Customer Reviews

Grim Fandango (Jewel Case)

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was very dubious when I started playing Grim Fandango. An adventure game with polygons? And the SCUMM menu interface system that was in every single past Lucasarts adventure game was gone? But I gave it a try. Thank goodness I did.

Grim Fandango is a story about Manny Calavera, a travel agent for the souls of the dead. He sells packages to the departed for their four year journey to their just rewards, and if he sells enough he can earn enough to make his own trip someday.

Imagine the theme of Casablanca with some mexican folklore and Mayan art thrown in for fun. Add big orange demons, hot rods, killer beavers, cat races, and the grim reaper and you have Grim Fandango.

The story is supurb and the voice acting was top notch. It's very difficult to do a dramatic yet humorous story, but somehow this game pulls it off. Grim Fandango could yank me to the brink of tears one moment and cause me to almost bust a gut another.

The things that make a good adventure game are all there. Logical puzzles that don't cause your gameplay to come to a standstill until you solve them, good acting, good animation, and good code! If I were ever forced to reccomend only on adventure game to someone, this would be it! Especially at the new low price!

Grim Fandango is one of those games that you look forward to playing every day after work or school. It's not only fun; it is a masterpiece of game design. The graphics are beautiful, the audio quality is superb, and the interface is intuitive and incredibly easy to learn. Manny (the main character) always turns his head towards something when you can interact with it. Then you simply press a button and he can describe it, use it, pick it up, talk with it, etc. It's a great system, one that feels very natural and makes the flow of the game as smooth as possible.

The story behind the game is based on Mexican folklore; in the early stages of the game, el Dia del Muerto is the central theme. The characters are all quite colorful, especially Manny Calavera the protagonist and his ursine driver, Glottis. Clever humor is interwoven throughout the storyline and dialogue, promising hours of hearty laughs.

Not everyone will like this game, though. Adventure games don't have the quasi-universal appeal they used to, and for this reason some gamers may actually find Grim Fandango "boring". I, for one, found it to be an extremely entertaining game. You can even play with other people, despite the fact that it is a single-player game; the story unfolds so much like a movie that, even if you're not controlling Manny, you can enjoy what's going on on the screen.

Grim Fandango is an adventure game. If you liked the Monkey Island series or any other LucasArts adventure games, or games like King's Quest or Space Quest (remember that one?), you will love this one. I sure did.

I admit it: I absolutely love adventure games. They are practically my life and, if it weren't for companies like LucasArts, Cyan, Presto Studios, etc., then I would be crying myself sore on the ground.

For the skeptics among you, let me tell you that GRIM FANDANGO is every bit as good as reviewers put it up to be. It has drama, wit, humor, and great gameplay. If you don't want to read the rest of the article, let me sum it up in two words: BUY IT.

There. That said, let me get into the game. You play Manny Calavera, a dead guy working in the Eighth Underworld (inspired by Mexican folklore about life after death.) Because of some great sin you committed in life (although I have a sneaking suspicion that he didn't do anything wrong) you are forced to work off your debt to the powers that be by selling travel packages to other newly arrived souls (think sports cars, luxury cruises or, best of all, the high-speed Number Nine train) for their journey to the Ninth Underworld, the land of eternal rest (I think). Unfortunately, due to some turn of events, the perfect client (stolen from your arch-competitor) is cheated out of her rightful package, setting in motion events concerning the dangers of the Eighth Underworld and the corruption within the agency you work for itself.

That classic LucasArts humor returns in GRIM FANDANGO. However, this time, it is not the slapstick comedy of Monkey Island and other titles but serious and more subtle humor, accentuated by superb voice acting. The characters themselves are all quite memorable; there is Mercedes Colomar, the lost soul cheated out of her right ticket on the Number Nine and forced to wander the Eighth Underworld on foot; there's Chepito, a lost soul also journeying to the Eighth Underworld. However, this southern chap hates boats, instead walking there under the ocean itself and turning blue because of the cold. There's Velasco, the crusty sea captain in the port town of Rubacava. There's the orange-skinned, purple-tongued Glottis, a "spirit of the land" summoned from the deepest deeps of the underworld with one desire, one purpose, and one wish - to drive. Finally, there's Manny himself, the Mexican dead guy trying to sort things out. He also has an uncanny ability to rise from the bottom of a corporation to the head itself (excluding his own agency, the Department of the Dead).

