Fairy tales are used to pacify kids and teach them some lessons of morality in a roundabout way, where good prevails and being bad means you always get your comeuppances. What might be positive values to instil in children, the stories are often far fetched, drenched in metaphoric imagery and are wild and exuberant to the point of meandering beyond the realms of reality. In fact this is the charm, the sense of fantasy that takes us, or our kids out of the comfort zones and into planes where awe inspiring scenarios and characters become memorable fabrications of the mind. But what of those tales and how they remain unchanged for such distinct characters. They've effectively had one shot, and like the books they normally derive from, are placed back on dusty shelves and forgotten or only remembered for their one time antics. Surely these characters are worth more than the one hit wonders they are destined to be? Well cue FairyTale Fights from Playlogic, a game which aims to redress the balance and place the once forgotten heroes and heroines of tales back into the limelight, portrayed in menacing ways not deemed suitable for the youngsters amongst us.

The cute and sultry little red riding hood, her wolven adversary and hungry grandma make for such cute tales in their original form, but when the leading lady becomes a knife wielding sociopath then it's time to sit up and take note. FairyTale Fights is an interesting game at that and one that turns the conventional upside down and offers a blanket of red splattered gameplay that's far removed from the serene and exuberant backdrops of the expected.

Gameplay:

The game in a nutshell is a point to point hack and slasher with some minor platform elements thrown in just to bring you back down to Earth, to remind you that life is fragile despite the gallons of blood you've spilt throughout the game's 22 levels. You control one of four characters and simply guide them through a number of scenarios as you hack, maim, chop, kill and generally splash the red stuff all over the floor and your clothes (that's if you're wearing any - the Naked Emperor not wearing any at all as his namesake suggests).

The killing is easy in this game as strewn about the colourful levels are plenty of objects which can be used as weapons, and by golly there are a lot of weapons in this game - each with a rating and a style such as blunt, ranged, potions, magic and sharp. Pressing RB whilst close to weapon allows you to pick it up and use at will or if you feel like throwing a tantrum then press again to toss the weapon towards an opponent's head. There's simply loads of weapons on offer ranging from the typical swords etc, right through to musical instruments and pillows, yes pillows. Combat is easy to pull of you simply move the right thumbstick in various directions as you are close to opponents and this unleashes combo attacks which often result in you and the surrounds being covered in blood.

The navigation is pretty straight forward. Go from left to right across the screen avoiding any traps and on occasion activating switches or killing X number of enemies whilst the game's Storyteller character boxes you in momentarily. The platform element isn't overplayed but there will be many instances where some careful jumps will have to be performed. These can be frustrating as the game encourages you to collect money (points/score so to speak) from the fallen and treasure chests and so with every untimely demise of your character, any money you've built up depletes each time. It's certainly not easy to rack up the points and hold onto them as the game offers its fair share of trial and error.

From time to time you'll enter a battle with a well known fairy tale character in a boss battle and these can be equally frustrating for the same reasons, there's certainly a level of learning the game and perhaps retrying again if you're to gain high scores, it's not intuitive on your first play that's for sure. You will be dying often...

Graphics:

Aesthetically this game looks the business considering the art direction used and the context which it's placed. The game is awash with an abundance of bright colours and of course the splattering of red from the gallons of blood spilt. It looks cute and reasonably varied as you travel the lands, enter castles and other strange inhabited areas suited to the theme of the tales they are based on.

It's not all rosy mind, as the game does opt to throw some spanners in the works, for starters, sometimes the camera is way too far away from the action as you hack and slash as a little speck on the screen. Other moments a cut out shot of a dismembered victim decides to fill half the screen, effectively obscuring your view. Then there are times when your character gets stuck on the scenery simply because the levels create the impression that they are explorable when in fact they are not. Then there are some precision jumps that are hampered by the camera angle and distant view. Mix all these together in a cauldron of unpolished madness and you've got bucket-loads of frustrations bubbling over to the point of severe annoyance rather than pleasurable joys of killing cute bunnies and tardy princesses.

Sound:

The sound is remarkably pleasant and offers some sombre, relaxing mood music for the most part. It fits with the cute demeanour but doesn't really gel with the ultra violence. It's cool in a way, but on the other hand takes away from the action. The sound effects do get repetitive as you hear the same squeaks and squawks over and over.

Longevity:

This isn't a short 5 hour game and with the 22 levels on offer and an arena mode to battle with your mates locally or online and you've got quite the package. In addition, the single player can be played online in co-op to add more bang for your buck. The only thing here that might dampen the whole experience is the repetitive nature of the game toying with your longevity.

Overall:

Fairytale Fights is a valiant effort and a game which tries to turn convention upside down. In this regard it certainly succeeds but what we're left with here is a simple game lacking in variety. The blood is cool at first but then after your millionth dismemberment becomes old fairly quickly. There simply is not enough meat to the game to keep the core gameplay interesting and with such a long game means that you'll not only be fighting hard against the constant stream of enemies but also your interest levels as well. The aforementioned areas which are lacking in polish also dampen the experience, and seem to stand out more due to the repetitive nature. The game is good, but falls short of being great or excellent. There are some good ideas here but these are shot down due to the game's shortcomings which is a shame, as a bit more imagination added to an already imaginative game could have made the whole experience a little more memorable. That said, if you're after a no-nonsense hack and slash game that's as linear as it is bloody then you would do well to give the game a look in. For lone players you'll probably want to dip in and out rather than go for a marathon session as this seems to be the best way to tackle what's thrown at you.