[EDIT: Only part some people will need to read, this is the CD-ROM version of the original game, with the original voice acting!]

It's back! The best version of the game, if you played the original.

So to explain, there's kind of 3 versions of this game. For the original 1993 release, it was put out on floppy disks (ask your parents). It was akin to the likes of Monkey Island, a point n' click adventure with text dialogue and pixel graphics and a catchy bleepybloopy soundtrack.

At the same time, a CD-ROM (ask your creepy uncle) version was also released for those of us with fancy hi-tech CD drives in our PCs. This version came with full voice acting by the likes of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn, as well as additional video in some cutscenes. THIS IS THE VERSION YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT HERE. It is, in my opinion, the best version.

20 years later, a 20th Anniversary remake came out for digital download (ask your annoying nephew). Featuring completely redone 3D graphics and a new voice cast, it's a very pretty game and plays identically, but sadly no voice actors are going to match up to Frank N Furter and Luke Skywalker hamming it up. If you have no affection for the original, or are put off by early 90s graphics, then go grab that version. If you can stand retro PC gaming, then ignore it and get this one. Or get a job and buy both, and Gabriel Knight 2 as well, which moved on from the 90's stalwart point n' click genre, to the 90's stalwart FMV genre. Maybe get GK3 too, but the puzzles in that game got so obscure they're often credited with killing the adventure game genre despite a great story and characters.

Anyway, if you haven't played it? This is a game about a struggling author who owns a used book store in Nawleans. He's a shameless womanizer with a sarcastic assistant who runs the shop for him. Attempting to research a new story, he gets tied up in voodoo strangeness. I really don't want to say too much. It's largely grounded in realism, and features a lot of authentic information on actual vodou practices (you can sit in on a lecture on it and visit a museum dedicated to it), but to be honest it does go a bit Hollywood-sensationalism with it for the sake of the story.

The characters are top notch, with Gabriel being a loutish ass but entirely self-aware of it and you kind of love him despite his faults, with the supporting cast feeling like people with their own stories who just happen to have to put up with Gabriel once in a while. The story is pretty good if nothing amazing, but it's told excellently, dripfeeding piece by piece to the player with some brilliant foreshadowing and tension building. Audio is superb in this version as I mentioned. This game drips with atmosphere and oozes personality. It has humour, but nothing like the LucasArts madcap comedy of its contemporaries, this is character-driven as witty people rip into Gabriel's scruffy appearance and crap manners, or Gabriel has to sarcastically comment on the next inexplicable twist to hit his life, it's grounded and realistic.

Puzzle-wise, well, we hit a bit of a stumbling block. For the most part it's very solid. The problem is there are points in the game where progress on a puzzle is gated, and the solution won't appear, until you reach an arbitrary amount of progress on other puzzles that are unrelated. It can be quite frustrating. Unless you're a seasoned adventure game veteran, I'd suggest finding a light hints-only style walkthrough to gently guide you through. It's worth it though.

Overall, one of the best adventure games ever made, on the strength of its writing and voice acting that bring a wonderful cast of characters to life. The 20th Anniversary version is better for those who can't stomach old graphics and the kind of sound that required you to set your IRQ, but if you have fond memories of pointing and clicking in days gone by, this is just the greatest.