Leisure Suite Larry First Look

When I first heard that a new Leisure Suit Larry game was being made, I was instantly interested. The Leisure Suit Larry series was always one of the most humorous and enjoyable adventure game franchises coming from Sierra. So, naturally, I was very anxious to get my hands on a copy of the newest Larry game, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. When the game was finally released, I quickly ran to the local game store and grabbed my copy. Unfortunately, it seems my excitement was misplaced.

This game doesn’t waste a second to get right into the sexual humor and that’s just what I expected. I found myself giggling like a pubescent teenager in no time. Unfortunately, the giggling eventually wore off and I was left with nothing but very poor gameplay and semi-amusing dialogue. There are many mini games throughout Magna Cum Laude, in which the player has to participate in “adult” versions of classic kid games. While it may be a sperm flying forward in a race-like obstacle course, I really felt like I was playing the Tiger Electronics handheld racing game that I had when I was about 11 years old. So far, I really have to push myself to continue through the game. Enduring the boring and tedious gameplay sequences is much less than entertaining, but I seem to keep doing it anyway, in order to progress the story. One may ask why I’m playing if it is such horrible gameplay, which is a valid question. It all comes back to that pubescent giggling, I think.

The graphics are extremely amusing and Larry made the transition to 3D VERY well, unlike past Sierra characters - such as Gabriel Knight. The cartoon styling fits with the silly dialogue and characters, which creates a very amusing atmosphere. This is definitely the largest redeeming factor in Magna Cum Laude. Unfortunately, it is often eclipsed by -you guessed it- the horrendous gameplay.

I’m honestly hoping that the game will get better as I progress further. However, it’s generally my opinion that if a game can’t hook me in the first 20 minutes, it’s a bit of a failure as a video game. Leisure Suit Larry did not hook me in terms of gameplay, or fun factor. If anything, I only keep playing so that I can satiate my curiosity and continue giggling like an idiot whenever I hear sexual euphemisms or just straight up, blatant sexual humor. Hey, I am a guy after all…