Going back to the well that made his name, McGee chose to revisit some classic children's literature and put his own dark spin on it. The victim this time around? 24 classic fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Released as weekly episodic content, every week promises to deliver a fresh take on an old favorite. The first of these, A Boy Learns What Fear Is, is out now and available for free. So how does it play?

It's a mixed bag really. While there are a few small gripes off the bat, the game grows on you pretty quickly and leaves you with a pretty satisfying experience by the end. Unfortunately the gripes get in the way before you start to have any real fun. The first and most surprising of these was the system requirements. Visually speaking this game shouldn't really tax your system, and yet 2.4ghz is recommended. I'm still running on 1.8 dual core, and this thing chugged. After a few minutes of fiddling with settings and cranking my resolution WAY down things became somewhat playable. My FPS was up, but nowhere where it should have been -- especially on a game that comes across as so basic. When you're making a relatively casual episodic game, you need to keep things simple. Telltale knows this (their games run beautifully for me). McGee really needs to take a book from their page as far as the technical aspects of episodic design go.

As far as episodic design goes from a time/price standpoint, Grimm really nails it well. If each episode that follows A Boy Learns What Fear Is is similar in length, you'll get a little less than an hour of gameplay for $3.99. With weekly episodes, that's quite a good deal. As well, the first 24 hours an episode is available it will be offered for free. But enough about the business/technical end Jim, what about the gameplay?

There are two words that sum up the experience offered by American McGee's Grimm: simple and fun. The core of the gameplay has you guiding a nasty little character named Grimm through a pleasant little fairytale land of posies and princesses. It's Grimm's job to sully it up, and make things good and evil. Doing so couldn't be simpler -- everything he touches turns bad. Trees, houses, pathways -- it all gets a touch of evil. The level of griminess for each stage is tracked at the top of the screen, and the filthier things are the easier it is the dirty up large items. It's a little like Katamari that way.

Getting in your way are the friendly townsfolk who are trying to clean up your mess. Eventually when things get filthy enough you can turn them mean too. A game can't get much simpler than this. Walk around, make things evil. A few other elements are slipped in for good measure -- some very basic platforming and occassional chase down of do-gooders round out this overly-accessible package. The downside, of course, is a total lack of consequence. Nothing can really kill you per se, and the few times you might miss a jump and land in lava see you instantly respawn to the closest place the game deems safe. Luckily the short play time doesn't really allow for any boredom to set in with the lack of consequence that in a lengthier game would be a necessary motivator.

The game has a few other small flaws that are worth pointing out as well. The camera angle, though in no way a problem during gameplay, could be improved. Rather than being right behind Grimm it's at a 45 degree angle -- not an issue, but it is uncomfortable. Arbitrary "secrets" in the form of hidden coins are available on each level, but they don't seem to do anything. The load screen between levels describes different kinds of power-ups, but you won't come across any of them in the game. Little foibles like this don't ruin the experience, but they certainly prove an annoyance.

The highlight of the game has to be in the gallows humor. Grimm has a nasty disposition -- a like a homicidal Oscar the Grouch with a fake British accent. He walks us through the story and provides occasional commentary, all of which has great style and flair. Many of the settings and objects in the game provide a good deal of humor as well. Seesaws, when evil, have children nailed to them. The swings have children hung. If he's not movie, Grimm pees on everything. In one level the clean townsfolk turn to matchsticks and at the end, burn a character at the stake. It's dark dark stuff, but in context delivers a satisfying comic punch.

With that being said it's probably important to note that the T rating is definitely a hard T. I wouldn't recommend that anyone under the age of 14 or so should play this. Many an 8 year old whose parents might sit them in front of T-rated fair like Ratchet & Clank might have some pretty solid nightmares after playing this. I'm not usually one to say a game has been given a low rating, but if Conker is rated M I can't fathom how this one got away with a T.

Is it simple? Yes. Does it have flaws? Sure. But at $3.99 an episode American McGee's Grimm packs a lot of fun into 40 or so minutes of gameplay. If you derive even the smallest amount of amusement from dark comedy, hop on over to the official site and download episode 1, A Boy Learns What Fear Is free of charge.

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