Gray Matter (PC DVD)

To get the basics out of the way, this game tells a good story with quite a few interwoven narrative threads, and has some interesting characters with pretty good dialogue and voice acting. Puzzles are thought provoking without being unfair, and generally make sense in context. If you like adventure games, you'll like this and I genuinely believe it's got some original tales to tell.

Perhaps just as importantly, there's some promising interface devices implemented in the interests of user-friendliness.
First off, it's got the "Display available hotspots" key that is happily becoming more and more common these days, as in this day and age it's frankly absurd for a player to spend hours banging their head against a wall merely because they failed their pixel-hunting roll in an insignificant room waaaay back. Push a button, clickable items show up. Simple, and not forced upon you if you don't want it.
Next, it's got a rather clever device on the 'Area map' screen. General groups of (town centre, hospital etc)show up on a central hub map (a bit like, say, broken sword). So far so humdrum, but Gray Matter changes the colour of it's label depending on what's available to do there. If there's still an uncompleted task required to advance the game in the area, it shows Gold. If there's only a 'bonus' task not essential to the game, it shows Silver. If all tasks there have been completed, it shows Gray. Doesn't sound like much, but I find it lets you focus your efforts in the right places when you're scratching your head, whilst letting you know you're wasting your times in others. It's less hand-holding than an outright hint, but really helps you keep things going at a good pace.
Also, there's a button to bring up a list of general tasks to complete each chapter. The names themselves are cryptic enough to not give the game away, but specific enough for you to be able to identify any puzzle/task 'arc you're been working on. Each task gives you a 'percentage complete' indicator, along with a 'Chapter overall percentage completion' indicator. Again, I love this - it doesn't give outright hints or spoilers, but lets you focus on what's important at any given time.

I like this game a lot. It's a good story, and has some smart technology in the background to keep the player progressing at an interesting pace. I hope more games in future utilise some of it's user-interface tricks.

I can highly recommend this long awaited adventure game written by Jane Jensen (Gabriel Knight) We have been waiting over 10 years for this game so dont miss out on playing it. Once into the story and the mechanics of the gameplay you are hooked by a masterpiece of fiction writing and adventure gameplay. Dont miss out if you are a fan of adventure games. Gray Matters strength is its story. The background research shows and the graphics are superb with much detail. Sam (Samantha) is a marvellous character and reminds me of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo heroine. The voice acting is superb and the music excellent especially the main theme for the game of the folk vocals from The Scarlet Furies. The game is classic 3rd person point and click adventure of 8 Chapters. These type of games have been so few and far between in the last many years. I would liken it to watching a wonderful movie but you are controlling it and therefore become engrossed in the story and outcome. If you do get stuck anywhere PLEASE DONT GIVE UP go on the Internet and look up a walkthrough to get you moving on, but do ENJOY as I am!!!!! Hope there will be a sequel or another game by Jane Jensen who is a brilliant Storyteller and video game maker.

For veteran adventure gamers, the release date of Gray Matter was probably the most anticipated day in the last 10 years. The one and only Jane Jensen who brought us the delights of Gabriel Knight would return to enchant us once more with a brand new full-length game. Did she succeed? At first I thought not, but then I was won over. Jane Jensen has been working extensively with casual games (yep the hidden object variety) in the past years, with the noble goal of merging casual gaming with adventure gaming. She takes a shot at this with Gray Matter, pleasing newbies to the genre and probably also enraging the veterans a bit. By reading the synopsis, you are in no doubt that this is a Jane Jensen story through and through: paranormal with a twist of science, gothic atmosphere, captivating characters. As a storyteller in gaming she is frankly unrivaled and she proves it once again in Gray Matter. Despite its faults, which I will list in a bit, the story and characters will win you completely; I was actually nearly left in tears at the end when I reluctantly had to say goodbye to Sam and David and this level of immersion and quality is VERY rare in the adventure gaming world. With no further due, the pros and cons:

I liked:

* Gorgeous graphics that leave you stunned at nearly all locations by the high level of detail and sheer beauty
* Flawless voice acting: no dodgy translation. This one plays and sounds like a movie! Great voice overs!
* Captivating characters. Sam and David will each draw you into their world with their well-developed personalities and even minor characters are very interesting.
* The STORY! This can't be emphasized enough. This is a wonderful story with twists and turns and it is even educational. A+ on storytelling
* The puzzles are thoroughly approachable for beginners of the genre. The clean interface and few hotspots, together with the help system will have you covered, while challenging you at the same time.
* The soundtrack is beautiful. Robert Holmes did a wonderful job in Gray Matter as he did with Gabriel Knight. Moreover there are a few tracks by a band called Scarlet Furies and I must admit I am now a fan.
*Gorgeous final puzzle: no spoilers but this was just a delight to play !

I didn't like:

*The puzzles are too easy. As this is a pro for beginners, it is a con for veterans of the genre. I breezed through the game very fast and it did not challenge me enough.
* Too few hotspots: Again a pro for beginners but a disappointment for me. Not enough items to click on or locations to explore. Whether for lack of budget or a desire for simplification, this is a major letdown and keeps this game from entering the hall of fame of classics.
* The video cut-scenes are made as comic-strips with voice over. I personally did not like it much as it looked cheap and not very well-done.
* Too short: I played and finished the game in 15 hours, while taking my time and I think this length does not do justice to the story at all. Jane promised an epic game of 30 hours and more: I guess budget cuts reduced this to a mere 15 hours.
* Despite a really good final puzzle, the ending is somewhat rushed. Again I would have liked to see this evolving a bit slower with more chapters.

Final word: Most of my critic focuses on the game implementation which can definitely be improved, but make no mistake: I enjoyed this game wildly and can only recommend it for anyone who loves a good story, whether you are a veteran or a beginner. This will definitely activate your gray cells and gives you much food for thought, entertaining you at the same time. I can't wait for sequels as I miss Sam and David a lot!