Legend of Grimrock (PC)

• Release Date: 04/11/2012
• Genre: RPG
• Rating: 4.5/5
• Studio: Almost Human Ltd.

The latest offering from the ‘Almost Human Ltd. is something I was really looking forward to. I was missing dungeon crawlers for days and just when I was wondering why on earth the modern game makers are so shy of these games, Legend of Grimrock has after all hit the stands. All credit goes to the maker of the game. It has made me remind of the good old days when we used to ponder over these games and rue over our losses and celebrate our victories with the innocence of our childhood.

But when I take a look this game, I can understand how much these games have changed. They lack the laxity of the early days’ games and the innocence I was looking for. Rather, the game presents a horrifying ambience that infects the psyche of the game quite easily, so much so that it keeps of haunting the gamer for long – at least I felt it and you will feel the same. I can put my house on sale on that. The game opens up on the top of Mount Grimrock, where the deadly prison is the home to 4 prisoners destined to die. Your job is to guide them out of the deadly labyrinth braving a number of odds which are out there to end the lives of the hapless 4 in a split second. Many have perished in the past and these 4 must survive to make a difference and you are their only ray of hope.

It’s a puzzle I had to crack and what a way to do so! I crawled, I jumped, I huffed and puffed and did everything to get to the exit and there is the real fun of the game. The more you venture into the dark world of the unknown and untried the more you get puzzle and then you have to crack it – with style. You have a 4 member group to deal with and you can actually hand-pick them with the help of a well crafted menu. The characters have the necessary depth and variety that will make them look real though the rogues could not shrug off the limitations and that is one limitation that has plagued the game all through. As you defeat the rogues, you earn points and new range of weapons and new abilities.

The dungeons come at levels and as the levels change, the darkness and the atmosphere get more and more grotesque and take you to an ancient ghostly world. Then there are earthquakes, ghostly voices heard in dreams and scratchy spiders with deadly fangs and ‘undead’ knights moving all around you setting the tone of a perfect humdinger and an eerie mood that prevails all over.

We like:

• The storyline
• The sound effects
• The special effects
• The menus and the gaming controls make the game a pleasure for an average gamer
• The options and the maneuverability

We hate:

• The rogue characters seem to lack variations to some extent

Official Website of the game: http://www.grimrock.net/