grimm posts

Fan original American McGee's Alice might be intrigued by this early trailer for The Return of Alice. It looks like after rampaging through fairy tales in Grimm, American McGee and his his development studio Spicy Horse will be going back to the roots and continue Alice's twisted tale. The game is expected to come out sometime in 2011, so we can look forward to more information in the coming year.

Download HD The Return of Alice Teaser Trailer (11 MB)

The fables detailed in American McGee's Grimm can be divided into two camps: the ones everybody knows, and the ones with which only a few may be familiar. The former type is enjoyable due to arkening your favorite (or least favorite) characters with Grimm's pestilence, and the latter is enjoyable due to learning a new story. But the problem with all Grimm episodes regardless of their respective camps is that no matter new or old, each episode unfolds in almost exactly the same way. You watch the fairy tale unfold in one theater, then play through roughly six stages connecting the dots to a fairy tale you just observed, and then watch a dark theater that, in essence, provides a replay of everything you just finished doing.

American McGee's Grimm: The Pied Piper takes a slightly different approach: you view the fairy tale before beginning Grimm's filthy adventure, but the ending is intentionally omitted. While the gameplay mechanics are the same as any Grimm episode you've played before, the drive to learn what happens makes The Pied Piper a compelling download even for those who have tired of the series' repetitive antics.

It's been a long time since I have genuinely enjoyed an episode of American McGee's Grimm. That's not to say that any have been terrible, but rather that the formula seems to have run its course. American McGee's Grimm: Iron John doesn't stray far from the established mechanics of the series, but the way it deviates from the titular fairy tale, as well as how the world changes based on direct player interaction, makes it an enjoyable casual adventure.

American McGee's Grimm: The Golden Goose takes a few steps along the road of innovation paved by this season's debut episode, The Master Thief -- a road that hasn't been walked since, in fact. But have gameplay components been rearranged enough to warrant playing yet another Grimm episode that, while cheap, has done little to differentiate one episode from any other? Actually, yes; but the result is an equal mix of delight and aggravation.

If you are unfamiliar with the fable of Cinderella, then you have either been deprived of perhaps the most cherished tale of rags-to-riches and foot fetishes ever told, or spared a constantly regurgitated litany of self-pity and wishful thinking. It's all about perspective. This week's episode of American McGee's Grimm finds the disgusting do-badder out to make Cinderella's life that much more difficult rather than send her on her way to happily ever after. Is picking on Cinderella as enjoyable as other entries in the Grimm series? If you enjoy Grimm, then yes. If not, then no. Are you surprised?

The California Gold Rush of 1848 hasn't got anything on King Midas's gift. After being blessed with the golden touch by the Greek gods, Midas sees the error and foolishness of his ways when everything and everyone he increases in value at his touch -- but perishes as a trade-off. Does that bountiful gift extend to the quality of American McGee's Grimm: King Midas? Somewhat. While the newest installment in American McGee's episodic series doesn't set a gold standard, it's at least worthy of a silver medal.

After the impressive start to the second season of American McGee's Grimm, I began to worry that the refined gameplay mechanics featured in The Master Thief were a collective one-trick pony. Would season two continue to expand its horizons by following in Thief's footsteps, or would the initially entertaining but ultimately repetitive aspects of season one slink back onto the scene? Episode two of the same season, The Singing Bone, offers a combination of both, but one that unfortunately doesn't lean toward the impressive level of fun changes seen in Master Thief.

In video games, episodic content is often weighed down by its own parameters. Each episode is in fact an episode, a separate installment that is not precisely a new game, but an extension of one that came before; in essence, it carries the same definition as an expansion pack. Because of this definition, most gamers who play episodic content do not expect completely new settings or gameplay mechanics, but instead much of what has come before, which may or may not have been dolled up with a fresh coat of paint.

The Master Thief, the first episode of the second season of American McGee's Grimm, adheres to this definition to a degree, but largely extends its boundaries. These extensions have resulted in a subtle re-imagining of the series that is worthy of the hardcore gamer's attention, as well as that of the casual gamer for whom Grimm was originally created.

Episodic content in the video game industry is still deep in the stages of infancy. Each of Valve's Half-Life 2 episodes add smatterings of new content, but the emphasis is on an evolving narrative that largely relies upon recycled assets. Such a practice allows developers to, in theory, release new installments at a faster rate than if an entirely new game were to be created.

My expectations for American McGee's Grimm: Season Two were similar to what I expect from each Half-Life 2 episode: new stories, but with most of the same characters and environments. While the stories are obviously new given Grimm's formula of focusing on one fairy tale per episode, developer Spicy Horse has taken bold steps to revamp the foundation built by the first season of Grimm. While still aimed at the casual crowd, the time I spent with the first episode of Season Two, The Master Thief, shows that American and Spicy Horse took the criticism of the first season voiced by consumers and critics into consideration. The result: less of what made the episodes dull, and more of what made them fun.

Grimm's first assault on Happy Ever After ended in September, but developer Spicy Horse and publisher GameTap are already entrenched in the next season of American McGee's Grimm, the episodic series that follows the mean-spirited exploits of eponymous protagonist Grimm. Big Download recently caught up with Grimm designer American McGee to discuss the highs and lows of Season One, as well as how the idea for Grimm came about, the process of selecting fairy tales, and a tease of what we can expect from Season Two.