Apparently people were crying out for a remake of one of the most tongue-in-cheek/misogynistic (delete as applicable) games of all time, but that’s what the Kickstarter proves. Started in April 2012, the publisher Replay asked for $500,000 dollars and got $655,182. Not an epic amount by Double Fine standards, but for a remake of a 25-year-old game which already had one remake that’s pretty good going. The developer is N-Fusion and they are working alongside several developers of the long-running series (there are nine games in total), including Larry’s creator Al Lowe. It’s a little bit disappointing that it’s not a brand new outing for Larry, but Lowe has stated that Reloaded will be “more than just a remake”. Let’s see if he was telling the truth.
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| Lefty’s bar, looking as scummy as it did in 1987... just in a higher resolution |
What story there is goes like this: Larry Laffer is a 40-year-old virgin who has come to the town of Lost Wages (a send-up of Las Vegas) to finally lose that virginity. This night will see him encounter prostitutes, police, gamblers, con-women, muggers, and a taxi driver (singular), before finding the ultimate love of his life. And that’s it, basically. The whole thing is narrated for some reason, probably because 25 years ago words had to explain what the graphics couldn’t. Fortunately those words are incredibly funny.
First of all, if you know of one of the most infamous parts of the game you’ll be pleased/aghast to hear that the Age Confirming Questions at the beginning are back. Upon choosing your age you’ll be presented with five questions tailored to your age group, assuming you’re over 15 and under 100. Get the questions wrong and you’re kicked back to the menu, forcing you to go through the process again. The main reason why these questions are infamous was because they were notoriously US-specific and, worse, quickly became horribly dated. The pre-trial question about O.J. Simpson where one wrong answer was that he was “under indictment” is the best example. While the questions have been updated they are still by-and-large US-centric, which is frustrating when you just want to play the game. How should I know about Rudy Guiliani, obscure daytime US TV shows, or “what organization are young American men supposed to register with” (followed by four names I have never heard of)? You could argue it’s part of the game’s appeal, I’d argue it’s part of the problem. Oh well.
Finally getting on to Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded itself the updated game looks very lovely indeed. The locations are all incredibly detailed in all their disgusting glory, like something grimy Steve Purcell would draw for Sam & Max to live in. Characters are all absurd caricatures and I highly suspect most of the men are the developers, whereas the ones who don’t have a “photographed at their desk” look on their faces wouldn’t be out of place in the first season of The Simpsons (like the more-suspicious less-friendly version of Apu working at the “Come N Go”). And the women? Well, they’re either frighteningly hideous or sex-bombs from Planet Sexy Sex, just as it should be in Larry’s world – including the part about none of them wanting to sleep with him.
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| I had to have at least one pic of a hot babe in this preview. Enjoy |
In terms of looks Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is a vast improvement, bringing the game right up to current adventure game standards. It looks like a smutty comic book come to life, which fits Larry Laffer like an Ultra Small latex and keeps the constant barrage of smutty gags, sexual innuendos and questionable female appearances just on the right side of funny. The original Leisure Suit Larry titles always spoke in double entendres and perverted references while keeping the actual sex talk to a minimum (if it was there at all), which is why the original is still funny 25 years later and Magna Cum Laude isn’t.
The controls however are much the same as they were in 1987, unlike other adventure remakes like Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition that pared down its vast array of verb options. Doing that to Leisure Suit Larry however would result in a lot of missing gags that clearly the developers weren’t willing to give up on. Instead of text options though this time verb icons take the place of Look, Walk, Taste, Unzip etc, which can be accessed by either holding left mouse button to pull up a Verb Wheel, hovering the mouse pointer on the top of the screen, or pressing right mouse button to cycle through options. On the down side this means having to go through this rigmarole every time you want to do anything in the game, but on the bright side the game is 600% funnier having these options. I know which one I’d pick.
All the dialogue from the original game is now voice acted, including the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy-esque narrator. I’m not sure if the narrator works to be honest, but adds so much unnecessarily hilarious detail and makes even knocking on a door or paying a taxi driver funny. Larry’s original actor Jan Rabson returns to voice the love-seeker and sounds just as much like Inspector Gadget as he always has. The rest of the voice cast aren’t as sharp as a Telltale or LucasArts production but do a pretty good – and by that I mean ridiculous and extremely over-the-top – job. There are new lines of dialogue all over the place, usually in the form of updated references or extra detail in the locations, of which there is plenty.
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| Dying Larry gets resurrected here. Is that Al Lowe? |
In terms of actual locations there isn’t anywhere new – we’re still restricted to Lefty’s bar, Club 69, the Come N Go convenience store, Caesar’s Phallus casino and the wedding chapel next to it. Fortunately though there are new puzzles, as well as extensions of previous puzzles. For example the drunk bum no longer gives you a remote, he gives you a coaster and you have to figure out what to do with it. The best addition has to be the removal of “game over” deaths – the deaths still occur round every corner and can be quite gruesome, but they’re followed by a short (skippable) cutscene of Larry being reanimated Frankenstein-style and then being dumped back where you left him. Other than that you still have to gamble to get money and use breath spray to talk to people without them insulting you, all part of the Larry experience. There are a few Kickstarter-related additions though, like a song in the casino cabaret, stars on the Walk Of Shame representing special backers complete with unique quips from Larry, and a new girl to romance called Jasmine... who I am ashamed to admit I couldn’t work out how to reach in the preview. I’ll get back to you when the review rolls around.
Which shouldn’t be too long since the preview build I played was mostly complete, barring some lines of dialogue and requiring a number of bug fixes. Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded was originally out May 31st but it’s been delayed until June to make it perfect, and will be out on PC, Mac and iOS devices (not that we care about that last lot here at Strategy Informer). The extra puzzles, improved art, voice acting, and updated references should make backers and Leisure Suit Larry fans happy. Now then, where do I get that apple from again?
Most Anticipated Feature/Element: Finding out about this new girl Jasmine. She swims with whales, you know.
