Gray Matter
1. What is it?
A classic point&click adventure game by Jane Jensen, creator of Gabriel Knight. Available for Windows and XBOX360.
Plot summary from metacritic:
" Gray Matter is the first adventure game by renowned author Jane Jensen since the release of Gabriel Knight 3: the story mixes eerie goings-on with supernatural events in best Jensen-style. Neurobiologist Dr. David Styles is one of the game's central characters: since losing his wife in a horrible accident some several years ago, he has become a recluse, seldom leaving Dread Hill House, his English country estate. "
2. Why do you feel it is underrated?
Lack of marketing and a troubled development and release meant that many missed that it was even released. It's very rarely talked about in gaming forums, few game journalists talks about it.
3. Why should we play it?
It's probably the closest thing to a classic Sierra adventure game we've had since Sierra closed. The 3d models are hardly the best ones, but it has great sceneries and nice comic book cutscenes, along with a fantastic soundtrack from Robert Holmes who did the music for the Gabriel Knight games. While the plot doesn't hold up at all times, it's still a very interesting one, that's told in a good pace, with good cliff hangers for each chapters. The puzzles are very old school and fun, and they come with som nice helpful features. The game set goals for each chapters for what you're supposed to achieve, and it tells if you're done with a location.
I would probably put it in my top 10 list for the genre if I had to do such a list.
Anyone looking for recent old school point&click adventures, with actual puzzles, should buy this one, and play at least two chapters of it.