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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Day in the Land of the Dead, June 8, 2001
By A Customer
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.
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