The puzzles are all well designed and make sense - at least, in retrospect. However, some of the puzzles are downright bizarre. For example (skip to the next paragraph if you don't want any spoilers), how about filling limp balloons with to different chemicals and sending them down the message tube to the central messaging machine so that they pop and combine to create a packing foam, allowing you access to the machine once the repair demon leaves? Kind of weird, eh? Nevertheless, the puzzles do the job right and are quite fun.

I also found the interface and controls quite fine; granted, they weren't as good as that of previous adventures using the SCUMM engine, but the GRIMM engine, despite falling short in some areas, surpasses SCUMM in others. The visuals are very good, even by today's standards, and the interface for the inventory and actions is just as good as that of SCUMM. The controls, on the other hand, are a bit clunkier; while I adjusted to them quickly enough (thanks to ESCAPE FROM MONKEY ISLAND), they are certainly less convenient than a simple point-'n-click adventure game.

My one complaint lies with the story itself - there are times when GRIM FANDANGO can seem awfully dark to some. However, despite this one shortcoming, the fact remains - you should own GRIM FANDANGO.

Enjoy your stay in the land of the dead.

Grim Fandango is something unlike previous LucasArts games. In its creation, LucasArts dropped many of their graphic adventure standbys ("Look At", "Talk To", etc. menus) and threw themselves wholeheartedly into a 3D adventure with a brand new, simple interface. The result is the perfect blend of graphics, music, story, and puzzles.

Meet Manuel "Manny" Calavera, travel agent for the Department of Death, trying to work off his time in the Land of the Dead by selling travel packages to the newly deceased. When Mercedes "Meche" Colomar walks through his door his life (er, death...) takes a turn for the bizarre and he is flung head-first into a web of fraud, murder, and corruption.

What follows is a 4 year journey across the Land of the Dead in search of Meche and an answer to Manny's questions. Along the way you will help Manny assist Salvador Limones' revolution, run the Calavera Cafe (pulled directly from Casablanca), captain the S.S. Lola, and take a swim at the edge of the world. Not to mention interacting with the quirkiest characters ever to grace a game, solving terrific puzzles, and navigating beautifully rendered environments.

Grim Fandango is one of the best games I have ever played and the definitive graphic adventure. There will never be another to rival the sheer fun LucasArts has packed into this game. Manny Calavera and friends deserve a place on the hard drive of every computer.

And it's a super deal to boot.

This is one of the greatest PC adventure games ever released. It has a strong mix of puzzles, humor and moving storyline that have made it a classic. While point-and-click fanatics may not like the fact that movement is accomplished by using the arrow keys instead of the mouse, it is well worth your time to familiarize yourself with the controls, as the gameplay is unparalleled adventure game fun. HOWEVER...

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS GAME FROM MOST OF THOSE SELLERS OFFERING "NEW" COPIES HERE AT AMAZON!!!

You will find the jewel-case (no box) release of this game advertised new and factory sealed for from $22-50 by Amazon retailers. You can purchase this same version of Grim Fandango directly from the publisher (LucasArts) for a mere $15. Don't let yourself get ripped off in your excitement to purchase this classic game!

I don't play adventures, but this is one of my all time favorite games withtout a doubt.

My wife and I played it together all the way through twice, and like going back to a great novel we'll probably play it again. The characters are incredibly stylish, witty, real, and lovable. The scenes are a work of art in their own right. The story is like a great movie of the film noir style, but on an epic scale. One episode in the game pay tribue to Casablanca and it does it very well. If these elements sound attractive, then you will not be disappointed.

The puzzles were pretty darn hard at times. I had to use a walkthrough.

I tried other popular adventure games like The Longest Journey and Monkey Island, but in contrast they had poor acting, dumb jokes, and annoying characters. If I may say it, Grim Fandango suits a more sophisticated taste but still would not bore a young audience.

