I underestimated this game when it came out, but now I have to admit that playing Legend of Grimrock was an amazing experience. This is the first game in 15years that got me stuck on puzzles, it reminded me of the time when puzzle games where among the most played, and well made, games. For those of you who played games like "Eye of the Beholder", Legend of Grimrock will probably hit you in the feelings like a 1/2 ton truck.

***GAMEPLAY 9/10
The gameplay is really simple, you move as if you're on a grid one step at time (up,down,left,right and rotate 90° L or R)
You have 4 characters that move together in a square formation, so you have 2 on front and 2 at the back, note that this also mean that you have 2 on the left and 2 on the right, which might seem obvious, but will become a problem if you get sandwiched between monsters. The combat mechanic is simple, but challenging. Your front row can attack any monster with any weapon, the back row can only attack monsters with ranged/missile weapons, or with spells. You can only attack monsters that are facing you, but monsters can sneak on you and easily kill your back row, so beware of how you move when fighting more than one enemy.
When you are not killing enemies, you're probably trying to solve puzzles. This is the core of the game : how to reach the end of the dungeon. Your wits will be challenged, sometimes lightly, sometimes harder, sometimes you'll find the solution to a hard puzzle in no time and some other times you'll feel the king of all dumbs by realizing you had the solution under your nose for 1 hour, but you didn't see it... true story.
Why 9/10? I need to write this down. I'd normally give 8, game controls are good, game is challenging but not impossible, however, this +1 bonus comes from the fact that Legend of Grimrock resurrected the dungeon crawler mechanics that was abandoned long time ago. It demonstrates that old school can still kick asses.

***STORY 7/10
Story is almost a MacGuffin, it's there just to set things in motion and to give you a purpose. You're thrown into this prison/dungeon to die, but some weird voice in your dreams tells you that you can escape if you reach the lowest level... and so it begins. While descending the levels you'll find some scrolls that give you information about Mount Grimrock, which add a bit of lore to the game.
When you finally reach the lowest level ... well, you'll see. I enjoyed every single bit of the story, even though it's really simple.

***GRAPHICS 7/10
Graphic isn't great, but it's good enough. A bit more variety for what concerns the levels wouldn't have hurt, but I admit it's not necessary. I mean, Mount Grimrock is a prison and a prison isn't supposed to be about beautiful hallways and rooms, so it doesn't feel weird roaming 4 levels that look the same. No glitches whatsoever.

***SOUND 7/10
Game is almost silent, music is just a feeble echo in the background. The monsters grunts and steps are what you'll hear most of the time. When you play at harder difficulties it creates an effect on the player, hearing wierd noises behind walls and corner almost make you fear for the lives of your characters.

3) TL;DR
Overall score 7.5/10
Legend of Grimrock resurrects the dungeon crawler genre. If you are old enough to have played this kind of games before, you should buy this game, and even if you weren't old enough, and puzzle game are your thing, you won't get disappointed.

I underestimated this game when it came out, but now I have to admit that playing Legend of Grimrock was an amazing experience. This is the first game in 15years that got me stuck on puzzles, it reminded me of the time when puzzle games where among the most played, and well made, games. For those of you who played games like "Eye of the Beholder", Legend of Grimrock will probably hit you in the feelings like a 1/2 ton truck. ***GAMEPLAY 9/10 The gameplay is really simple, you move as if you're on a grid one step at time (up,down,left,right and rotate 90° L or R) You have 4 characters that move together in a square formation, so you have 2 on front and 2 at the back, note that this also mean that you have 2 on the left and 2 on the right, which might seem obvious, but will become a problem if you get sandwiched between monsters. The combat mechanic is simple, but challenging. Your front row can attack any monster with any weapon, the back row can only attack monsters with ranged/missile weapons, or with spells. You can only attack monsters that are facing you, but monsters can sneak on you and easily kill your back row, so beware of how you move when fighting more than one enemy. When you are not killing enemies, you're probably trying to solve puzzles. This is the core of the game : how to reach the end of the dungeon. Your wits will be challenged, sometimes lightly, sometimes harder, sometimes you'll find the solution to a hard puzzle in no time and some other times you'll feel the king of all dumbs by realizing you had the solution under your nose for 1 hour, but you didn't see it... true story. Why 9/10? I need to write this down. I'd normally give 8, game controls are good, game is challenging but not impossible, however, this +1 bonus comes from the fact that Legend of Grimrock resurrected the dungeon crawler mechanics that was abandoned long time ago. It demonstrates that old school can still kick asses. ***STORY 7/10 Story is almost a MacGuffin, it's there just to set things in motion and to give you a purpose. You're thrown into this prison/dungeon to die, but some weird voice in your dreams tells you that you can escape if you reach the lowest level... and so it begins. While descending the levels you'll find some scrolls that give you information about Mount Grimrock, which add a bit of lore to the game. When you finally reach the lowest level ... well, you'll see. I enjoyed every single bit of the story, even though it's really simple. ***GRAPHICS 7/10 Graphic isn't great, but it's good enough. A bit more variety for what concerns the levels wouldn't have hurt, but I admit it's not necessary. I mean, Mount Grimrock is a prison and a prison isn't supposed to be about beautiful hallways and rooms, so it doesn't feel weird roaming 4 levels that look the same. No glitches whatsoever. ***SOUND 7/10 Game is almost silent, music is just a feeble echo in the background. The monsters grunts and steps are what you'll hear most of the time. When you play at harder difficulties it creates an effect on the player, hearing wierd noises behind walls and corner almost make you fear for the lives of your characters. 3) TL;DR Overall score 7.5/10 Legend of Grimrock resurrects the dungeon crawler genre. If you are old enough to have played this kind of games before, you should buy this game, and even if you weren't old enough, and puzzle game are your thing, you won't get disappointed.