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Grimm

Grimm Episode 14 – Iron John

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Iron John

He said he’d be back!

Another week, another Grimm, another review. Episode 14 revisits the tale of “Iron John”, a convoluted, confusing, and somewhat dissatisfying tale in its original form. Of course Grimm is all about getting satisfaction and it seems the duller the original tale, the more interesting the Grimm result. John Callaham over at Big Download seems to agree and says,

“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.”

Mr. Callaham’s “dissatisfaction” with some of the more standard episodes is understandable. Grimm as a game has been finding its feet, exploring different game play ideas, and all the while trying to keep the promise of fresh weekly episodic content. Delivering on some areas of this promise is easier than others – innovating on game play can be difficult once the concept gets locked into a core mechanic.

I think a large part of the fresh infusion of cool new ideas has come out of the increased involvement of the studio’s latest Creative Director – Ben Kerslake. With fresh blood comes new ideas and the results are obvious. You can see for yourself in this latest and greatest episode.

Remember, episodes of Grimm continue to be offered for free on the day of launch (for 24 hours), and are then available for free to Gametap subscribers. You can also find Grimm on other download sites like Stimulus and TryGames.

General, Grimm

Grimm Episode 13 – The Golden Goose

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Turkey Chomp

Turkey Chomp Action!

Gobble, gobble! It’s time for the Golden Goose – and not just the one on you featured on your typical American thanksgiving dinner table. Grimm’s got some Goose action to share too! But I’ll let you try first – something tells me a goose cooked by Grimm might not be the thing to get your stomach in a holiday mood.

Here in China we’re far, far away from anything resembling a “traditional thanksgiving dinner”. A few years back we tried to create an approximation of the event with roast pigeon, Chinese greens, and yam-like sweet potatoes. But there’s something about eating thanksgiving dinner in a Chinese house older than the United States that doesn’t ring quite so true.

For those of you NOT in China, try some Grimm-style Goose with Episode 13 – “The Golden Goose”! GameTap released this one early and are running it for FREE through the holiday weekend. Actually, I have no idea how long it’ll be free since no one at GameTap bothered to tell me they were doing anything special with the episode – but hey! It IS Turkey Day after all!

And be sure to stayed tuned – the next couple of Grimm episodes are really cool. Next week we’ve got “Iron John”, which I can assure you is one of the more … insane … episode of Grimm we’ve ever created. And following that – the big Christmas episode, “Christmas Carol” which aside from containing a lot of Scroogey goodness, also pushes the Unreal 3 engine to all sorts of awesome visual effect.

I hope everyone out there has a happy holiday!

Grimm

Grimm Episode 12 – “Cinderella”

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Cinderella (Dark)

Dark Cinderella

Grimm’s back! This week he’s adding his dark touch to the uber-classic “Cinderella”. This was actually one of the first episodes we built for Grimm – but because it was so early, it turned out really rough. So we completely scrapped the original design, rebuilt the entire thing, and pushed the release date to NOW.

And in following what has become another weekly tradition, here’s David Craddock over at BigDownload giving us a positive review of the latest episode: “After a bit of moping around due to her abhorrent mistreatment at the hands of her step-mother and step-sisters, Grimm’s antagonistic aura injects Cinderella with a bit of spunk. Rather than simpering when she can’t go to the ball, Cindy gets peeved and punches a villager in his jaw. The unfortunate victim of circumstance flies backward and becomes wedged in the rump of the horse pulling the step-sisters’ ball-bound carriage. This humorous sequence of event culminates with the startled animal unleashing a spray of urine that drenches the sisters.”

Um yeah. Grimm’s sick like that.

Go check it out on GameTap!

Grimm

Grimm on Direct2Drive

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Queen Crone

More ways to access your apples

If you’ve been looking for an alternative method of downloading episodes of Grimm, your options just increased!

As you know, there’s GameTap – where Grimm episodes are free for the first 24 hours after their initial release – and where Grimm is free all the time for subscribers. Additionally, you can purchase and download individual episodes from GameTap without being a subscriber.

And then there’s Trymedia and various affiliates, where you can purchase and download episodes of Grimm or entire bundles of 8 episodes.

And now you’ve got even more freedom: Direct2Drive is offering Grimm episodes and bundles for purchase and download. So far they have the first 8 episodes on offer here:

Episode 2 – Red Riding Hood
Episode 3 – Fisherman and His Wife
Episode 4 – Puss in Boots
Episode 5 – The Girl Without Hands
Episode 6 – Godfather Death
Episode 7 – The Devil’s 3 Golden Hairs
Episode 8 – Beauty and the Beast

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and play some Grimm!

Oh, and stay tuned for more news on alternate platforms for playing Grimm. Soon we’ll announce Grimm on something “other” than PC.

General, Grimm

Grimm Episode 11 – King Midas

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Centaur

Centaur

This week brings us one of my favorite Episodes from Grimm – “King Midas”. In this tale Grimm visits a classic Greek myth and the world it inhabits. We meet Gods, Kings, and Fools. And best of all – Grimm’s dark power takes on a special “shine”.

As David Craddock over at Big Download describes it: Once Midas is given his golden touch, though, things become more entertaining. Trading dirt and corruption for every woman’s best friend (next to chocolate, of course), the player, through control of Grimm, does King Midas’s work for him. Objects and NPCs turn to gold as you pass them by, with objects such as leaves and boats crashing to the ground or bubbling to the seafloor due to their increase weight. In an odd twist for the series, climbing to a high vantage point and looking down at your handiwork is quite striking instead of depressing.

On a less than golden note: It appears the Chinese government has blocked Flickr and some other US sites this morning – so I’m unable to upload a new image to accompany this post.

Grimm

Grimm Episode 10 “The Singing Bone”

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The Singing Bone

The Singing Bone!

Once again we’re singing the praises of Grimm. And this week we’re getting help from a very special bone – “The Singing Bone”!

David Craddock over at BigDownload has already posted a review of this week’s episode in which he says:

Just like The Master Thief, The Singing Bone allows players to craft a darker version of the tale that is different from the lighter version. The light theater doesn’t depict the boar terrorizing anything, for example, but lazing around like the fat sloth it is. After sufficiently darkening enough of that particular level, Grimm hops aboard the beast, which has been altered to reflect its nasty, vicious nature. Players are then able to ride the boar, whose ability to plow through villagers and livestock is met with satisfying sprays of gore.

Nothing satisfies like a spray of gore! If you want to experience the spray of grim, gore, and goodness for yourself, head over to GameTap and check out this latest version of Grimm.

And stay tuned – Next week we’ll present one of my favorite episodes, “King Midas”. This episode is particularly interesting because we really push the “transformation” idea to some new places. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean!