Tanukitsune Posted June 17, 2010 I can't help but to think that people today are too spoiled and complain was too easily... When someone tells me a game is simply horrid, I don't believe them and most of the time I have to see it by myself and most of the time... they are wrong! The game the complain about is no award winner, but it's not awful, but since the average gamer only plays A+++ titles they feel like vomiting when they play a B-. They were only right when it came to Bomberman: Act Zero and Eternity Child, and then there is the game I played recently... Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust is a game I almost didn't buy, but I'm SOOO GLAD I DID! It's the Showgirls of video games! It's absolutely terrible in an amusing way! Of course, most bad games seem to have terrible controls that make it unplayable, but LSL: BOB is actually playable! It's the only thing I could call a "B game", a schlockfest, a glorious train wreck! The game starts by kicking all the original LSL fans in the nuts by doing the worst thing possible, making Larry Laffer, the lovable loser, the owner of a successful movie company! At least in MCL he was drunk in a bar... And then, when you get over the fact that Larry is now a movie mogul you realize how utterly horrid the graphics are... I'm not kidding, at some moments they look PSOne good, but it's mostly like a bad PS2 or XBox game! The glass is NEVER transparent, and the few mirrors you find are N64 good! The rendering? You can be a stone throw away from a building and it will be in it's "N64 textures" mode for a few seconds until the real textures load... It was hilarious! How could this game pass quality control? I'm happy it did though, it's such a schlockfest! <3 I can't say much more about the graphics, except that the camera can go bonkers a little, and that they only have a handful of NPCs which they simply palette swap, even the ones that play a part in the game and you actually get to see close up, so you will see the same character dressed as a gentleman only to see it dressed a bum with a darker skin later. Writing? Hmm, Twilight good? I'd say "My Immortal" good, but the spelling is actually decent! The plot? A rival movie company has a put a mole in your uncle's company, so he hires you to find him out... Except the mole is actually a saboteur, mole give information away, this guy is trying to get the studio ruined or worse... Oh, and this "mole"? You meet almost immediately and he practically tells you that he's the "mole", but you can't prove he's the mole until the end... even he sends you on missions that are OBVIOUS sabotages.... Yes, Larry Lovage is so stupid he sabotages his uncle's studio, no matter how obvious the sabotage is... When you're not ruining the studio you're trying to save, you're running errands or doing stunt work. And here is where it's rather obvious that this game was released unfinished, as if it's wasn't already... In one mission, the director send you to find some props scattered across the lot, when you pick the first one, a shovel... it's like the missions you were doing never existed! Larry simply grabs the shovel and.... KILLS A STUNT MAN IN COLD BLOOD! Why? Because he thinks that's how they do foley sound effect? I assume the mole told him that, but who knows with this game... he then goes and kills a few more stunt men, thinking his weapon was just a prop... yeah.... This isn't the only instance of obvious "unfinishedness", in a later mission Larry gets some evidence against the mole and says he's never make it back to the office since there are too many guards looking for him, and.... they skip that scene! The next moment he's at office, just like that! And don't even get me started on the humor! It's kindergarten level.. if kindergarten was full of drunken frat boys... And some are dated and rather obscure... in the horror movie set you have to dress up as Thriller Michael Jackson to get in, and he won't stop saying "CHAMONE!" and he spends most of the missions with HIS HAIR ON FIRE? It took me a while to get that reference and I wonder how many people actually remember when MJ's hair was on fire... The game has three "worlds" not counting the movie studio, you know the drill, it's the obligatory western level, the obligatory horror level and... THE OBLIGATORY TITANIC LEVEL? What the?!? Oh, it's so they can make the "going down on a long hard thing" joke... These levels consists of an initial normal errand or stunt work, after which Larry with fawn over the female actress and open a "dream sequence", yes... most of the game is a dream sequence, but it's the "better" part of the game where they pull out all the terrible jokes they can think of... The western level has a bunch of cacti shaped like naughty bits... there is even one cactus that's obviously giving head to the other. Oh! And one stone is shaped like a hand giving you the finger! Classy! The Titanic level has lewdly shaped icebergs too, not to mention it's the weirdest level... It's is kinda like the movie and you must find a way into first