Tag Archives: Grimm

General, Grimm

“Girl Without Hands” Review

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Hun King

Hun Warrior King

Steven Wong over at Big Download has written another positive Grimm review. In the review Steven says:

We were also very pleased to find Grimm taking stronger liberties with the story, changing it from a deranged story about fate into a revenge tale. Justifications are provided to help fill in some of the glaring plot holes and leaps of logic. In the end, the daughter gains retribution against her father. It’s not a happy ending, but it’s certainly a satisfying one. As an added bonus, Grimm’s intervention transforms everything into a dark, bloody and truly wicked world. Characters are portrayed with boxy marionettes, but it’s still great to see their heads on pikes while blood rains down.

American McGee’s Grimm is headed in a good direction with its episode-by-episode gameplay adjustments. Even with the added difficulty, the entire game can still be completed in less than thirty minutes.

What I appreciate about Steven’s reviews is that he’s clearly someone who enjoys the game as it was designed and isn’t down on it for not being something different. This is directly opposite the approach of eternally put-upon reviewer Jimmy Thang over at IGN, who approaches weekly reviews of Grimm in hopes that between episodes the engine, genre, play style, graphics, and general “hard-coreness” of the game have been completely overhauled and/or replaced.

He’s yet to realize this is akin to looking for a goat in a bicycle shop.

This contrast in response is one I’m seeing in players and reviewers alike. And I’ve thought about it quite a bit. I think about it because we designed Grimm’s presentation and mechanics to be gradually evolved over the course of episode releases. Listening to user response and feedback is critical to informing the decisions we make about how the game evolves.

Feedback of the “this is great, I love it” sort is nice, but as useless as the “the graphics engine is still the same” type. Neither is quantifiable, objective, or realistic enough for us to utilize in developing future episodes. Still, Jimmy’s approach to review and final judgment suggest a reader should skip a particular episode until it reaches a certain acceptability level in terms of platform gaming, graphics engine sophistication, and power-up distribution. He ignores the fact that the game is a FREE invitation for the audience to be involved in the feedback loop and evolution of the game.

Ultimately, this rigid application of static critique to a medium that is dynamic – interactive! – indicates a lack of awareness about the innovations in our industry, its products, and its audience.

Then again, some people are fond of goats. Bleat.

Grimm

Grimm Episode 5 – “Girl Without Hands”

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Grimm Episode 5 - No Hands

Next-Gen Grimm Visuals

Grimm episodes just keep coming. Welcome to Episode 5, “The Girl Without Hands”. Based on a twisted tale of fatherly betrayal, Satanic tom foolery, and a good amount of hand choppery (is that a word?), “No Hands” as we like to call it here at Spicy Horse, is a fun romp in the world of Grimm. This episode features some more challenging platform gaming – as requested – as well as some new game play twists based on environmental “challenges”. Check it out on GameTap!

While you’re over at GameTap, be sure to check out the Grimm Forum. We’re talking about the game, the episodes, and the things we like/dis-like about both. Good place to voice your thoughts on how to evolve upcoming episodes. Same is true of the forums on this site, which you can check out here.

All in all another great week for Grimm. The reviews continue to be positive. The discussions continue to be lively. And here in Shanghai we continue to evolve the game based on the feedback we’re receiving.

Next week, Episode 6, “Godfather Death”. This is a really cool episode you don’t want to miss. Check back here for the latest news, and check my YouTube channel for the trailer soon.

Grimm

Grimm vs. The Children

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Monkey Toy

Monkey Toy of Death

Erin Bell over at CrispyGamer posted a nice review of the latest episode of Grimm, “Puss in Boots“. From the article:

Of all the episodes of American McGee’s dark fairytale opus that have come out so far, I’ve clicked with this one the most. Any game that features carnivorous bunnies is OK in my book. Beyond that, the game’s twisted light-to-dark imagery worked particularly well in the context of the story of Puss in Boots.

Erin is echoing a sentiment we’re hearing from a lot of reviewers and players alike: Grimm just keeps getting better. Each new episode contains more interesting game play, better integration of narrative into game play elements, more challenge, more humor, and cooler art. Part of this is a result of the internal evolution of the game as we develop it. And part of it results from listening to feedback from the player community. This is the great promise of episodic game development: Content delivered on a consistent schedule, in an easily consumable format, and integrating audience feedback in an organic, evolutionary production process.

I have to say, it’s really exciting to see the impact this new way of making and distributing games is having on the audience and industry press.

Erin goes on to say:

There are still some pretty twisted things here: A giant gear spins off the mill and squishes some children who were blissfully playing nearby; cabbages transform into the squirming heads of people buried alive; and down in the rabbit hole, carrots turn into sticks of dynamite and bunnies turn carnivorous and start eating yet more children. (What is it with all the kid-icide in this series?)

Finally, someone takes note of Grimm’s “War on Children”! In answer to Erin’s question, the “kid-icide” is all about putting the scare back in fairy tales. Where the Disney version of Snow White neglects to mention Snow’s parents having their eyes plucked out by pigeons, or Pinocchio murdering Jiminy Cricket with a deadly stomp – Grimm lays it all bare. Ultimately, all this violence serves a purpose: To warn against putting too much faith in “Happily Ever After”.

Also of note this week, news from GameTap‘s VP of Content, Ricardo Sanchez who tells us, “Grimm is doing really well and the audience is really liking it. It’s a consistently top rated title, and is ranking #1 on GameTap.” Woot! That’s really cool news! I know the team here in Shanghai is really thrilled to know their baby is being so well received.

