As subscribers to GameTap have known for a while now, game designer American McGee (Alice, Scrapland) has been working on an episodic game called Grimm for the online service. 24 weekly episodes will start up in July, but not much else has been known about it.
Over the last month, some interesting details have emerged. First off, fans of Alice‘s twisted world should feel at home here. Grimm is all about classic fairy tales, with each new episode showcasing at least one new one. Everything from Pinocchio to Jack and the Bean Stalk to Little Red Riding Hood will be featured here… and ripped to shreds.
Each episode will be about 30 minutes long, and apparently very simple. Your main task as Grimm will be simply explore the landscape of each fairy tale. As you do, the world directly around you will become dark and corrupt… and possibly more faithful to the originals stories?
As McGee recently told GameTap- “I want people to know the original fairy tales, which have been distilled,” McGee explained when we caught up with him at this year’s GDC. “Look at Pinocchio, for instance. In the original story he kills Jiminy Cricket, his conscience. Pinocchio was a real jerk in the original story. But nobody knows that because they’ve only seen the Disney version.”
That’s most definitely true… I can’t have been the only one traumatized by reading that moment as a child, right? (Pinocchio squashes that bug and is haunted by him the rest of the story.)
But here’s an example of what happens to the world of Grimm.
Before:
After:
One of the most exciting things about the game will be its humor. Not only just seeing the classic stories in a darker light- that’s been done before- but the voice acting. You can expect some black humor here, and it’s good to note that the actor who will voice Grimm (Roger Jackson) is also the guy behind Abe Lincoln in Sam and Max‘s games, and the Cheshire Cat and other characters in American McGee’s Alice.
There’s no pricing policy set in place for these games just yet- expect it to be around 5 bucks a pop, though, and for a box set to hit after it’s all out. There was also a rumor going around a while ago that they were looking to get the game on Xbox Live Arcade, but nothing has come of that just yet.
Of course, you could simply play them on GameTap, like I will do. Let’s hope that this becomes their second great episodic game series after Sam and Max…
For a look at the trailer and some more info, check out the official site. American McGee’s blog also has some interesting concept art and details up.