Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust

"Laffer Studios: Making Movie Magic... One Average Platformer At a Time"

As a fan of the Leisure Suit Larry series I was reluctant to pick up Box Office Bust for several reasons. Before it was released we were treated to a teaser trailer featuring a very lanky and teenage-looking version of Larry, so immediately we knew there was a drastic cosmetic change. Another reason was due to the fact that in it's first week the price dropped from $29.99 to $19.99. Not only is this unusual, but seeing as how it was a budget title to begin with it didn't make the game look any better to me. I was terrified that the series had finally gone under with no possible way to revive it.

Even though it was against my better judgement, I decided to give this one a try. The problem I had created in my mind stemmed from the fact that I loved the previous game Magna Cum Laude, which in turn had me going over all the major differences and looking at them in a negative way. Once I got passed the fact that this was a totally different experience I started to look at the game in a different light and realized I was being too critical. Box Office Bust is very far from being anywhere near a perfect title and changed the formula of it's predecessor almost entirely. Seeing as how I enjoyed Magna Cum Laude, which was entirely changed from the original Larry games, I can appreciate why they took such a big risk. It's never easy to create an adult game that will appeal to a wide variety of audiences so I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

The story here is pretty cut-and-dry. It was written by actor/comedian Allen Covert (Grandma's Boy and almost all of Adam Sandler's movies) who has taken the characters and story in an entirely new direction. You play as the nephew of the original Larry Laffer (Larry Lovage) who is supposedly still the same Larry from the previous title although he and everyone else looks and acts entirely different. Larry's uncle, who is now the head of a major film studio in Tinselwood (a mix between Tinsel Town and Hollywood) suspects a rival studio's mole has infiltrated the facility and puts his faith in Larry to snuff him out. Along the way you run into a group of studio patrons ranging from a disgruntled mailroom worker to a slovenly drunk. Though none of the characters you meet are very exciting or inspired, they do help progress the story along quite well and can be decently funny too.

From the start of the game to it's climax I was on the fence about the graphics for this game. I was surprised to see that the game was running on the Unreal Engine 3, which showed graphical prowess in such games as Gears of War and Mass Effect. It was even more surprising to see how the game utterly lacked any evidence that it was running on this engine. The graphics aren't terrible but don't push the 360's capabilities in any way. Character models are shaded nicely but sometimes tend to look like they belong on a previous-generation console like the original Xbox. There is also a problem with frame-rate drops that happen frequently, especially in studio lot which acts as your central hub. Nothing about the way the game looks will make you hate it, but I feel we've come far enough with games today where things like this should be easily avoided. There are also some issues with graphical glitches. Pop-ups can occur frequently and there were several times where characters driving vehicles would appear as though they were moving back and forth between the driver and passenger seat in an endless cycle.

The gameplay has been completely altered from previous titles, now focusing more on platforming than collecting and having conversations. Once a mission starts you'll usually have to find a specific item or person, or get to a certain place in a set period of time. The missions weren't too difficult but did offer a nice bunch of various tasks that didn't get too repetitive. There are also races, film editing and "seduction" mini games that are similar to the conversation games in MCL. These offered a nice variety as well. However, the platforming itself tended to get extremely frustrating in certain areas. There were times when Larry would absolutely refuse to grab a ledge when it was imperative to keep me from death. Also a first for the series is the ability to wall-jump, walk tightropes and climb ladders. Unfortunately the game fails in almost every aspect of the platforming because none of these things are done very well. Larry can use vehicles as well, which offer a quicker method of traveling but cause more frame-rate drops and are far more glitchy than just walking. The camera doesn't help you either, sometimes leaving you unable to move it during pivotal moments. But the game's worst area is the combat. The controls are wonky and sometimes unresponsive, especially when you are attempting to block an enemy's punch and instead end up with a first to the face because the game failed to detect you hitting the X button. If you got this game for the gameplay, this is probably where you'll be upset.

Aside from the hub world Larry can enter 3 different "levels" known as Dreamscapes in which he has fallen asleep on the set of certain films. The 3 Dreamscapes are a wild west level (a generic spaghetti western style area), a horror level (where Larry is dressed as Michael Jackson from Thriller and spoofing horror flicks), and a parody of the movie Titanic imaginatively called Bytanic. These levels offer a nice change from the normal missions but each tended to get shorter than the last. They all had a few mini games and story elements but nothing spectacular. You can also tell the writers tried to push the envelope as far as they could with these areas, especially in the horror Dreamscape where some elements were more than questionable.

The music in the game is actually done very nicely from the jaunty tune in the studio lot to the epic scale of the Dreamscape levels. But the game's writing is where it really shines. Although not as funny or charming as the last game, the writers did a good job with the dirty humor and foul language without being too over-the-top. F-bombs are dropped frequently, as well as sexual innuendos and outright dirty comments. I found myself enjoying the newer version of Larry Lovage (voiced by Josh Keaton) better than the last because of his more well-fitted voice and snarky attitude. There is also some well-done voice acting by well-known celebrities Carmen Electra, Artie Lange, Dave Atell, Shannon Elizabeth, and Jay Mohr. All in all, if anything keeps you playing the humor will be the reason.

One major factor that fans of the series frowned upon was the lack of nudity and sexual content. Magna Cum Laude was full of bare naked breasts and full-on sex scenes whereas Box Office Bust has basically chickened out. The fact that the game is meant for adults should indicate that the player is old enough to see a naked woman without causing a stir. The nudity-free gameplay didn't break this title for me, but I did feel it deterred from the overall experience that made the last game feel like you were working toward a goal. Larry is no longer working to get ladies in bed (aside from the seduction mini games) and seems far less interested in it other than some quips about pornography and some sexual jokes here and there. One thing they did to compensate for the lack of nudity was making the women of the game have unbelievably exaggerated breast sizes. The boobs in this game are literally bursting out of the girls tops, which some would say is a good thing while others may just find it to be an unfunny joke. I personally thought it was a good way to make up for no nudity, but I was disappointed that the character models for all the girls seemed almost identical except for the hair, clothes and voices.

What Box Office Bust really comes down to is devotion from the fans. Had this been a game for kids without the vulgarity and humor it would have been a bigger flop than it's already being considered. I managed to play through the game and enjoyed most of it, but it's not the type of game you play unless you're looking for something casual. But fans will play it regardless of it's content. The humor and voice acting tended to even out the clunky platforming and graphical imperfections. Maybe I'm going to easy on the game, and perhaps I would have been more annoyed had it not been a budget title, but I enjoyed the game for what it's worth. If you're a fan, 20 bucks is a good price. If you aren't a fan, or didn't like Magna Cum Laude, this one's not for you.

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust gets a 6/10!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/09

Game Release: Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (US, 03/31/09)