class, so you do a few tasks to get your way into first class, including the most exciting mini-game ever.. SHUFFLEBOARD! The studio itself was supposed to have GTA-like system, where the Security guards will chase you down if you do something illegal, but I only got the "alarm" three times and I almost never saw any guards chasing me, I only saw one guard once, on foot, who I hit with my cart... and got caught? But nothing bad really happened, I just got sent to the "hospital" of the movie lot. And I TRIED to get the security after me, I ran over everybody, and they just ragdolled away, even if they were part of the security of even if I did it in front of security! And the carts can blow up, but that's nearly impossible unless you're trying REALLY hard or you drive them into water. The carts, and come to think of it, the people themselves and VERY scarce, most of the time it's quicker to simply run to the next objective than find a vehicle and drive there. The world has the obligatory collectible, which are movie awards and they do nothing but get you an achievement, but frankly NOTHING in the game give anything unless it's part of the main storyline. There are "races", which are just "checkpoint challenges" which are pretty easy even for me, some say the carts suck and get stuck, but if you read the manual you'll find an "unstuck" button, which unfortunately was not give to the NPCs since I sometimes see NPC carts stuck in awkward places... But wait, this wouldn't be a Leisure Suit Larry without hitting on women, right? Well, there are seduction mini-games.... which you CAN'T LOSE and do nothing for the main storyline and if you play them close one to another you'll really notice how some character are just pallete swaps of another's... You start by finding an object for them and you have to talk to them and give the right reply, although giving the wrong one doesn't punish you at all, it's pretty easy, just say the biggest lie you can think of. Are you hitting on a nurse? Say you own a hospital! Is she a gold digger? Tell her you're filthy rich! And in the end... You enter your trailer and... You hear them talk? So yeah, this game is an abomination, but an enjoyable one, if you play it in the MST3K mindset and you know it's going to be bad and it only makes me wish Europe had Deadly Premonition so I could compare. Oh, did I mention I was playing this while I had just gotten Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii? I must have really enjoyed it to have played it to completion while I had these in the backlog! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted June 17, 2010 I still never want to play this game. Ever. I know it was written by the jerk-off that wrote that Grandma's Boy movie, which I was forced to watch for 15 minutes once. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted June 17, 2010 Ha! I just saw the trailer of that movie and I can see the similarities in the humor ... only it's worse in this game! XD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kolzig Posted June 17, 2010 I wish Al Lowe would've had the rights to Leisure Suit Larry after he left Sierra/Vivendi whatever it became. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted June 17, 2010 Wasn't he working on a detective game with some small indie company? He could always team up with TellTales and make a "Barry Baffer" game? A spiritual successor is actually plausable and he could get away with it, right? Also, if he had anything to do with this game it wouldn't have been so gloriously terrible! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted June 17, 2010 The detective game was canceled due to lack of funding from what I recall. I have a feeling that Al Lowe is probably out of the game industry for good at this point and is ready to just enjoy the rest of his retirement. His departure really shows the writing for the series was sort of well balanced on a distinct blend of corny jokes, puns, and risque humor that had the illusion of going too far many times, but never went off the deep end. A lot of people don't think Larry games are good or funny, but I've always had a ton of fun with them. I'm glad you got enough enjoyment of the "it's so bad it's good" type, though Tanukitsune. What I don't understand is why everything in Box Office Bust is so ugly. You would expect more from Team 17, I would think. All the women have this manly blow up doll appearance: And Larry... uh... Personally, I've always felt it would be awesome if Telltale resurrected Larry with Al Lowe's help, but they are going to be too busy on the movie licensed games now. Oh well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrHoatzin Posted June 17, 2010 I can't stand Al Lowe. Early in high school (which was ten years ago, holy shit, I am old), I was on his joke mailing list. They were all awful mean-spirited, right-wing jokes made from a position of power. Took me a while to realize that they weren't funny. I would rather TellTale do nothing like LSL, ever. Fuck that guy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted