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GameTap Thursday: Grimm and Alien Stars
This week's GameTap update un-Disney-fies fairy tales with the addition of American McGee's Grimm. Play as the crude title character in the first set of eight episodes over the coming weeks (schedule posted after the break). The game buffet also adds one other title for subscribers this week. Remember, the first episode of Grimm is free to play for all and all future episodes are free for the first 24 hours after release. Grimm (Windows) - One angry dwarf is bringing everything back to basics. Alien Stars (Windows) - A top-down shmup. So, pew, pew-pew, pew, pew-pew-pew, away. Grimm is this week's addition to the GameTap gratis lineup. The full list of free ad-supported titles on the service can be found after the break.
A Grimm first trailer
American McGee's Grimm begins its 24-episode adventure on GameTap this Thursday, July 31, with A Boy Learns What Fear Is. The first trailer was recently released from its Disney-esque sugary confines and can be found after the break.From our hands-on experience with Grimm's first couple episodes, it's definitely worth taking the title out for a spin. Each episode only requires about a half hour to go through and, if you know how to keep an appointment, it'll be possible to play each one for free.
Joystiq hands-on: American McGee's Grimm
click to enlarge After playing his latest creation, we're beginning to suspect that American McGee – whose previous work includes American McGee's Alice, Quake, and Doom II – has a bit of a fascination with the macabre. Grimm has its basis in some of the darker fairytales on record, and McGee has certainly milked them for every last, inky drop of blackness.As we reported earlier today, American McGee's Grimm is GameTap's first weekly episodic game. We plunged into the twisted depths of the first episode – "A Boy Learns What Fear Is" – to bring you the hands-on impressions you'll find after the break.%Gallery-26724%
American McGee's Grimm: All episodes free for first 24 hours
GameTap is taking a most unusual approach with its first weekly episodic game series. Each episode of American McGee's Grimm – individual "fractured fairytales" from the designer of American McGee's Alice – will debut as a free download and remain free for a 24-hour period. After that, episodes will go into GameTap's archives and be available to download individually for a yet-to-be-determined price.The model is likened to that of the iTunes or Xbox Live video download services. Catching a Grimm episode during the initial download-for-free window will be like watching a new episode of a show on network TV. Once it's "aired," you can download it if you missed it – for a price.The episodes will be supported by minimal up-front advertising and the first one, "A Boy Learns What Fear Is," will debut on July 31. We had the opportunity to play the first three Grimm episodes yesterday and will post our impressions later today.
A Grimm video dump
Once upon a time, there was a company called GameTap. Having parted with its stable of scribes responsible for game previews (games like American McGee's Grimm), the job now falls on the rest of the intertubes. We've placed a plethora of new videos of what to expect from Grimm, when it launches on GameTap July 31, after the break.For those just learning about this bizarre take of fairy tales, Grimm is a 24-part episodic adventure where cheery Disney-fied stories get back in touch with their original source material.%Gallery-9426%
GameTap tells the tale of Grimm's gameplay
GameTap posted a preview of Grimm, its upcoming 24-part episodic adventure taking the cheery Disney-fied fairy tales we all know and bringing them back closer to the source material. Each episode will release weekly and have approximately 30 minutes of gameplay focusing on one fairy tale. The episode will start with the "contemporary perspective" of the fairy tale told in puppet show form, narrated by the main character Grimm (seen above). After Grimm goes out into the world and does his thing, the end of each episode will have another puppet show telling the story a little closer to the original version with a little bit of McGee's touch.The gameplay involves Grimm running around and turning the bright cheery landscape into a macabre world, basically the opposite of De Blob. After a majority of the level is transformed Grimm can move on to other challenges, which include platform gameplay, secret areas, hidden items and more. What we still don't know is if the difficulty will curve up in each weekly episode or if it will get progressively harder as it goes along (meaning by episode 20 it could take hours to finish due to restarts instead of 30 minutes). Grimm begins telling tales in July on GameTap.%Gallery-9426%
Screenshots: American McGee's Grimm ... and first trailer!
Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! GameTap rolled out the first in-game shots of American McGee's Grimm today, along with a trailer (posted after the break), revealing the twisted tales' "vile," and still nameless protagonist, er, rather, 'antagonist.' The images and video suggest some kind of dual-world shenanigans -- from "cheery to eerie" -- but details are vague. Grimm will unfold over 24-weekly episodes, which are currently exclusive to GameTap, beginning in July.%Gallery-9426%
American McGee announces next 'twisted tale' project after Grimm
We're not sure what it is about American McGee that makes him so fascinated about putting dark spins on Western tales. The former id Software developer and Electronic Arts' consultant found his niche in 2000 with Alice, though since that release he's done little to make us believe that his name slapped on the front of a game's box carries any more weight than the UPC code on the back. His latest project is a morose 24-episode take on the Brothers Grimm in development at McGee's Shanghai studio Spicy Horse, a project that according to a blog post by McGee is halfway completed. Excited, the developer has let the proverbial cat out of the equally proverbial bag by confirming work on another project. While details are light, McGee writes that the game will be built on Epic's UE3 engine, and is a "big publisher, multi-platform, twisted tale project." This of course makes us think that McGee will once again be paying a visit to the children's section of the local library in search of inspiration. Might we suggest Winnie the Pooh, as nothing is quite as frighting as a vicious bear that's rumbly in his tumbly. [via Gamasutra]
Grimm starts next spring on GameTap
The fractured fairy tale of American McGee's Grimm starts next spring on GameTap. The 24 episode series will follow the darker narrative of the original Brothers Grimm tales and have players in a "sandbox world which contains missions assigned in episodic fashion." The series will be set up in a way to have cliffhangers and keep players interested in future episodes. Images below in the gallery are what to expect to see from Grimm's characters.If the thought of waiting until next spring for Grimm makes you feel uncomfortable, there's always the the new season of Sam and Max (starting Nov. 8) to keep you busy.%Gallery-9426%
GameTap officially getting Grimm
GameTap announced today that they'll publish Grimm by American McGee. The 24 episode action/adventure game was re-confirmed after McGee sorta let the grandma out of the wolf last week. Expect the game to follow in McGee's Tim Burton-style treatment of Alice. The game is being developed by McGee's Shanghai studio Spicy Horse and will start on GameTap next year. Hopefully GameTap will keep McGee on track in terms of content and release schedule. So far, we can't complain about GameTap, which has brought us the only true episodic gaming experience we've seen so far with Sam & Max. An episode a month with a solid release schedule -- exactly what this whole episodic gaming concept was supposed to be about (and yes, we're looking at you Valve -- per usual). Oh, also, we know Pinnochio isn't a Grimm tale, but that's the art we've got for the game, go take it up with McGee. What we really want to know about is the "words as weapons" mechanic in the game. Action/adventure meets Typing of the Dead -- we're so there!
Grimm news for GameTap and American McGee
Oh American, you so crazy. You went and let it slip that your game Grimm was going to be distributed by GameTap. Now, we weren't there to see you talking about this on your blog, but Gamasutra saw. And they remember. They remember that you said it would be a 24-part episodic series. They remember when you said it should start in 2008. Or, at least, we think that's what you said.Apparently McGee was a bit early letting the Cheshire Cat out of the bag, as the blog post that announced the the game has been replaced with a bean-spilling apology. But the long and short is, as you probably could have gathered from the title, he'll be giving the Hot Topic treatment to a bunch of stories by The Brothers Grimm. Though we're eager to see more of the game, we were disheartened to hear he's been blaming Argentinian McGinty for the leak. Come on man, grow up.
