"Who knew the afterlife was this much fun?"

Grim Fandango… the name itself conjures up images of greatness, even before you set it into your PC. Tim Schafer, the head of this project, created this in an attempt to bring back the seemingly dead Adventure genre. Though the sales were low, and they do no justice to the stellar game, everyone who did play it was blown away. It has received massive praise from almost all respected game sources, a large amount of online awards, and is often said to be one of the most enjoyable and balanced games to ever be released.

Grim Fandango is all about Manuel Calavera, simply known as ‘Manny'. He is, at the start of the game, a travel agent working in the Land of the Dead. After die, they encounter Manny, who works a Grim Reaper for D.O.D (Department of Death) situated in the Eighth Underworld. There, the dead will receive a travel package that reflects the life they led as a human. If they led a good life and didn't do anything bad, they receive the “Number Nine Express” package, which is a train trip right into the new world. Others, who haven't been the best saint in their life, may receive a walking stick and travel for four years before being able to move on. Others may even owe the powers that be and must work off a debt before they may attempt their journey without any help at all. Manny Calavera is one of the latter, although he doesn't know what it was he did that got him into this predicament. On top of that, Manny keeps receiving the most lost and downright sinful as clients. None of them qualify for anything more than a comfortable coffin or a walking stick.

The single best aspect of Grim Fandango is the story (writing) and its characters. Manny turns out to be one of the best, well developed characters to be in any medium of entertainment. He appears to be a rather light-hearted fellow who just wants to sell his travel packages so he can move on with his own journey, but the events that take place over the next four years of the game, and the people he meets, bring out his character brilliantly. But Manny isn't the only good character; the supporting cast of Grim Fandango are equally as impressive. Every character he encounters has some importance and some story to them. They aren't there to be random NPCs. Over the four years that the game takes place, you'll run across many of the characters multiple times. You get to see how they've changed, hear what they have done since you last saw them, and everything you would expect to hear. All of these characters are unique and grow on you. There are maybe one or two characters who seem really bland and not that likable. When you have a cast like that, it's impossible not to get attached to the characters on a level that videogames can rarely bring forth. Another rather impressive thing the story managed to pull off was a mixture of hilarity and emotional involvement. Many of the things Manny, as well as other characters, says and does are hilarious. But at the same time, as the game moves along, it keeps the funny jokes while really putting some emotional impact behind the story and the major characters involved. Grim Fandango pulls off storytelling better than any game could have possibly hoped for.

The characters are brought to life even further with the superb voice acting. Each and every character has a voice; there isn't any text to read here. The quality of the voice acting is amazing. Manny is given a Spanish accent, voiced by Tony Plana, and it matches his type of character perfectly. There is a range from French accents to voices of Sea Men. What is truly impressive is that every character features a quality voice actor. There isn't a single one, important or not, that falters. The voiceovers just serve to further bring out that great personality and background found in them.

Grim Fandango falls under the “Adventure” genre for games; it isn't a point and click adventure, but instead it could be classified better as a graphical “adventure.” This game is all about exploration and trying out different things. The one problem with games of this type is that making the puzzles believable and make sure that they fit in with the current things happening with the story is hard. Luckily, LucasArts pulls off believable puzzles that are both complex and go along perfectly with the story. Many of the puzzles feature a bunch of different items that must be found, conversations that must take place, and using your surroundings to solve them. There's no doubt that you'll be stumped many a time while attempting to figure these out. But they are all logical and the hints given are subtle enough so that you are not completely left clueless on what you need to be doing. LucasArts also doesn't believe in “punishing” the player for attempting to do things “out of order” or trying things that may not necessarily be what they had intended. Because of this, you will never get stuck at a puzzle because of something you did ‘wrong' and you cannot die – since, you know, you're already dead.

In this adventure, you'll lead Manny all over the Land of the Dead from Rubacava to the Edge of the World. Each has a distinctive look and feel to it, with some gorgeous art style. It feels very much like a Mexican environment, with styles from the Aztec to modern buildings. Everything is aesthetically pleasing. The music, composed by Peter McConnell, also serves to set the mood for these environments well. The different sounds and transitions from Casino music to dramatic, chilling music is done flawlessly. Traveling all over these many locales certainly gives you the feeling of “adventure.”

One of the brand-new innovations that was used in Grim Fandango came in the form of the GrimE engine. This was a 3D engine used to have characters and objects interact with each other on top of pre-rendered backgrounds. Perhaps the only flaw I would be willing to say Grim Fandango has is with this, at the time, new engine. It deals with the controlling of these 3D characters on a keyboard. The control for this game can be very frustrating at the beginning. Manny will move in relation to the type of control setup you set, which is basically to the Camera or in relation to “Player.” Unfortunately, Manny can sometimes just spaz out and go into a room you didn't mean for him to go into or he'll run in the opposite direction of what you're wanting. This isn't to say he does it by himself, but it's what happens when you're pushing in what you think is the right direction for him to go into, but he actually goes in a different direction. This is really just something that takes some time to get used to. At the beginning, it can be very annoying trying to control him, but once you get a hold on things it becomes far easier. The learning curve on the controls is definitely there though. It's not a flaw that should bring down the enjoyment at all, but it could be annoying for some people.

What Grim Fandango delivers is nothing short of an absolutely amazing gaming experience. This game is without a doubt the best PC game ever, along with being quite possibly the single best game ever. From beginning to end, you are given an experience that you will not soon forget. Traveling with Manny through the Land of Dead, through all the different locations, and the characters he meets will leave a lasting impression on you. There has never been a game that can honestly set a bar of greatness so high on every level – character interaction, storytelling, puzzle solving, etc. Regardless of what games you have played in the past, it simply cannot compare to playing through Grim Fandango at least once. You owe yourself a huge favor by spending the money necessary to purchase yourself a copy of this 1998 classic.

“You can't hide from the Grim Reaper. Especially when he's got a gun.”

Final Score: 10.0

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05