judgement Day and Dante's Equation....
, renowned for the Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
Gabriel Knight
Gabriel Knight
Gabriel Knight is a series of adventure games produced by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s. Three games were released in the series: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned.One compilation was...
series. The game was developed by WizarBox and published by dtp entertainment
Dtp entertainment
dtp entertainment AG is a German video and computer game publisher, founded in 1995 by Thomas Baur. The headquarters are located in Hamburg and dtp today has more than 180 employees. It is one of Germany's leading game publishers. dtp is known for having published a high number of games which were...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. It was released on November 2010 in Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
and in English-speaking territories in 2011. There are plans for a Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
version.
The game takes place in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and, to a lesser extent, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It follows the story of Samantha Everett, a street performer and magician
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
, and Professor David Styles, an acclaimed and mysterious neurobiologist
Neuroscientist
A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
.
Plot
The opening scene of the game depicts Sam riding her motorcycle in the rain in the countryside. Her bike breaks down, forcing her to take shelter in Dread Hill, a nearby mansion where David resides. She poses as an Oxford student responding to Styles' request for a research assistant.Eventually, Sam is ordered to recruit six students as test subjects for David's research. Through clever manipulation and magic tricks, Sam manages to find four students willing to volunteer for the experiment. The professor recalls her to Dread Hill, letting her know that he found a fifth candidate and making Sam herself the sixth.
As the game progresses, Sam learns about the professor's past, his research on the paranormal, the prestigious members-only Daedalus magic club
Magic club
A magic club is any group of local magicians who meet together on a regular basis. Also sometimes known as a magic circle. A club can be open to all with an interest in magic or it may be only possible to join by invite or by meeting some sort of notability criteria...
, a series of bizarre events that take place at Oxford University, and how these elements are connected.
Gameplay
The game is played entirely with the mouse in the case of the PC version (point-and-clickPoint-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
). The cursor is contextual, meaning that it will change automatically to actions such as "Talk to...", "Pick up...", and so on, depending on the object (and state of the object) it is hovering over at the time. Item labels may be toggled at any time.
The game is divided by chapters (whereas the first and third Gabriel Knight games [the second game, The Beast Within
The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery is a computer adventure game released by Sierra On-Line in 1995. Unlike the first Gabriel Knight game, released in 1993, The Beast Within was produced entirely in full motion video...
, has a structure similar to Gray Matter] were divided into "days"). Each chapter requires completion of certain objectives. Bonus objectives are also available for every chapter but are not required to advance the main story.
Puzzles include riddles, word games, visual puzzles, mazes, and magic tricks. As an aspiring magician, Sam often adapts tricks out of her magician's handbook to the situation at hand. The tricks vary from creating misdirection to using gimmicks or taking or planting objects through sleight of hand. If each required step is not performed correctly, the player has the opporunity to redo the trick from the last correct step.
The player controls Sam for most of the game, alternating to Professor Styles at certain moments in the story. The gameplay is the same for both characters, albeit with access to different areas.
Development and marketing
Gray Matter was originally announced in 2003 as Project Jane-J and slated for release in 2004. The game was put on hold in 2004 and later revived by a German publisher Anaconda in 2006 for release in 2007 and then 2008. In 2008, development was moved from Hungarian Tonuzaba to French Wizarbox, delaying the game further. The game was released in Germany on November 12, 2010 and in Spain on November 19, 2010, and was released in North America in February 22, 2011, in Europe in February 25, 2011 and in Australia in March 3, 2011. The German and Spanish language releases include complete English localization.The voice of Professor Styles was played by Steven Pacey
Steven Pacey
Steven Pacey is an English actor, best known for his role as Del Tarrant in the third and fourth seasons of the sci-fi series Blake's 7....
, while Sam Everett is played by Philippa Alexander.
Collector's Edition
The Collector's Edition includes a metal game box, a CD with the game soundtrack (score and songs by Robert Holmes), a deck with Gray Matter playing cards, 5 exclusive postcards with artwork from the game, and a double-sided poster. This edition is available only in German so far (the game has English voice-overs and subtitles in addition to the German ones).Reception
Reception by the gaming press to the English language release has been mixed. PC version received an aggregated score of 72 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and 75.36% on GameRankings. Xbox 360 version received an aggregated score of 65.78% on GameRankings. Zen Review commented that, "While it does pale in comparison to what was one of the pinnacle of adventure gaming [Gabriel Knight], for being such a refined product of well-told story and carefully crafted multimedia experience, it has been well worth the decade-long wait for the fans of Jensen's work." Adventure Classic Gaming stated that, "for the rest of gamers who opt to evaluate this game on its own merits, Gray Matter is a game that can easily measure up against the best of what the genre can offer. Gray Matter succeeds not because of its pedigree but because of what it can deliver." Most of the criticisms of the game are directed at the quality of the cut scenes, which are considered out of keeping with the quality of the rendered graphics. Official Xbox Magazine UK gave the game an unfavorable review, criticizing the clunky interference and "patronizing" depiction of England. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave it an A- rating, praising the puzzles and writing and calling it "the best traditional adventure game in a decade."