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American McGees Grimm Epsode 1 free 7/31 only!
apotheos
Registered User, ClubPA regular
Registered User, ClubPA regular
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2008/07/american_mcgees_grimm_episode.html
I've played it, and its an amusing diversion well worth zero dollars. Would I pay for it? Almost certainly no.
But tune into GameTap every Thursday and you can keep playing it for free! Thats right, a new episode launches weekly and for the first 24 hours can be played for free.
Free is always good.
I've played it, and its an amusing diversion well worth zero dollars. Would I pay for it? Almost certainly no.
But tune into GameTap every Thursday and you can keep playing it for free! Thats right, a new episode launches weekly and for the first 24 hours can be played for free.
Free is always good.
猿も木から落ちる
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*Yes, I'm aware that he keeps saying "aw shucks, the publishers keep asking me to!" The fact that this game is self-published finally proves that excuse is utter crap.
http://www.gametap.com/images/design0608/games/agp/grimm/games_AGP_grimm_dwnld_bkg.png
This is stitched to a very weak narrative that ties it to the original Brothers Grimm story.
猿も木から落ちる
猿も木から落ちる
Just beating the game probably only takes about a half hour or so, but you're rated on your speed and darkness spread in each level, plus there are some hidden trinkets you can collect if you want to spend more time on it. Power ups were mentioned on one of the loading screens, but I didn't see any which leads me to believe that they're for later episodes.
In any case, I had a lot of fun. The game was highly accessible (you can play it entirely with the mouse if you want, although keyboard, K+M, and gamepad options are also available) with unlimited lives (if you fall into lava or water, it just respawns you nearby). I thought the art design was fantastic and had a lot of fun just walking around the areas seeing stuff transform from cute to disturbing. Funny if you have a dark sense of humor.
In short, I highly recommend it, especially since it's free to everyone even if you don't have a GameTap subscription for the day it comes out. I'm looking forward to the next episode & in the meantime, I think I'll go replay the first episode and see if I can't get some of the extras.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
Poorly. It's very confused. Like a kids game that's too violent for kids, and an adult's game that too simplistic for adults. And you can't really lose.
It's absolutely worth zero dollars.
猿も木から落ちる
You forgot the clumsily executed narrative.
猿も木から落ちる
If I didn't already have a GameTap subscription, maybe 100-200 MS points. It stings less if you use fun bucks.
Yes, the gameplay is crude and simplistic, but you know what? I enjoyed it. It's one of those games where you know consciously it's not that good (awesome transformation art style aside) and nevertheless you have fun. It's exactly the kind of thing I want out of an episodic series: something fun & simple that I can mess around with for an hour or so a week. I know my wife is going to love it because it's easily accessible, has a twisted sense of humor, and is short (she's intimidated by long games). My 7-year old daughter would absolutely love it as well, although I'm not sure we'll let her play it (it is pretty gory for a kid).
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
I've studied the oral tradition of fairy tales, and I've read the original Grimm tale that's featured here, but the game's version bears little resemblance to the original story. They still keep the overall theme, but they've removed any trace of structure and purpose that the tale had to begin with. It's sloppily told, and there isn't much point to the whole "corrupting fairy tales" idea if the fairy tales don't make any sense. I realize Grimm stories aren't exactly built on logic, but this was just a mess. They probably should have reinterpreted the thing like they did in Alice, instead of doing whatever it is they did here.
Gameplay was ho-hum. The corruption looks great at least, and I dig the art style. It's probably a good idea that it only lasts 30 minutes, as it got boring quickly. I really just felt like playing Katamari after a little while.
It might get better, since it's episodic. The price is certainly right, though.
For example, the little people/rats/cats/mice/whatever that run around a level cleaning could have posed a bigger threat and made things a bit more interesting, having to juggle corrupting new land, while protecting old land, if it wasn't for the fact that:
A: Most of the episode force-feeds you into rather small encounters with them, where, by the time you're ready to move on, they're already corrupted.
B: They had such a low rating to require being corrupted (Goes hand in hand with A, really.) that they didn't pose a threat at all.
C: I'm not even sure if losing land/objects causes you to lose parts of your meter. At least, I never noticed it. Though I was pretty active on keeping all the cleaners stunned.
The first level was really the best, and that was due to the half-assed platforming/flame belching furnaces. I'll hold off on reserving any real judgement about this until after the second one is out. If it hasn't improved on any of the mechanics then i'd say this really sucks.
What will really decide whether I continue to play these games is whether the gameplay changes in each episode. 30 minutes of corrupting things was fun and awesome to do and watch. However, I certainly dont want to do any more. Maybe the next game's gameplay will be way different though? I dunno whats planned. I'll keep playing them for a bit to see if they get a bit harder, and to see the awesome art and animation evolve.
Archonex, yea, I agree with you. Maybe this first game was just a tutorial level so to speak.
Also, yes, cleaning does lower the meter. I had a little trouble with a lot of people who escaped the cannons.
I don't think it's going to change per-say. The entire theme of the series is pretty much centered around dirtying up old fairy-tales that've been sweetened up in the past.
