ON The Insider:
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Publisher: LucasArts Developer: LucasArts Release: Summer 1998 The next graphic adventure game from LucasArts promises to be one of the most exciting releases of the year, regardless of genre. And at a time when adventure gaming is in one of its worst ruts ever, the timing couldn't be better. Created by Tim Schafer, the creative force behind Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and other classic LucasArts adventures, Grim Fandango tells the darkly warped tale of one Manny Calavera, a skeletal inhabitant in the Land of the Dead who finds himself at the center of a Double Indemnity-style plot full of double-crossing schemers, menacing bad guys, and femme fatales. The 3D artwork, based on Mexican folklore and also modeled on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a thing of strange beauty. The characters' painted 2D faces over 3D polygonal bodies create a look that is both haunting and cartoony. No game has ever looked like this one. Expect the same stellar puzzle design and first-rate script LucasArts almost always pulls together for its adventures. Now, however, you'll "drive" the main character yourself, rather than just pointing and clicking, in the hopes of creating a more immersive environment - something always missing from standard 2D adventures. With a totally unique plot and art design, and the smart-alecky comic mastery of Tim Schafer and the rest of the LucasArts team, Grim Fandango is the most promising adventure of the season. For a more complete preview of the game, see Computer Gaming World Online. |
