I'm going to admit right now that when I saw the title for the new Grim Tales game, I was lost in the throes of nerdom. Oh, how I love a good story that involves folklore, especially one that has turned into an epic urban legend like the tale of Bloody Mary.
If you were ever a teenage girl, at one point you most likely stared your own reflection in the eye and chanted Bloody Mary in the mirror after a dare at a sleepover.
Now, you may never have actually had the courage to say it three times, but, I will admit, I still have a hard time looking at a mirror in the dark, thanks to those memories.
And, as a funny coincidence, I recently started watching the show Supernatural... (how did I not know about this show before?!), and one of the episodes I watched revolved around a particularly frightening rendition of Bloody Mary who scratched your eyes out and killed you... flipping fantastic.
So, I was already primed and ready to go when I saw Grim Tales Bloody Mary hit the release list.
Originally, the story of Bloody Mary comes from the old folklore belief that if a young woman walked up the stairs in the dark backwards with a candle and a hand mirror, she would be able to catch a glimpse of her future husband.
The more modern legend we know today is a bit more gruesome. Bloody Mary is usually portrayed as a witch of some kind who used to steal young girls and drain their essence, feeding off their youth to make herself look young... as all good witches do.
However, she was caught and burned at the stake, and now her vengeful spirit can be conjured only by chanting her name three times in a dark mirror. It's said that when the spirit of Bloody Mary appears, she will tear your body to pieces and rip out your soul... so you can imagine how many traumatized little girls there are out there...
Anyhow, nerd lesson over, Grim Tales: Bloody Mary tackles the legend and twists it a little, providing us with a dark and delicious tale that was full of terrifying good times.
Really, if you don't like scary games, don't even bother downloading Grim Tales: Bloody Mary... it was pretty high on the creeptastic meter. Which I for one LOVED. I still can't wipe the silly grin off my face... Grim Tales Bloody Mary was one hell of a scary game.
OK, well, it wasn't pee your pants scary, so don't worry about that. But for a hidden object game, it was surprisingly full of moments that had me at the edge of my seat.
From the moment I saw the opening title screen, the young girl, her face hidden by her hair, lazily swaying on a swing, I knew this was going to hit my creep buttons. There's just something about creepy dolls and kids that send shivers coursing down my spine.
You begin the game by getting a frantic call from your niece who is staying at a boarding school nearby. She's terrified at what is transpiring at her school. She says the kids are changing, becoming mean... evil.
She begs you to come help her, and, as the good auntie that you are, you come charging to the rescue... only to be met with a cursed mansion full of kids gone crazy and creatures out of your worst nightmare full of teeth and claws... oh and did I mention Bloody Mary? Yeah, she's there too, watching you with red baleful eyes from the mirror.
The graphics for Grim Tales: Bloody Mary had me drooling... the colors were just so perfect. Everything looked like it had been drenched in reds, yellows, and blacks... it just gave the appearance of that unholy glow you associate with terrible, terrible things.
The music and sounds couldn't be more compelling. I kept laughing at how creepy everything was. It was the perfect symphony of sinister... fingernails scraping on wood, leaves rustling in the wind, whispers that filled the silence, just barely perceived.
Combine that with spot on crashes of sharp staccatos that were so otherworldly, it truly was masterfully put together.
The gameplay in Grim Tales: Bloody Mary was also well done, although not as exciting as I wanted it to be, but that could have been that the ambiance was so perfect, my expectations were set a bit high.
I found the hidden object scenes to be beautiful, if well, creepy... the objects were well hidden, but not dark or impossible to see.
I had mixed feelings about the mini-games. The range in difficulty seemed way too wide. They went from being stupid easy to ridiculously frustrating. There was one particularly frustrating game that took me forever to complete... and then I realized I lost... so I had to start over again... but thankfully that handy skip button was there for me to shove in its face.
Overall though, I can't deny that Grim Tales: Bloody Mary was a fantastic game that delivered the perfect atmosphere for a freakishly eerie good time.