Full Throttle

"Lets take a ride through a dystopian future."

Released in 1995, Full Throttle was arguably the last truly commercially successful point and click adventure game by LucasArts. It was also Tim Schafer's second to last game for this company. Decidedly different from the fantasy fare that preceded it, Full Throttle has since gained quite a reputation. Is it still so great or has it suffered the ravages of time?

GRAPHICS
Lets get the obvious out of the way first. Full Throttle is from 1995 and therefore the visuals are a little dated. A lot of pixels then and there are also consequences for the level of animation. That isn't to say that the visuals are by definition bad but because of this the game's appeal will lay primarily with it's design.

Don't worry, the design is great. Full Throttle's post apocalyptic world is done really well. On the one hand it features a futuristic Mad Max style world where everything is worn down and with a few science fiction elements like anti gravitational devices. On the other hand it is all so very down to earth, that a lot of objects and constructions still seem rather familiar and contemporary.

The characters are animated and detailed well, simply oozing personality. The cut scenes show their age but still get the job done with a good deal of flair. And then there are the three dimensional sections where the protagonist rides his bike, trying to slam others from theirs. Curiously, these sections have actually aged quite well, running more smoothly then they by all rights should.

SOUND
The soundtrack is simply superb. The score is atmospheric and fitting, being either subtle, funny and adrenaline pumping when it needs to be. Using a real rock band was definitely a good idea.

The voice acting is also great. Main protagonist Ben has just the right amount of cool to sound believable as a though as nails biker. The real show stealer however is Mark Hamill as the main adversary, with a voice that drips with sarcasm and blatant villainy. His every line is pure gold. The rest of the cast fortunately also does a good job. I was genuinely surprised to learn that several actors did multiple voices. It wasn't noticeable at all and serves as a perfect example of how to do voice work in a game.

GAMEPLAY
Full Throttle revolves around Ben, the leader of a biker gang called the Polecats. The president of the last motorcycle manufacturer gets himself killed and Ben is framed for his murder. Now he must evade capture and try to get even with the real culprit.

He does this according to the true and tested way of the point and click adventure. Explore environments, collect objects, talk with other people and of course solve puzzles. The interface which is used to do these things is a good one. The pointer changes when there is an item of interest. By right clicking on this item a ring appears with a fist, a boot and a skull with eyes. The fist stands for using things and the boot does the same but also allows for kicking things. Eyes are for looking and examining and the skull's mouth stands primarily for talking to other characters. The ring also gives access to the inventory.

The game's down to earth style also extends to the puzzles. Point and click games usually have their own internal logic that mostly corresponds with that of the real world. More often then not there are also quite a few discrepancies that nevertheless seem to work fine within the context of the game. In this regard it is peculiar to observe that Full Throttle is all about common sense. Want to open a locked door? Kick it in. Want to fill a jerry can with fuel? Use a hose and first suck a gulp of the gasoline through this hose to get it flowing. Are those tires preventing you from toppling a truck? Use a tire iron. Most of Full Throttle's puzzles require no esoteric solutions or extraordinary leaps of logic. This makes a refreshing change.

Besides the traditional puzzles Full Throttle also features a few more action oriented bits. One of these was already mentioned in the graphics section, the parts where Ben is riding his motorcycle. In these three dimensional sections he must primarily try to slam other bikers from their machines in order to obtain certain items. The other is more akin to something resembling Micro Machines. In this topdown section Ben must slam into another specific car while evading the other contestants. The nice thing about these parts is that they aren't as action orientated as they at first appear. Especially the topdown section is actually a puzzle in itself.

The plot is nicely told although it can be rather condensed at times. Of course, the entire story only takes place over a couple of days but even so, the pace occasionally seems a bit too high. More on that later. Full Throttle's main draw comes from it's atmosphere and it's characters. Despite the occasional light-hearted quip, Full Throttle is a relatively serious game. The goons certainly live up to that semantic qualification and there may be bunnies but melancholy and a sense of loneliness are the main emotions that the game elicits.

Full Throttle's main shortcoming is it's short length. The game is divided into several smaller parts which are relatively self-contained. Most of the puzzles in these sections can be solved with the items that are found within those sections. The point is that there isn't that much ‘game' per section. This has consequences for the earlier mentioned pace. Ben simply races through the game, which is mainly due to this lack of puzzle density. The puzzles that are there aren't all that difficult as long as the player examines every inch of the screen. The few times a was stuck where when I had somehow failed to spot an object just a few pixels small. That is Full Throttle's second problem although this really is a minor one. There are simply a few times when a smaller object is located on a bigger one without much visual indications that this is so.

Both of these problems are relatively easy to overcome however. There may not be a lot of Full Throttle but what is there is great. The plot is entertaining and the puzzles are satisfying. The small amount of pixelhunting also isn't as excruciating as it could have been. Due to the small amount of environments there simply isn't much hunting to be done. And besides, the location of these objects are useably quite logical and deducible based on a puzzle or clue. That lock may not be easily visible but at least it is located on a door and that specific rock may be one of many but you are given a clue as to which one you must kick.

FINAL REMARKS
Full Throttle's world is beautifully realised with just the right mix of post apocalyptic science fiction and sober familiarity. This also flows into the puzzles which don't require any kind of esoteric solutions of the ‘what does this game expect from me!!' variety. Instead of being the annoying distraction they could have been, the action parts actually form a nice diversion. The game may be short but what is there is good enough to compensate for this shortcoming. Pixelhunting can be somewhat irritating but on the whole also doesn't form such a big problem. In short, Full Throttle is atmospheric, clever and certainly to be recommended. Time has indeed been kind.

OVERALL; a well deserved 9,0.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/09

Game Release: Full Throttle (EU, 04/30/95)