Grim Tales 5: Bloody Mary

Grim Tales: Bloody Mary
by Elephant Games - August, 2013

Series links:  Grim Tales 1: The Bride, Grim Tales 2: The Legacy, Grim Tales 3: The Wishes, Grim Tales 4: The Stone Queen, Grim Tales 5: Bloody Mary, Grim Tales 6: The Vengeance, Grim Tales 7: Color of Fright, Grim Tales 8: The Final Suspect, Grim Tales 9: Threads of Destiny, Grim Tales 10: The Heir, Grim Tales 11: Crimson Hollow, Grim Tales 12: Graywitch, Grim Tales 13: The White Lady

Available at:
Big Fish as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition



You’re driving home from work when you get an urgent call from your favorite niece, begging you to pick her up from her boarding school. The teachers have gone missing, her classmates are becoming violent, and shadow creatures are haunting every corner. Search the school, but remember this one simple rule: Never look into a mirror after sunset. Bloody Mary is always watching.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Bonus game featuring Bloody Mary's origin
  
• Downloadable wallpapers, concept art and soundtracks
  
• Special viewing areas for achievements and collectibles
  
• A Secret room you can make over yourself!
  

For the Standard Edition

• Strategy Guide
  
• Walkthrough (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
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Seriously Scary!
    

BASED ON COMPLETED CE GAME

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Spectacular start to the game. Blood drenched colour, the music is so ominous, the acting dramatic. A truly creepy beginning.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The game should be gloomy. Everything is coloured with blood red. Yet it is not. The graphics are clear, detailed and beautiful, and there is no trouble with seeing HOs or found items. The music, as I say, is positively panic-inducing right from the start. Coupled with the eerie sounds of children’s laughter, the whole package is quite devastating. It is, I think, the most frightening of all the games produced by this developer.

WHAT’S HAPPENING
This game is the 5th in the Grim Tales series, and those who have played the other games will recognise our character of “Super-Auntie”, but I’m sorry to say, no more of our nephew Brandon. It is our niece who begs for our help, and it is her school that we race to.

After the first half hour or so, it's the school and the urban legend of Bloody Mary that we focus on. I didn’t really have any idea of what that legend was (it’s not one we have here), but it didn’t take long to figure out. You don’t to have played the other games, or be familiar with the legend to enjoy this game.

Bloody Mary seems to have manifested in the mirrors at our niece’s school. Teachers are disappearing and students are behaving weirdly. All of it has to do with the legend of Bloody Mary, and care must be taken to avoid mirrors after dark, or she will drag you into her world.

MAKING PROGRESS
There are plenty of puzzles and HO scenes in this game, along with a lot of adventure tasks. There is a lot to do. It is all good fun, a little harder than easy, but not super difficult.

The beautifully drawn HO scenes have interactive lists, and if I had one criticism for this game it would be that there are not other styles of HO puzzle offered. There’s an interactive jump map that tells you where there are active tasks, not whether you can currently do anything about them, which is a bit frustrating. Hint is excellent, giving you concise instructions on what to do next. Both hint and skip are quick in the easiest of 3 game modes.

BLING!
There is a huge list of CE extras that you’ll probably miss out on, but I was unimpressed with the bonus chapter, which seemed to have been sloppily put together and while it was long, was not very immersive or convincing.

There are the usual gallery items, including 2 screensavers, collectible figurines depicting terrors , more achievements than I had time to count, and a secret room. Oh, and cute critters.

The Secret Room contains the replayable HOs and puzzles were not unlocked until you had completed the bonus chapter. Then you play a kind of ‘readers digest’ version of the main game. You must find an item to unlock each HO scene and puzzle, by completing one of them. I thought that was worth the extra price.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS
This is a great game, in either version, but I prefer the CE with its extras. But if you’re not into that kind of thing, and achievements don’t grab you, this game would be an excellent buy.

I Recommend This Game!