Grim Fandango
Published By: LucasArts Entertainment

Reviewed by Circe
7/30/99

Article Discussion Forum

First Impressions:

For those of you who have not read my reviews before, I am a depressed Adventure game fanatic. Depressed because it has been a *long while* since anyone has come out with a classic Adventure game with breathtaking visuals and a "suck-me-in" storyline. I am of the old school- a lover of the old infocom text-based adventure games (original Zork, etc). So when my sister came and told me that she knew of a new game that I would *LOVE* with just my style storyline and made by LucasArts to boot, I raced to my nearest CompUSA that very day and bought it.

So what is Grim Fandango all about? It is a mind-blowingly creative game about the Land of the Dead. Your character, Manny Calavera is a hard-luck travel agent working for the Department of the Dead booking his customers (depending on how virtuous their lives were) on deluxe transportation to the ninth underworld (Land of Eternal Peace).

But there is something afoot in the halls of the Department of the Dead. You are beginning to suspect a conspiracy keeping you away from good clients. And that in fact is your mission: to figure out what the evil plot is, save the damsel in distress, and get better clients.

Graphics:

The graphics were remarkable. LucasArts website says it the best: "A bizarre afterlife adventure -- a homage to Mexican folklore with a film noir twist." It ran smoothy and beautifully. The imagery was steeped in humor, from seeing flying skeletons of birds to the highly imaginative cast of characters. The scenery itself was very well rendered- the artists truly captured the Mexican aura.

Sound:

The voices were great! I really enjoyed them- perfect for the characters they played... As far as music goes, the Mexican theme on the street was my favorite- it really creates a mood for the game.

Gameplay:

The storyline was good, I got quite a few laughs out of it. The story was very original. The gameplay itself had some rather irritating elements to it.

First, I could NOT USE A MOUSE. This bugged me a LOT. I had to use a keyboard the whole time and it was very clumsy.

Second, the game notifies you of objects your character can interact with in the game by the motion of the character's head. If he turns to look at it, you can interact with it. I felt as if this was limiting- You have to pay careful attention to every nuance of your character's head precisely to know what you can do in the game.

Inventory was also clumsy because there was no inventory screen. You had to pull items out of your vest and scroll through them all to pick the item you want. I found this frustrating.

In general, I felt like I had much less control playing the game due to these restrictions.

The puzzles were moderate in difficulty and original (not your standard fare)

Enjoyment:

Overall, I was pleased with the game. It was fun to play when I wasn't clumsily bumping into walls and cursing over trying to remember which key to press.

The creativity of the storyline, the characters, the Mexican feel of the environment is what I will remember the most- and so I suspect will you.

Multiplayer:

N/A

Overall Impression:

This is a really nice looking, fun game. It could have been perfect if they fixed the navigational controls of the game and allowed people to use a mouse.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

In my opinion, they marketed this fairly neutrally. There are two female characters in the game: one is an quick-witted, undercover secretary with a secret life and the other is a virtuous "damsel in distress".

Cheats, Hints & URLs:

In the market for a great cheat book? We highly recommend Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Usually ships within 24 hours.