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Grim Fandango is a well known classic in the Point-and-Click Adeventure genre, whose unqiue world, phenominal voice work, and stellar writing continue to provide entertainment and fascination decades after its original release. Grim Fandango is as humorous and clever as it is intriguing, with a wonderful film Noir story wrapped up in a fusion of Art Deco, Mayan, Aztec, and Mexican art and folklore. Players can be prepared for classic Noir tropes, like winding mysterious plots, treachery, mobsters, big hats, and snappy dialogue. You'll play as Manny Calevera, a "Travel Agent" working for the Department of Death in the 8th Underworld, known as the Land of the Dead. As a grim reaper like psychopomp, Manny is bound to help the newly dead traverse the dangers of the land to reach their final rest, a job he does in service to the powers that be to make up for past sins, sins which Manny himself is unsure of. Cruises, Cars, and even a bullet train (the fabulous Number 9) can help wandering souls shorten the long journey across the land, but can only be afforded by those who qualify by having led good lives.
As a Lucas Arts Point-and-Click you can have a fairly good idea of the core game play, though there are some key elements worth noting. When originally released, Grim Fandango was one of the first 3D Games of the genre. With limited computing power, game designers were clever in their design. Backgrounds are pre-rendered images over-layed with fixed camera angles, and effect which allowed for far greater detail and staying power despite the title's age. This also left more space for character's and items, and while they are still primitive, the use of stylistic Calaca skeletons transforms the limted and angular models into their own unique style which is charming, evocative, and somewhat cartoonish.
Like many Point-and-Click games, the solutions to each puzzle can sometimes have somewhat moony logic. However, Lucas Arts adventures are usually quite forgiving, and there is typically no way to die or to lock yourself out of progressing, as was often the case in Sierra titles of the same time and genre. As for the puzzle's in Grim Fandango, things are somewhat limited. In other Point-and-Clicks older than this, items would often need to be combined, sometimes multiple times. Most items in Grim Fandango are singular, and if they need to be combined, it is done at a predetermined spot, rather than in the player's inventory. This, perhaps, makes some solutions more forgiving. None the less, puzzles do have there own logic, and once players key into it, traversing the Land of the Dead will become a wonderful experience, where a single new item or phrase from a character will clue players in, cascading into a series of clear solutions.
Manny himself provides a great deal of insight, having a humorous or poignant observation for every item and point of interest in the game. Throw in the rest of the cast giving a full host of excellent voice work, and the Land of the Dead starts to feel very alive. Dialogue is snappy, and Manny is sharp witted and somewhat sardonic, offering up more than a few pithy lines, especially when facing down the afterlife's rogue's gallery. Indeed, while Manny is trying hard to make up his time helping souls, albeit to save his own, there are plenty of characters whose sinning didn't stop when they died. Mainstays of the Noir genre, mobsters and crooks seek to make death livable through less than moral means, and will make sure anyone who gets in their way end up pushing up daisies, literally in some cases.
Apart from Manny, and the human souls that make up the regular populace, the underworld is also home to demons, spiritual entities brought forth by the Land of the Dead itself to perform specific functions. Glottis, a demon mechanic and driver, will form a complimentary duo to Manny, and a real friendship which lasts all four years that make up the games story line. Together you'll get into and out of trouble as you uncover why the client's Manny has been getting don't seem to be getting their sweet hereafters, especially the kind and caring Mercedes, 'Meche', Colomar, a young (dead) woman who Manny has vowed to help after being unable to to help her claim her just rewards in death despite her virtuous life.
If you're looking at this review you may already have fond memories of Grim Fandango, and uncovering the dark secrets and backroom deals going on in the land of the dead. Or, you may simply be interested in the Point-and-Click puzzle adventures that made up so many wonderful gaming experiences throughout the years. If so, you probably already know if your interested in a game like Grim Fandango, but if not its my suggestion that you do so on the basis of its wonderful story, dialogue, and characters. You may even want to watch a video or two of the early game to get a feel for it. If you enjoy Manny's suave demeanour and wit as he deals with the likes of the sleazy Don Copal, the Manic Mechanic Glottis, the Sarcastic Eva, and the Devilish Domino Hurley, to name only a few of Grim Fandago's numerous characters, then there will most likely be something for you at every point in Grim Fandango.
Grim Fandango was one of the first games I ever played, but it is a well beloved classic for a reason. If your the least bit curious, I invite you to let Manny be your new travel agent as you adventure through an incredible story with truly unique premise, and a gorgeously weird world.