Another Leisure Suit Larry game?
No, this isn’t an April Fools joke. Looks like Vivendi/Universal is putting out another Leisure Suit Larry game, only it’s a continuation of the previous abortion of an adventure game, Magna Cum Laude. Now, I’m hoping they fix at least some of the monumental problems with that game, but the game description on sierra.com isn’t giving me any hope. Check this out:
Leisure Suit Larry®: Box Office Bust is a sophomoric comedy adventure featuring Larry Laffer’s nephew, Larry Lovage, looking for action (or love) on the back-lot of Laffer Studios, deep in the heart of Tinseltown! A rollicking, innuendo-laden lampoon of Hollywood, Box Office Bust features sandbox gameplay, a variety of game styles and an all-new Director’s Game, where the player becomes the director of his/her own “Larry” Feature.
* Hilarious Comedy Delivered By an All-Star Cast – Box Office Bust will pump out those witty lines playing on parodies of popular Hollywood movies thanks to the screenwriting skills of Allen Covert (Happy Madison Productions) and a Hollywood VO cast (Jay Mohr, Carmen Electra, Jeffery Tambor, Dave Attell and more).
* Girls! Girls! Girls! – True to the franchise, Box Office Bust will feature gorgeous babes that, as usual, are out of Larry’s league.
* Pick-Up and Play, Open World Gameplay – Box Office Bust offers a diverse range of challenges and game styles, such as combat, racing, exploring, platforming and puzzle solving.
Really? Sandbox gameplay? Screenwriting “skills” of Allen Covert? Voice “talent” of Carmen Electra and Shannon Elizabeth (she’s noted on the game’s website)? I’m guessing atoning for the previous misfire is not too high on Vivendi’s priority list. Furthermore, the idiotic storyline has the original Larry Laffer being a head of a Hollywood Studio, built from his fortunes made in penis pump sales….yeah. Brilliant concept-work right there. Have these guys ever played a Leisure Suit Larry Game before? From the treatment they gave Al Lowe on Magna Cum Laude, I would have to say not. But apparently, if the news delivered to Al Lowe’s on Box Office Bust has any truth to it, they might have actually gone back and taken a look. Still, I’m not holding my breath for this one. I just hope that Vivendi doesn’t crush my fond memories of Sierra adventure gaming any more than they already have.
Here’s the trailer:
However, before I finish, this game, combined with MyTopia’s launch and old TSN/INN look, prompted me to check out what some of the old Sierra/Dynamix team members have been up to. Ken and Roberta Williams have retired, and are living it up traveling the world. Jeff Tunnel, of Incredible Machine fame, has created Garage Games, a “developer of game engine technology and tools”, and responsible for the X-Box live hit Marble Blast. Jane Jensen, of Gabriel Knight fame, is writing novels and working on a new puzzle/adventure game for Oberon media. Josh Mandel, of later Space Quest fame, doesn’t appear to have any other projects in the works, so I’m guessing he’s retired. Al Lowe runs an awesome website, offering a daily joke emails and random entertainments.
While old Sierra adventure entertainments may be long gone, there are a number of folks that are trying to maintain and persist the old adventure game ways (and no, this would not be The Adventure Company…blech.). These include indie adventure entertainments such as the awesome A Tale of Two Kingdoms (spot on Sierra feel!), the fan-made Kings Quest XI (aka The Silver Lining), the Kings Quest III remake, and even The Yserbius Project. For those of you looking for a bit of a blend between Leisure Suit Larry and LucasArts games, check out The Foreign Exchange Student. While the humor isn’t quite as sharp, and the games relatively short, it’s a pretty decent attempt given the state of today’s adventure games.
Stupid Larry Lovage.
