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Controlling the humor:
The only video game with dingoes and Robert Frost
By Marty Sliva
The humor in ‘Grim Fandango’ is a perfect blend of Woody Allen's neurotic quips mixed with the dark satire of Tim Burton.
I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that one of the single funniest pieces of art to come along over the last 15 years is a videogame. This may sound strange to some. No one would ever laugh at “Tetris”. Let me rephrase that: no one without copious amounts of narcotics in their system would laugh at “Tetris.”
I’m not saying that the other mediums have failed when it comes to humor. No one can discount the efforts of comedians like Dave Chappelle, Patton Oswalt, Will Farrell, and Steve Carell. However, no one person has crafted as refined humor as a lowly video game developer.
One of the most creative visionaries in the video game industry is Tim Schafer. As the mind behind such classics as "Full Throttle" and "Psychonauts," he has been at the forefront of humor in video games. In 1998, he released “Grim Fandango,” which was immediately hailed as a masterpiece in both story telling and gaming.
“Grim Fandango” can be best described at the Mexican Day of the Dead fused together with a hard-boiled film noir. You play as Manny Calavera, a man who has to atone for the sins of his life by working as a travel agent in the after life. All is well in the underworld until the day Manny ends up falling for a beautiful woman who disappears into the treacherous wilderness. What follows is one of the most entertaining adventures of the past decade.
The humor in “Grim Fandango” is a perfect blend of Woody Allen's neurotic quips mixed with the dark satire of Tim Burton. Each character is unique and memorable. The bizarre slew of characters you meet along the way range from a balloon artist who specializes in both dingoes and profile shots of Robert Frost, to a Che Guevara type revolutionary who is obsessed with using carrier pigeons.
The game play is pretty standard. You wander around the environment solving some mild puzzles while trying to progress the story forward. Like most adventure games, conversations are abundant in "Grim Fandango". This is where the game shines in a category all it’s own.
Unlike some games where the conversations feel wooden and fake, every line of dialogue in the Land of the Dead feels completely natural and utterly hilarious. This is a testament to both the pitch-perfect writing, as well as the amazing voice acting. Fed up secretaries actually sound like fed up secretaries, not like some random woman walking by the studio during crunch time.
As good as all of the other characters sound, Manny really steals the show. Any time you interact with the environment, he’ll tell you what he thinks about the situation that you’re in. The game ends up becoming self-referential, as he will berate you for making stupid decisions.
“Grim Fandango” is about a decade old, but it holds up as well as any of the classics. Like all great comedies, the game only gets better on repeat experiences.
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