Gabriel Knight, you liar! – A Visit to The Church » A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

And so the dreaded holiday season is in full bloom again. Which means that… here comes the long awaited second demaskatory report of my Summer 2008 visit to the famous town of mystery and adventure – Rennes-le-Chateau, France. Sorry for having kept you waiting an entire year for this exciting climax. But now you’ll see just how much deeper did Gabriel Knight 3 manage to bury itself in its lies…

Part II: Behind The Fence

…its lies and factual errors.

In the game they looked like nothing more than a shapeless blob block of polygons, but here, in reality, the walls of the Sauniere’s church have its own character and an inviting path leading to them. 3D artists still have a lot to learn.

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Notice the arch above the entrance – it’s the same both in the game and in the real. From the outside it’s probably the only element that can help identify the two buildings as one and the same.

> inventory sw

Let’s go along the eastern wing. A lot of nice green things here – unlike in GK3. In the background, on the left, looms Villa Bethania. Like I mentioned before, all important Rennes buildings are pretty much stuck together – unlike in GK3.

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The path we took leads to the back of the church and the entrance to the cemetery. Some nicely rounded walls here.

> go to cemetery

*BUMP* (on the closed door)

Meh, the door doesn’t give in, and brrrr… what a gruesome skull! Nice lens flare effect though.

Unfortunately, for a few years now the cemetery is off limits to the tourists due to repeated acts of vandalism. A certain cemetery in New Orleans experienced similar ones 17 years ago – coincidence!?

> look at skull

The image of the skull dissolves and cross-fades with the arch above the church’s main entrance. We’re back in front of the hauntingly familiar portal.

> open door

The door is already open, silly. You can go right in.

Surprise, surprise! – the four angels by the entrance are exactly the same as in the game, down to their controversial gestures and the text: “Par ce signe tu le vaincras”. So far no cheating inside the church!

> look at devil

It’s Asmodeus – guardian of the forbidden treasure!

> look at wall behind Asmodeus

Stations of the cross match the ones in the Blood of The Sacred, Blood of The Damned in 96%.

> look up

Mt. Sinai pops out from the wall rather than being a flat image like in the game, but otherwise all seems perfectly in order.

> turn right

Jesus baptized by John The Baptist and (on the right) the grapevine motif that caught Grace Nakimura’s attention.

> turn right

A few more visitors, but otherwise the interior is a perfect replica of the church in the game. Maybe the real church is a bit larger-wider.

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Above the altar a dome with a depiction of the night sky. Everything resembles the game at this end too.

> look at altar

And the altar up close. With a painting of Mary Magdalene at its base. And on the dome’s wall, two figures hold two infants whose identity might be controversial.

> reflect

So in general… what a disappointment! The church in the game is pretty much recreated exactly as it is in real life. No earth-shuttering discrepancies like in our first report. Jane Jensen’s Gray Matter is due to be out in October, so this autumn we will have to take the British town of Oxford under scrutiny. In the meantime, take care!