Gray Matter

More than ten years after the release of her last full-scale adventure game (GK3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, 1999), Jane Jensen returns to the scene after a decade of casual games under her belt, this time with Gray Matter, a science fiction, horror thriller in the form of a classic third person, point and click, 2D/3D adventure game.

The player assumes the role of two different characters. One is itinerant street magician and student Samantha Everett, who hails from America and is currently in the United Kingdom. The second is her somewhat reluctant employer Dr. David Styles, a recently widowed Oxford neurobiology researcher who conducts experiments relating to the power and potential of the human mind. Sam will have to utilize her special skills involving slight of hand in order to help the reclusive David. Among other things, he needs help recruiting several students from the nearby Oxford campus to participate in the experiments, not an easy task considering the notoriety of Dr. Styles and his home estate of Dread Hill House. While there Sam is also on the lookout for a clandestine magician’s club into which she wishes to gain admittance.

Graphics are a combination of 2D and 3D, with the backgrounds being pre-rendered 2D and characters are 3D. In addition to run-of-the-mill inventory puzzles, the two playable characters’ areas of expertise (Sam’s magic tricks and David’s scientific research) are fully integrated into the gameplay and interface of Gray Matter, enabling the player to solve the various puzzles and get over obstacles scattered throughout. A game progression system is implemented, allowing gamers to keep track of the events and tasks of each of the eight chapters.