One could justifiably argue that the arrival of the adventure genre spurred PC gaming into creation. You wouldn't guess it with the sparse new adventure title, the rare good adventure title, and the mythic great adventure title in modern gaming. Yes, adventure games could very well be the reason WoW has taken PC gaming by storm and why the Command and Conquer franchise has lasted longer than childsupport from a one-night stand in college.Thirty-seven years ago, a man by the name of William Crowther developed Colossal Cave Adventure. This was the first text-based adventure game and though a later modified version was what grabbed public attention, this is where it all began. From this single title spawned an entire thirty-seven years of adventure gaming: Zork, King's Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory, Myst, Tex Murphy, Leisure Suit Larry, 7th Guest, Blade Runner and on and on. Yes, I have played all of the above.
Unfortunately, adventure gaming has slowly faded from the lime-light of modern PC gaming. Nine years ago, Lucas Arts dared to invest in an adventure game in the midst of this decline. Grim Fandango was released on September 30th, 1998 to rave industry reviews, but smoldering public reception. It won Gamespot's PC Game of the Year Award and IGN's Best Adventure Game of the Year, and yet the public was too busy bashing aliens with Gordon Freeman's crowbar and crushing the Zerg under the mighty Protoss boot. Yea, I did all that but I still found time for Grim Fandango. I had a lot of time on my hands in '98.
Grim Fandango, first and foremost, is an artistic masterpiece. Lucas Arts chose to focus on an elaborate art deco aesthetic throughout the game, as you can see by the screenshot of the Department of Death lobby above. Sets throughout the game consistently fulfill the "Wow" factor, and range from the Department of Death lobby, to a casino reminiscent of Frank Sinatra's day, to the edge of the world. Wherever you travel in the Land of the Dead, you will not leave disappointed. Mix with that the Día de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) and Film Noir theme that the game is based upon, and you have yourself one hell of a stunning game.Grim Fandango is not just looks, though I must say it is one classy broad. Enter Manny Calavera, the protagonist to Grim Fandango's storyline: a lost soul with a lot of repayment to do before he can travel to the afterlife. You see, according to Lucas Arts the Aztecs believed that what you do in life echos in eternity (or was that Russel Crowe?). So if Manny was stealing lollipops from babies and farting in public, he would have to work it all off somehow in the Land of the Dead to be able to travel to the Ninth Underworld, the eventual destination of all dead souls. So what is Manny doing to work off his time? Selling travel packages to the afterlife, of course.
That's right, Manny Calavera is a travel agent for the Department of Death (DoD hereafter) for all those souls who did good in the world, selling them packages to the Ninth Underworld, the quality of which depend on the amount of good they did. The more quality the person, the higher the commission for Manny, and the sooner he can travel to the Ninth Underworld. The only problem to this equation is that Manny is consistently stuck with low-commission sales, save for one. Enter Mercedes Colomar, a saint who should be guaranteed a spot on the Number 9 (a train straight to the Ninth Underworld). Only Manny screws it up and Mercedes, or "Meche", is instead sold a walking stick with a handy dandy compass on the handle. And so the story begins, with Manny chasing after Meche to fix his ultimate mistake.
Beautiful scenery, incredible storyline, what else could you ask for? Music for one, but Lucas Arts has it covered. Grim Fandango has the best musical score I have ever heard on a computer game. The music follows closely to the setting and theme of the game, and changes with the scenery you are in. Jazz and Mexican styled music dominates this soundtrack, and was built from scratch for the game. You will be walking down the street 3 years after playing this game and start whistling a big band tune from this game; I guarantee it. To put everything into perspective, I cannot imagine any other game that I would have gone out (gone online actually) and bought the soundtrack. And as I write this, with my trusty iPod to my left, guess what is playing. Spot on, Lucas Arts.There is one aspect to Grim Fandango that ensures its spot in history, and that is its characters. Manny Calavara as the grim reaper travel agent, Meche Colomar as the cheated saint, Glottis as the speed-hungry demon, Hector LeMans as the greedy villain, and Salvador Limones as the freedom fighter just give you a taste. No matter who it is, the character is interesting. Glottis, for example, is a large orange demon who serves as a mechanic for the DoD. From the start, you can tell Glottis wants to get his large orange fingers under the hood of one of the basic DoD cars but he is holding himself back...just barely. For example:
Manny: Glottis... Glottis... is that a German name?
Glottis: Oh, no. My roots lie not in any Earthly nation's soil. I am an elemental spirit summoned up from the Land of the Dead itself and given one purpose, one skill, one desire... TO DRIVE. *awkward stuttering* Or, to change oil or adjust timing belts if no driving jobs are open.
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When you let him loose, the DoD car becomes the "Bone Wagon" complete with fire-shooting tailpipe, hydraulic systems, the works. Later, you set him loose on a broken down freighter and Glottis' character shines. I'll let you imagine, but just know I laughed out loud.
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Grim Fandango is an all-around great time. If it isn't the scenery that grabs you, it's the storyline. If it isn't the storyline, it's the music. If it isn't the music, it is the little imaginative creations like the sprout gun: the only way you kill a soul, which sprouts flowers when shot. my Pappy always used to say that if it looks, feels, and sounds delicious then it is delicious. Well Pappy, Grim Fandango is all that and more. So as I sit here listening to Track 1, "Casino Calavera" for the 4th time in the last hour, I look forward to loading up my copy of Grim Fandango to do it all over again. "And the moral of every story is the same: we may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later, we push up flowers." - Membrillo, Grim Fandango
With bony hands I hold my partner/On soulless feet we cross the floor/The music stops as if to answer/An empty knocking at the door/It seems his skin was sweet as mango/When last I held him to my breast/But now we dance this grim fandango/And will four years before we rest. - Olivia Offrenda, Grim Fandango
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