Grim Fandango

The Good
Grim Fandango is an excellent game, the graphics are so good, and the plot is simply fantastic. If you are an adventure lover, here you will find everything that you ever wanted:graphics? Even the backgrounds seem to be planned until the further details. Story? You will find an excellent plot here, while you help Manny to find the truth in the Land Of Dead. Puzzles? Yes, like in almost every good adventure, there are a lot of things that will make you guess and think to solve them.

The Bad
At first you will find yourself a little frustrated trying to move Manny, but once you get used to it, it will be very easy. And you cannot play it under Windows 2000, unless you download a patch for this SO from the people of Microsoft.

The Bottom Line
Once again, the people from LucasArts surprise us with a game that makes a big step in Adventure games.

The Good
This game has an amazing story-line. It works perfectly, and as you go through the game, you keep discovering new things which just add to the plot, and make it even more in-depth.

The backgrounds are top-notch, still looking great even today. They are pre-rendered scenes, which look very realistic. The characters are well animated, but they look a little dated, with low poly count and low res textures. The pre-rendered cutscenes also look amazing, and are full of action.

The puzzles are also great. They all make sense, and work well together. The dialogue is also great, with humorous jokes packed in along the way. The voice actors are also great, and they fit the characters perfectly.

The music fits right in with the amazing atmosphere, and it is composed really well.

All of these factors put together make the game absolutely amazing.

The Bad
The only downside of this game is that the graphics on the characters are getting a little dated. They have a low poly count, and low res textures by todays standards. But it isn't that bad - the game is still perfectly playable, and you hardly notice the bad characters.

The Bottom Line
This game is amazing. The plot is huge, and it completely sucks you in. I love this game so much, that I have replayed it countless times, have made a website dedicated to it, and I always visit my favourite Grim Fandango forums. This game is outstanding, and better than any other game. If you play it, I can almost guarantee that you will love it.

The Good
Pretty much the whole thing. Superb presentation backed up with some of the best graphics in an adventure game to date. Glorious cut-scenes with beautiful sweeping camera angles, giving the game a more cinematic and film-like quality than any other game I've ever seen. Terrific characterization, to the extent where you can tell the rudimentary personality of some of the characters after about 2 lines of dialogue. The puzzles are rock-hard! Just the way they should be. Many require deep lateral thinking as well, especially later in the game. There are many deep and varied locations to visit, including the fantastic gambling port-side town Rubacava, and on the bottom of the sea bed. Our hero, Manuel Calavera, oozes charisma and charm making him a joy to control. The atmosphere is believable and immersive. Oh, and it also has the world's best soundtrack. It is Lucasarts and everything, so you can expect this to some degree. But it blends forms of Jazz with Mexican folk music in a seamless way as if the two were born to go with each other. This leads nicely onto the art work and whole theme of the game which once again, blends film noir with Mexican folklore with art-deco. If you want any proof of the incredible attention to detail and professional quality of it all, look in the inside of the CD case.

The Bad
If you're a novice when it comes to adventure games then this will take you some time. Admittingly, some of the puzzles are a bit dodgy and unrealistic. For example, the one on the roof of the Department Of Death building in the first quarter of the game. You may find the game boring as well, like someone I know. In which case see a psychiatrist.

The Bottom Line
This is how adventure games should be done. Proof that money equals results. Not to mention it's by that virtuoso games designer Tim Schafer. This one drips class. Go buy.