GRIM FANDANGO

                 Reviewed by Stefan Herber

I have now completed what certain computer magazines have reliably
informed me is the best adventure game of all time. To be honest I
started it months ago but ended up being sidetracked into various
RPG efforts. I suppose that sums it up best - it's not compelling.
You enjoy playing it but feel no need to go back again and again
to try and complete it.

Not that it took very long. Three days of concentrated effort and
it was all over. Yes - I did get stuck on a number of occasions
and had to consult a walkthrough - but 99% of the time I had
already solved the problem and my mistake was not standing in the
right position. Do we really need this sort of frustration in
adventure games nowadays?? Being a 3D adventure (although I'm
damned if I can notice the difference) you can't use the mouse -
it's keyboard or joystick. I thought this was the ideal time to
learn to use the gamepad I purchased - all things being equal I
hope you have better luck than me. The promised keys did not work
at all.

And of course it crashed randomly from time to time despite
installing all the latest patches. I encountered this using two
separate video cards and indeed with my new setup would not have
got any further had it not been for previous save games.  This is
an unusual problem for LucasArts software and I hope it's not a
portent for the future.

I suppose I have to admit that it was a reasonably diverting
experience. It reminded me most of the latest LucasArts adventure
games - it has no resemblance to the Monkey Island trilogy at all.
Basically you have to solve the reason why so many dead and
deserving souls are being denied their true fulfillment in the
next world which seems to be fuller of gangsters and hit men than
any Humphrey Bogart epic. Interestingly enough although you are
already dead you can still apparently be "sprouted" which involves
a large number of flowers growing out of your anatomy and you
ending up goodness knows where! As in previous LucasArts epics you
never actually die - you can always solve a problem without the
game ending.

Well, try it out - it's available at cut-down price from many
retailers. There is also a dearth of adventure games on the market
currently which is almost as severe as the RPG drought of a few
years ago. BUT - the best adventure game ever? Please tell the
people at PC "deleted" that it probably ranks below the original
Zork text adventure.










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