June 17, 2010 Team17 hasn't put out anything really worthwhile in a long, long time. Only rehashes of their old franchises that fail to capture the magic and stuff like this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted June 17, 2010 I can't stand Al Lowe. Early in high school (which was ten years ago, holy shit, I am old), I was on his joke mailing list. They were all awful mean-spirited, right-wing jokes made from a position of power. Took me a while to realize that they weren't funny. I would rather TellTale do nothing like LSL, ever. Fuck that guy. I'm pretty sure all of those jokes were not things he had written but copied and pasted from somewhere if it makes any difference to you at all. I see what you mean, though, they are the exact kind of office fodder that people at a button up oil company would send around (or my Texan and Oklahoma relatives would flood me with if they ever had my e-mail address). I just imagine it's because he's old. Team17 hasn't put out anything really worthwhile in a long, long time. Only rehashes of their old franchises that fail to capture the magic and stuff like this. I sort of figured that. I imagine the guys that worked on the original Worms games (and the Amiga stuff before) probably aren't the same people there now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lobotomy42 Posted June 17, 2010 My favorite Al Lowe story was inadvertently revealed by an interview with Scott Murphy (one of the Space Quest designers) several years ago: JM: Being at Sierra for as long as you were, I'm sure you witnessed some pretty strange stuff. Do you recall any particularly crazy proposed projects that never made it past the planning stages? SM: There are some. Unfortunately, they are all overwhelmed by a sight I saw that has caused me to never be the same. One all-nighter out at Ken's house, I witnessed Al Lowe, uh, holding himself while waiting for me to come out of the bathroom. To this day, I have no idea why he chose to "share" with me in such a manner. I never asked because I never wanted to even enter such a discussion. Like I say, there were others but I can't think of them right now because I'm suffering a Post Traumatic Syndrome episode as a result. Weird! Unrelated - I could never stand the LSL games, but I did like Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist which he co-wrote with Josh Mandel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted June 17, 2010 I told you Larry looked hideous! XD Isn't this game their first "full" modern game? Up until now they've only done remakes of their older games for XBLA or PSN... I was on his joke mailing list, but I got bored of it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted June 17, 2010 This game was build with the same technology as Mass Effect and Gears of War. I tried the game once, but found it absolutely unplayable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted June 17, 2010 My favorite Al Lowe story was inadvertently revealed by an interview with Scott Murphy (one of the Space Quest designers)... Haha, I remember that odd story. I love that interview with Scotty Murphy, even though it's like the saddest interview ever with a game designer. It seems to pretty much illustrate the dirty truth behind all of that self promotion Sierra did. I really feel bad for the guy, because Space Quest has always been my favorite Sierra series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tanukitsune Posted June 17, 2010 It controls as well as the average game... from the previous era... Seriously, I've played PS2 games with MUCH worse controls and well above average acceptance. That just goes to prove how good controls are now... I found the game rather easy once you got the hang of it... I looked up a guide and the only person who "bothered" to make one just keep saying to use a trainer and never bothered to explain anything.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrHoatzin Posted June 17, 2010 I'm pretty sure all of those jokes were not things he had written but copied and pasted from somewhere if it makes any difference to you at all.I see what you mean, though, they are the exact kind of office fodder that people at a button up oil company would send around (or my Texan and Oklahoma relatives would flood me with if they ever had my e-mail address). I just imagine it's because he's old. I would imagine it's because he is an asshole. It is exactly the same quality of cutnpaste jokery. It was a completely pointless mailing list. At least Dave Grossman writes a poem a week for his mailing list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syntheticgerbil Posted June 17, 2010 Yeah, I wasn't on Al Lowe's mailing list for more than a couple of months. I didn't really want to read a rehashed joke a day. I honestly don't know if it's still going. Crap, I never even realized Grossman had a mailing list. Guess I better get on it. I own his book as well, but I haven't taken the time to read it as of yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