I prefer character driven, inventory-based adventure games over "kill everything in sight" shoot-em-ups. I like to use my brain, and I like to get immersed in a story. Unfortunately, there aren't many titles available that fit this bill, and there are a lot of turkeys out there. Not so, with GRIM FANDANGO. This wonderful game combines the surreal imagery of Mayan and Aztec art with the look and feel of a 1940's crime thriller. It has a genuinely funny script, challenging, but not impossible puzzles, and a terrific jazz soundtrack. Mixed into the story line are homages to Casablanca, The Petrified Forest, The Big Sleep, and dozens of other film noir classics. If you haven't tried this game, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You're in for a treat!

I purchased Grim Fandango towards the end of November 2005. The game wouldn't play on my Pentium 4, 3.2 Ghz processor laden with XP and the dreaded Sp2.

I was able to limp along with the compatibility mode...which is terrible. If active gameplay was possible then the subsequent cutscenes played with an echo and out of focus and out of perspective, and when active gameplay was achieved ... it wasn't the greatest.

I was able to solve the beginning of the game all by myself...not knowing there was a spoiler walkthrough on the PDF manual from installation.

The game started to give me a headache. Between the lousy controls, the annoying echoing cutscenes, and the increasingly difficult gameplay, I was hoping the Grim Reaper would come and rescue me.

With all of those problems, I couldn't put it down. I suffered through with the lame comaptibilty mode. I eventually had to resort to walkthroughs, and found it tough with the walkthroughs!

I finally completed the game, uninstalled it and to my surprise, re-installed it, and played it again. This was really a surprise because I received Myst, Indigo Prophecy, The Longest Journey, and Runaway for Christmas 2005, and all were XP compatible. The game on my hard drive ...this very moment(January 2006)... is Grim Fandango.

I found that the cutscenes played beautifully without the compatibility mode on, and since I had completed the game, I had access to play them all without enagaing any game play (that wouldn't happen anyway with the mode turned off), one scene after the other, all from the game's general menu...

I played the cutscenes for my cousin, he was amazed and totally enthralled. This is a game made eight years ago, made to run on computers made eight years ago, that is in fact better than any game developed today.

Tim Schafer's follow-up, Psychonauts, is almost as good, but its really not a PC game and plays much better on XBOX or PS2.

The quirky, unusual little Grim Fandango, is more addicting, and much harder to shake then any of its contemporary competitors.

I finally came out of the closet with my Grim Fandango addiction and found several wonderful fan sites with a solution to the cumbersome compatibility mode play. Two of those sites are grimfandango.net and Tim Fandango's ninthworld.com both are Lucas webring sites and are brilliant in helping the player with a multitude of challenges the game presents within and out of gameplay. Both of the aforementioned sites along with Lucas Arts also contain a very necessary patch for the game, that should be installed before the game is installed.

As far as the gameplay itself goes...very difficult. It is not trial and error. There is a thread of logic connecting the solution to the challenges presented.

While many times far fetched, Grim Fandangos puzzle solutions all have a purpose, and are often hinted at through dialogue and gestures the animated characters make leading up to the challenge.

I don't know what happened between Lucas and Tim Schafer. But for Lucas to sit on this game and not produce an updated XP version, and basically not produce any versions at all is one of the biggest trajedies in computing history, much less gaming history.

The wonderful Mexican graphics as well as the unsinkable, never say "die" spirit of Manny Calavera are delightful and encouraging. The humor is smart and sophisticated. The music, I can't get out of my head...superb soundtrack and still regarded as one of the best, if not the best. Our culture should not be denied this game. Believe me, we need this game.

mjh

This is one of the funnest computer games of any kind I have ever played. I am about halfway through it, and the story is intriguing and imaginatively done. Even if you get stuck on some of the puzzles, you can still wander around and have fun while you are mulling it over. The characters are a lot of fun, and I love the graphics in this. So far, it seems like you can't die (your progress is just slower if you make the wrong decisions), so you also don't have to worry about saving your place before you try something "risky." (My husband calls that "invoking the spell of many saves.")

The puzzles have a nice variety in difficulty, and this game is unique in seeming old-fashioned while at the same time being like nothing else you've ever played. In short, this is a fantastic game at a great price. Just buy it!!

