Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude

"Not nearly as bad as magazines have made it out to be."

Well I just finished a 2 week rental of this game. Having played it and conquered 97%+ of the game, I decided I would try to be the first to write a review. I'll try and keep this as simple as possible.

First off, as the title implies, this game is not nearly as bad as magazines such as EGM have made it out to be. I think they categorized this game with another certain M-Rated game which dealt with talk show questions and girls based in a New Jersey beach (ahem!) and this game I mention indeed did suck greatly! Because of this reason I don't think they gave it much of a chance. I've enjoyed a couple of Leisure Suit Larry games in the past with my Macintosh Computer and couldn't wait to give this one a try. Here's the categories for my review........................

Graphics 7/10: As simple as possible. Characters are not constructed of thousands of polygons (at least it doesn't look like it) and their aren't very many graphical tricks or lush colors. Just simple graphics made to be easy on the eyes. The characters move in a nice motion. Characters dance, run, bounce and *jiggle* very smoothly. Women's boobs move like jello and look good even when zoomed in on.

Sound 8/10: Their isn't much music in this game other than some very familiar cheesy tunes that you'd figure would make it in this game. *I'm too sexy for my XBOX?* But I have to give it to the voice acting. It's fantastic! Every character is voice acted and all the main characters sound great. The exception would be a couple of unimportant and average college students here and there. Many characters portray many different stereotypes, personalities and ethnicities; and all accents are done really well.

Gameplay 6/10: Again very simple. There are a few mini-games that are played often to accomplish your goals and all games are easy to learn and master. All have to deal with some kind of hand eye coordination, button timing or quick decision. Walking around town is fine and the camera angle is good most of the time. The only times the camera posed a problem in the game was either when I was in photography mode or when being chased by someone in a mini-game. Gameplay is sometimes hindered by load times. For a game as simple as this with a portion of the XBOX hard drive at their disposal, I only assume that load times could've improved greatly. Although naughty picture during load times keeps you entertained.

Fun Factor 9/10: Although some people may think the mini-games are tedious, I didn't really mind them. I've been through much worse. Most of the mini-games are spread out evenly so that you don't do too much of the same thing over and over. The hilarious antics Larry uses to get as much poontang as possible is just amusing. Whether you enjoy the comedic value, shock value or the newcoming of nude polygonal breasts (Hentai Fans can rejoice since this is the next step up....3D! ^_^), you should have a good time playing this game.

Replay Value 2/10: I probably should give this category a 0. This game is linear. Once you've beaten the game and gotten most or all the secrets and items there are to be had, there is nothing that will make you want to come back. The only time I can see myself playing this game again is to shock my buddies with the images of 2 girls *loving* each other in a video game on a home console. Other than that I'd have no desire to every play this game again.

Overall: Worth buying for $50? Not at all. $40 is more like it for a brand new game. Worth renting for about $12 for 10 days? Definitely.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/04, Updated 10/19/04