American McGee's Grimm, Episode 6
Godfather Death
9/10/2008 11:45 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2
Erin Bell
Status: Trying to keep track of all of my various status messages
The sixth downloadable episode of
American McGee's Grimm drives home the point that the quality of the gameplay depends on the subject matter of the particular fairy tale being re-interpreted. Take a mediocre story, like last week's
The Girl Without Hands, and the whole episode can't help but be a bit lame. But take a cool fairy tale, like Godfather Death, and the episode is going to be pretty cool too.
Grimm's god is all about fire and brimstone -- literally.
A poor family has 12 children, but when number 13 arrives it proves to be the tipping point. Deciding they can't handle another tot, the father sets out to find a godfather for the child. After turning down both God himself (because he lets the poor starve) and the devil (because he leads people astray), the father chooses Death as the boy's godfather because he treats people equally, whether rich or poor.
Is that light coming out of his face AND fire coming out of his head? Cool.
When the boy grows up, Godfather Death helps him to become a famous physician by giving him a magical herb. If the boy sees Death standing at the head of the sickbed, he's to give the patient the herb and he/she will recover. If Death is standing at the foot of the bed, however, it means the patient is destined to die. The boy becomes famous for his uncanny ability to predict who will live or die, and his fame inevitably leads him to the bedside of the ill king.
Although he sees Death standing at the foot of the bed, the boy defies his godfather by giving the king the herb anyway. The king recovers and offers the physician his daughter's hand in marriage. The boy deceives his godfather a second time and heals the girl -- which understandably leaves Death pretty annoyed. Death drags the boy down into the underworld to a room filled with lit candles of varying lengths, each representing a person's lifespan. He points out that the boy's candle is very short, and when the boy begs him to light a new one for him, Death snuffs out his candle instead. Lesson learned: Respect your godfather, especially if it's the Grim Reaper himself.
