The game that still rocks on

That’s Grim Fandango. An awesome game that no genuine adventure gamer can forget if ever one had tried one’s hand at it.

PUBLISHER: LucasArts
DEVELOPER: LucasArts
GENRE: Adventure
RELEASE DATE: Sep 30, 1998
ESRB DESCRIPTORS: Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco & Alcohol, Animated Violence
GAME SCORE: 9.8/10

There will not be a single adventure gamer who hasn’t at least heard of Grim Fandango. The game was received with several affirmative reviews at the time of release, and was the recipient of several accolades for its artistic design. Even today, it still finds its way into publishers’ alltime top lists.

THE WORLD OF SOULS

Grim Fandango is a remarkable blend of ingredients that go into making this an astounding adventure game: murder, greed, capitalism, crime, deception, and love. The game revolves around the protagonist Manuel Manny Calavera. Highly-motivated and somewhat cynical, Manny is a skeleton who is trapped in the Land of the Dead, a limbo-akin world. This is where souls that depart from the real world come to and their worthiness is appraised to gain entry to the Land of Eternal Rest, or the Ninth Underworld. Souls are assessed by the crimes committed during their lives in the real world. Sinners are made to take a four-year journey on foot, and many end up taking jobs en-route abandoning their quest. Reasonably righteous souls can avail of aid and the most virtuous need to take the journey in just four minutes on the Number Nine train.

MANNY’S JOURNEY

Manny’s job is that of a travel agent for the Department of Death, for clien tele who are taking the journey to the eternal rest. In the course of work, enticed by a robust commission that promises a comfortable retirement, Manny inadvertently sends Mercedes Meche Colomar, a moral and upright soul on the four-year walk to the underworld that is fraught with peril. The game revolves around the journey Manny takes to find Meche, in an attempt to redeem himself. Equipped with a scythe, a sidekick, and his wit, Manny treads the same perilous road as Meche, only to find himself in the thick of an ominous conspiracy. Manny must make his way to the Edge of the World, and rescue Meche from Domino, his co-worker and archrival.

The player has the choice of keyboard, joystick, or gamepad to control Manny and his actions. Game play is much like most LucasArts games where the player must communicate with other characters to collect information. Various objects in the game are intended for use with parts of the environment that you are in, or with other people in the environment, to solve puzzles. This is achieved by examining and collecting several objects as you progress and you will know when to interact with a character or collect an item when Manny turns his head towards the object or person as he passes them. The good thing is that while Manny can get sprouted (a death-within-death situation), he can never really die! So LucasArts ensures that you will never find yourself in a “deadend” situation.

Grim Fandango is the first offering from LucasArts that used the GrimE engine, which uses 3D graphics to represent the main objects and characters, on pre-rendered backgrounds in 2D.

The game has a very film noir feel to it, and this is mainly illustrated by many characters that smoke in the game. The settings are based on elements of the Aztec world, a fact that is exhibited most of all in the architecture. The other Aztec-inspired feature is that of the Day of the Dead, the celebration of afterlife.

The background score of the game is Latin and jazz-inspired. Most of the characters are Mexican, and you will often hear the English dialogue sprinkled with Spanish words. While the voice actors have done a top-notch job, a lot of credit goes to script that is teeming with witty retorts and entertaining puns.

Each character is well rounded, and this amongst several other features, grants every player with a sense of gratification. The game is so riveting and appealing, that in all certainty, the end will leave you longing for more.