Fairytale Fights Preview [360]

21 Sep 2009 at 16:21:47 by

There's something inspiringly sadistic about Fairytale Fights.  Not only do you get to revisit the wonderful tales of your youth - which were generally laced with some moral or another for you to learn from - but you can see the darker side; the more sadistic side; the side which is hinted at and insinuated but never revealed or seen as a child.

You're introduced to this wonderfully colourful world - a vibrant world full of life, puzzles and trials for you to overcome - with an intro that sees four well-known fairytale characters losing their fairytale worlds and their fame to some ghoulish monster that's stealing their stories, burning them, and replacing them with a new, ugly-looking fairytale character who’s taking all the fame.  Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The "Naked" Emperor (the emperor from The Emperor's New Clothes) and Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk are the four characters we've seen and played, and their sole aim is to reclaim their status as famous fairytale characters.

With the scene set it's time for you to explore your world with your chosen character.  I initially chose the Emperor purely because he was my favourite fairytale character when I was younger, and relished the idea of playing with a naked royal who's hell-bent on ripping everything apart.  Before you enter the quest world, however, there is a a safe starting town in which you can check your achievements, choose your quest, spend your money on a statue (although I'm still no clearer as to its purpose) and even change your character of choice. 

The game itself is a simple affair.  You're playing a straight forward, linear platformer and you just have to get to the end of the level.  There is no time-limit, so you're free to mosey around and check out the wonderful surroundings which have been created so beautifully in the Unreal 3 Engine that you really do feel as though you're in a fairytale world.  One of the other great things that Fairytale Fights offers is the enemies.  You're not facing some brand new, created-for-the-game foes, but rather sinister versions of fairytale characters, such as gingerbread men and lumberjacks, named Lumberjohns and Lumberbens here.

But the game's beauty isn't in the enemies, charming though they are.  No, the beauty is in the variety of weapons, killing techniques and the relentless (yet extremely endearing) gore factor.  You have three types of weapons - cutting weapons, bashing weapons and ranged weapons – and how you dispatch the enemies is where the fun lies.

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