What i'd personally like to see is a little more depth to it. I could see this being really addictive if the developers actually made it more complicated then the current "corrupt one small room, view a "stomp it!" cutscene, proceed to what might possibly be a bigger room. Also, there might be lava/water." formula, and added new complications to it. Maybe a dedicated rival NPC that goes around "sweetening up" stories, as you dirty them, or stacking the odd's against you, so that you have to use the level in unique ways to trap cleaners until you can corrupt them.
Then again, with the speed at which each episode comes out I imagine that this will end up being wishful thinking on my part.
What does that mean? That all of the other games will only be playable for a day? :?
Archonex, youre probably right, its very possible they wont change the basic gameplay style... which would dissapoint me.
As far as your idea, I actually had trouble with people cleaning up in the wedding level. It was annoying, but not hard in such a way that I enjoyed the challenge. Just annoying. They'll need a lot more game mechanics in there to make this something cool gameplay wise.
I still love the style though.
I actually thought he came across as an OK guy. He was recently on one of the GFW podcasts talking about Grimm and other stuff. The reason his name gets slapped on everything isn't because he wants it there (he pretty much said he hates it), it's because marketing thinks it'll shift a few more copies. He talked it over with the rest of his crew and they basically said whatever, as long as it helps ship a few more units they don't have a problem with it.
He also talks a fair amount about game development in other countries, which was quite interesting to hear about.
I'd have thought that after Bad Day LA that everyone concerned would want to keep his name as far from the box as possible.
having said that, this does look interesting. Returning fairy/folk tales to their violent, sexualised roots is an idea I can definitely get behind :twisted: (even if it looks to be only in spirit - like GoW's take on greek mythology). Is there any way for someone in the UK to become a gametap subscriber?
I'm fairly sure that it wasn't self funded though.
All lies, as I said. As poorly as Bad Day LA was received the game would probably sell BETTER without his name on it. Not to mention the dude has worked with a very large number of marketers/publishers over his games, and the chances that all of them just happened to say "dude, put your name on it, that'll get people to buy it for some reason!" is pretty damn low.
Right, I'll listen to your explanation over his, you clearly know more about it.
The dude outright knows it's a running joke for a lot of people. First thing they asked him to do was introduce the podcast as "Amercian McGee's GFW Brodeo, by American McGee". Right after that he said "by the way, this might be an indicator that you suck, so watch out, people might be turning off the podcast already." Pretty much takes credit for how Bad Day LA sucked (he outright said he felt it sucked). It was all in good humour and actually really fun. He had a lot of interesting stuff to say about doing games development in the far eastern countries, It's actually really worth checking it out.
He may be a cool guy, but that doesn't change the fact that he still has a bad habit of putting his name on stuff of his own choice when he really shouldn't.
*Sigh*
You don't want to believe him, or even listen to the podcast, that's fine, there's not much I can do to convince you otherwise.
I have to wonder how many people take issue with Sid Meier and Will Wright.
Oh no, I've heard the podcast. And considering the fact that he's changed publishers/marketers with every game and the fact that he claims that every single one of them absolutely insisted he put his Z-grade celebrity name on the box, I'm calling bullshit. It's not as if developers never, ever lie about stuff for whatever reason.
Sid Meier's habit is a little less grating because his games are consistently good, so he's kind of earned it. Will Wright doesn't put his name in the title of his games.
Really, the few people who have the genuine celebrity and track record to have really earned their name in the title don't put it there, Meier aside.
And yes, this relates to Grimm, because knowing American McGee is involved makes me a little less interested in it, because of his track record.
It's not as if he said that he likes having his name on there either. Ultimately, you're just calling him a liar. I can understand that except...
... that the reason it irritates you isn't so much that his name is on there, it's more that you don't like his games. Again, understandable, but would that be about right as interpretations go?
And how do you propose his name got there? Leprechauns? Because that would make more sense than the "every single one of the publishers I've worked with have demanded it" theory. The guy is in charge of his games and it's his name, so that's a pretty big smoking gun.
You missed the part where I said that pretty much every developer shouldn't put their name on the box, and the few who could get away with it don't. Also that Sid Meier's habit is less grating, not non-grating.
Largely because he doesn't seem to be that arrogant and stupid, especially when he acknowledges how much a lot of people hate it and states that he doesn't want it there himself. So again, it largely comes down to whether you choose to believe him on that.
You say "every publisher", but how many games has he actually published? Three? Whilst he was working at EA he worked on plenty of other games aside from Alice, but his name didn't get pasted on those either.
Ah forget it, there isn't really much point in discussing this anyway. Ultimately, I've never liked the cult of celebrity in gaming either. Sid Meier isn't the only person behind the Civilisation series, Jade Raymond was heavily pushed for Assassin's Creed, CliffyB gets wheeled out as the face of Epic and Gears of War (if I'm honest, I really don't believe he's interested in having to do that crap either. Like with McGee, I just think it's a marketing move that people think will advertise the game better).
Like or dislike American McGee is pretty much thread derailing at this stage. Shall we stop?
I was kind of interested in it before it came out, but I probably won't be playing the next episodes, even though I have a GameTap sub and they're all free.