Gray Matter Review For PS3

It's been a while since we last heard from Jane Jensen, game designer behind the critically acclaimed Gabriel Knight series. Gray Matter has been in development for nearly eight years now, several of which has been spent in limbo as the project was passed from one developer to the next: undoubtedly some uncertainty was cast over the viability of a console port as well as the increasingly niche genre that this type of point-and-click adventure occupies in a burgeoning casual market.

There might still be room for doubt over the frequency of other such projects in the future, but even if the money men can't recognise a worthy investment when they see it, point-and-click fans will certainly stump up the cash for a Gray Matter sequel.

Set in modern-day Oxford, sassy American Samantha Everett finds herself stranded at an odd mansion after taking a wrong turn in a thunderstorm. It turns out it's the home of recluse neurobiologist Professor David Styles, who ropes Sam into being his assistant for his strange experiments in exchange for board, lodging and a weekly allowance. It initially sounds like easy money for the resourceful lass, but against her better instincts Sam takes him up on his offer even after sensing that something is terribly amiss here...

 A keen magician and hopeful entrant to the Daedalus Club, an enigmatic and exclusive society for the most talented practitioners of the art, Sam quite literally has a few tricks up her sleeve. Equipping her magic book and selecting an appropriate item to perform it with opens up a new menu in which the player can palm and manipulate according to detailed instructions, hoodwinking unwitting NPCs into doing her bidding using simple misdirection and social engineering.

Once the trick is in play it's simply a case of following instructions on-screen, though some require prior preparation, which means the player will need to engage in some lateral thinking. The beauty of Gray Matter's puzzle style is that the solutions are really quite obvious once you know them and though some can be cryptic (knowledge of classic novels and ancient Greek myths will prove useful), most of the time the answer simply lies in manually performing simple tasks you’d take for granted in real life: the devil, as they say, is in the detail.

The love that has gone into crafting Gray Matter is clear from the colour and artistically select shots in each scene alone. It’s a stunning game to look at and though the concept of Gray Matter predates The Da Vinci Code, the heritage, traditions and architecture of Oxford also make it a fine choice of setting, especially in the wake of Dan Brown’s bestseller.

Protagonist Sam is believable, amiable and attractive too, and all of Gray Matter’s characters are equally well-realised. It is a very slow-starter however and you will need to resist the urge to give up after an hour of not very much happening at all, especially if the only point and click puzzles you’re used to involve a reticule, a gun and the problem of how to stop a man who’s trying to kill you. we also share its Review For PC here.

Source: nowgamer.com