Seems Grimm’s having his own “Happily Ever After”, but wait… there’s another 20 episodes before we turn that page!

Be sure to “tune in” on Thursday for the next episode of Grimm, “The Girl Without Hands”. If you think previous episodes have been bloody, you haven’t seen anything yet! Let’s just say, “Bunny Head Blood Rockets” and leave it at that.

General, Grimm

Grimm Episode 4 – “Puss in Boots”

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Cat Giant

Puss No Boots

Another week, another episode of Grimm! This time around Grimm visits the well-known tale of “Puss in Boots” – to ridicule the idea that an intelligent, talking cat would be selfless servant to a bumbling imbecile.

Check out the trailer on YouTube. Then head over to GameTap to check out the latest episode for FREE (during the first 24 hours after launch). (Why do I sometimes feel like a car salesman? Sigh.)

During the week since we released Episode 3, Grimm garnered further praise from reviewers and players alike. Maximum PC gave a 7 score on a combined review of the first two episodes, saying:

To begin each episode, Grimm narrates a puppet show version of a fairy tale as it has traditionally been told. The snarky commentary grants these sequences undeniable charm, which is further enhanced by the simple character models and animation. The pastel colors and blocky figures make the game look like a storybook illustration come to life.

Great review! Although they incorrectly state the game is rated “M” and warn against exposing kids to it. Actually, it’s a Teen rating, so a little exposure might not completely warp your children.

The “target audience” question is one I’ve seen a few times now. I guess the fact the question exists says something about our product positioning (or lack thereof). And I’ll be the first to admit the “aim” is quite wide. I think that’s partly a result of the core mechanic: We’re working with “children’s tales”, but striving to make them darker. Things start off looking “Disney” and end up looking Manson Family. So the target audience depends entirely on which side of the tale you’re looking at.

Another way of stating it: Each episode starts as “E” but the game goal is to convert everything to “M”.

Makes me wonder if Grimm could be used as an instructional video for ESRB reviewers. “See this flower? This is E. Now see how the flower converts into a child’s skull with blood shooting from th eye sockets? That’s M.”

Ultimately, the narrative goal of all this “transforming things to dark” is to resuscitate fairy tales once breaming with bloody, nasty, scary, LIFE. Somewhere during the Disney-facation of children’s entertainment society decided that “protected children” grew up to be to better, healthier adults. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Personally, I’m inclined to believe our mental “defenses” work best when inoculated through exposure and adaption. Same way our immune system functions. Children exposed to the dirty, gritty, caterpillar eating, dog poo playing, window licking reality of the world develop better and stronger immune systems compared to tykes raised “in a bubble”. We don’t live in a bubble – so we have a hard time living in the real world when raised in one – works whether we’re talking about mental, physical, or “other” aspects of our being.

I say, “Let your children eat caterpillars! And let them play Grimm!”

Just don’t blame me if they take to running around peeing on everything.

Grimm

Grimm Episode 3 – “Fishwife”

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Fish Wife - Platform Madness

“Platform Madness from the Fisherman!”

After a whole entire WEEK of waiting, Episode 3 is here at last! Amazing how that works, isn’t it? And, best of all, many new game play elements are featured in this episode. See how that works? Ask and you shall receive! “The Fisherman and his Wife” features power-ups, more challenging platform gameplay, and some pretty wicked dark transformations. It’s also one of my favorite “Grimm” tales so far – everyone gets what they deserve in the end!

Best of all, this Episode, like all the others, is FREE TO PLAY for the first 24 HOURS! So head over to GameTap and get it while it’s fresh! If you happen to miss the 24 hour free play window, you can always purchase the episode in stand-alone form, either from GameTap or other digital download portals.

Check out the Fisherman and his Wife Episode Page.
For those of you unable to access GameTap, you can buy Grimm episodes via alternate digital download site, such as TryGames.com Again, Grimm IS coming to other digital download site soon. Just a few more days!

Finally, a question for all the hardcore gamers and hardcore writers: Do you realize Grimm is a casual game? Despite the fact it was developed with UE3, it isn’t targeted at people who’ve been waiting for the next “Gears of War” or “Halo”. When you state it’s “nothing more” than an interactive story, I think, “well, yeah?” Our design focus was: #1 Narrative, #2 Art, #3 Gameplay. And that’s not to say gameplay is last – just not #1 (the “focus list” goes beyond #3).

Maybe that sounds “wrong” or at least odd? Well, maybe everything about Grimm is a little different or odd. That’s part of the point. Certain elements of the game are purposefully experimental. And the beauty of episodic is that we can listen to feedback and implement it in upcoming episodes. If you want to be critical of the game, go right ahead. But imagine for once that your criticism could be constructive. The game is still evolving. It isn’t locked in a box. You didn’t buy it off a shelf. And for the most part, you didn’t buy it at all. You have 24 hours to play it for FREE, comment on it, and maybe even make it better!

Do yourself and other gamers a favor: contribute something. It’s harder than destroying something – especially when you call yourself “destructoid”. And if destroying is all you’re about, and the act of destroying stuff IN Grimm isn’t appealing to you, then go back to fragging space aliens. We still have 20 episodes of innovating, experimenting, and evolving to do. I wouldn’t want you to wear yourself out – remember this is episodic, this is something different.