Game: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Game Type: Adventure/Arcade
Developer: High Voltage Software
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
Rating: M for Mature
Digital Journal — Leisure Suit Larry has quite a history, being one of Sierra’s big franchises back when graphic adventure games ruled the PC gaming world in 1987. Such games don’t make the big bucks anymore though, so Larry and other Sierra greats such as King’s Quest and Space Quest have been retired for a long time now.
I loved those games, so I was thrilled to hear that Leisure Suit Larry was coming back — even if it was in the hands of a new developer, High Voltage Software, and received no input from series creator Al Lowe.
In Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, you’re actually not the original Larry Laffer, but his nephew Larry Lovage. Little Larry is hanging around the campus of Walnut Log Community College with the exact same goal as his uncle — score with the ladies. The game gives you a series of women of all kinds to try to seduce with cheesy lines, thin cons, and never underestimate the power of alcohol.
And there are lots of women to check out: foul-mouthed mob princess Analisa; political activist Charlotte; wild party girl Luba; and then there’s Harriet, a band nerd (who might be possessed) who loves the school mascot. I mean, really loves the school mascot.
The voice-work for these women is top-quality. As crazy as some of their lines are, most of them are delivered straight up and effectively. The woman who does the voice of Luba sounds like she had a grand ol’ time, even if she probably didn’t show her parents the results.
Though you do wander around and acquire a few odd items like outfits, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude is not really a graphical adventure game like the previous LLL titles, but a series of mini games — about a half dozen are associated with each girl. Quite a few of these mini games involve hitting buttons in time to a pattern like Dance Dance Revolution. Some are like old arcade games, such as Pong and Tapper. Conversations require you to steer a cartoon spermatozoa through a series of hazards, and if you avoid enough of them, you’ll charm the woman you’re talking to.
Even though the original Larry games were adult-like, they tended to be relatively subtle — naughty language was kept to a minimum, and nudity usually obscured. Not this time. The game launches right into the raunch, with nudity and plenty of cursing. Luba has a moment where she sounds like she’s trying to keep pace with the South Park movie.
This humour is hit-or-miss. I found that sometimes I was chuckling, other times I was rolling my eyes. The same goes with the mini games — a few are amusing, and thankfully the talking mini game changes up a little from time to time to make it less repetitive. Others are an exercise in tedium, like the trampoline sequences. Fortunately, you can earn tokens to skip them.
Initially I was disappointed that Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude wasn’t more like a traditional graphic adventure game. The silliness and the jokes might have won me over, but what killed it for me were the load times — they are way too long. They can be particular aggravating when you’re working on a particular girl, and then she disappears to another location in the game, forcing you to walk through a few different environments to get to her, suffering through the load times for each one. If they just could have trimmed them down, I’d be more into this game, though even then I have to caution it’s definitely not to all tastes. And it sure earns that “M” rating.
Though the end results are the greatest, it was nice to revisit an old classic again, and I am hoping that Vivendi brings back more Sierra games.
What I wouldn’t give for a new Gabriel Knight.
Reviewed on the Xbox. PC and PlayStation 2 versions are also available.