I had been wanting to play _Grim Fandango_ for a long time, so I was excited to get it as a Christmas present. Perhaps it was that my anticipation was so great, but the enjoyment level of the game didn't quite lead up to my expectations.

The premise is both original and amusing: You are Manuel (Manny) Calavera. Your job as a travel agent with the Department of Death is to sell packages to souls on their way from the 8th level of the Underworld to the 9th and las
t. If a soul has been really good in life, it has earned enough spiritual wealth to get a ticket on the #9 train and make the trip in just hours. "Poor" souls have to walk, a journey of four years. Manny finds out that a ruthless crime syndicate is stealing train tickets and depriving souls of their just rewards. AS he follows the trail of the mysterious and beautiful Mercedes Colomar, he must stand against the crime syndicate and work for the freedom of souls everywhere. Phew!!

There are a lot of really good things about this game. Number one is, you can't be killed. Even in situations that look dire where other game manufaturers would certainly have put a timed puzzle, you have all the time that you need. Thank you, LucasArts! The character development is wonderful, aided by some of the best voice acting ever. The plot is engaging. The art, though an older 2-D style that might bother some players, is a lovely mix of MExican and Art Deco styles, with lots of "Day of the Dead" references (e.g., the characters). I thought it would be hard to relate to weird 2-D skeletons, but I soon knew them as people. And the script never takes itself too seriously, poking good natured fun at everything from revolution to open mic night at the local bistro.

The set up is a good mix of linear and non-linear, with levels that have to be accomplished in a certain order but a great deal of freedom within the level itself. IN general, the game sustains its momentum very well. So often in this type of game you see very complex first and second levels but towards the end the levels get so easy it seems the game developers were running out of ideas. Although the second level was the most difficult, the third and fourth levels offered enough to keep me interested.

On the other hand, GF is very, very difficult -- hard enough that the frustration level at times interferred with my enjoyment of the game. Take it from this experienced gamer: anyone who claims to have completed this game in 12 hours or less was playing with a walkthrough at his elbow, not applying his brain to the puzzles.

The puzzles were strictly the application of inventory variety, with some amount of gathering clues from conversation. I don't usually have any difficulty with these types of puzzles, but two things made them really hard in GF. One was the interface itself. The game is completely keyboard operated and your character turns his head to look at things with which you can interact. Unfortunately, where things are close together, it's hard to tell what it is Manny's looking at. There were several times that I thought I didn't know the solution to a puzzle that I did in fact know, just because I couldn't get Manny in the right place to interact with the appropriate person or item. So I'd go haring off all over the game looking at every other possible solution until I was frustrated enough to go to the hint page, where I invariably found out I was right in the first place, I just hadn't had Manny positioned correctly.

The other thing that makes this game difficult is that many of the puzzles are logical only in retrospect, often because there is a piece of information missing in the middle, requiring the gamer to take such a leap of imagination that you generally only stumble upon the solution by chance. A little more information from Manny, pointing you in the right direction, would have been helpful in some cases. As it was, as often as not I solved the puzzles in a completely random fashion; for only about half of them had I any plan of action.

Despite its cartoony appearance, Grim Fandango is not a game for kids. There is a lot of smoking and drinking, if you object to that (every time you aren't actively playing for a while, Manny lights up. I thought this was pretty funny, but some people surely won't). There are some skeletal sexual inuendoes and quite a bit of violence, both real and implied. The latter is softened a bit by euphemism and the fact that the characters are already dead, but GF is not a light game. Plus, many of the references and jokes that make the game worth playing would probably be lost on anyone under 25.

There is a lot of running back and forth, particularly in the second level: some map or zip feature would have been very helpful. IN a couple of places it was hard to maneuver and Manny got sucked into doors simply by passing them, whether I wanted him to go there or not. Grim Fandango also features one of the grossest puzzle solutions I've yet come across.

It took me 25-30 hours to complete this game. It would have been less had the frustration level not been so high. I give it relatively high marks because it was well done, original and ran very smoothly, but the puzzles really deserve only three stars. For the money, I'd say GRim Fandango is a good buy, but not for everyone and certainly not for those with a low frustration threshold.