I must confess, Leisure Suit Larry 5 is the first computer game I’ve played that carries a “parental discretion advised” warning label. As the label suggests, Larry 5 should only be played by responsible and mature adults who will be able look beyond the bad sexual puns, innuendo, and stereotypes and take the game at its entertaining face value. Larry 5 might be considered poor taste in certain circles, but it’s also a hilarious tounge-in-cheek, artfully designed, and just-plain-fun game.
Sierra’s Larry 5 is similar to its King’s Quest series in that you adventure through the plot, gather various items (like the “Rob Lowe” pocket camcorder), and hope you have everthing you need when the action starts. And the action in Larry 5 is dramatically different and far racier than other “quest” games.
You begin the game as an ultra 70s nerd throwback and nightmare of the female race, Larry Laffer, who happens to be employed by PornProdCorp (the name says it all). The long, but vastly entertaining, preview handily divulges all the background you need to begin the game. The PornProdCorp owner, Mr. Scruemall, blatantly mentions several items Larry needs to complete this quest; I suggest you take notes. As a matter of fact, take notes throughout the entire game; what you ignore in the beginning will impede your progress later.
If Larry seems a bit confused to you in the beginning of the game, you can be reassured that it’s not a program glitch. He only has amnesia, due to something that happened in Larry 4: As for the rest of Larry’s odd and lewd behavior, well, he’s just that kind of guy. As the game progresses, Larry begins remembering a gorgeous musician named Passionate Patti (again, the name says it all). Patti’s been involved in the last three Larry games and several unexplained references are made to the early games. Don’t worry if you aren’t familiar with the first four; this is a merely an episode in the saga of Larry and Patti.
Larry 5 even allows you the unique opportunity to gender swap characters between Larry and Patti. As Larry, you travel the East Coast looking for America’s sexiest girl (slutty, but nice). On the other hand, Patti, as the game’s co-title suggests, does some undercover work for the F.B.I. tracking down unwholesome lyrics and shady dealings in the corrupt music industry. Their twisting paths eventually meet at a White House dinner that the (former) Vice-President throws in Larry’s honor.
As many experienced questers know, the traditional Search For Items is very important. When moving the characters through different scenes, you can look at items, pick them up, use them, etc. I heartily suggest you look at and pick up everything in a room. Not only is this touchy-feely attitude the only way to find where Larry and Patti’s needed items are, but it will also trip helpful and amusing descriptions of the items. There are even icons that allow Larry and Patti to “adjust” their clothing, but the game does have some morals built into it and will not allow you to get overly physical with other characters or objects unless it deems the time appropriate. Fear not; if you play the game right, you will use this icon!
The artwork and music on Larry 5 are just as enjoyable as playing the game. The scenery combines humor with tons of color, like the dentist office’s toothpaste-tube-modifed carpet and tooth shaped plant holders. It’s so finely detailed that the image jumps out at you even on full screen view. The opulent artwork took a while to load on my slow IIcx, but it’s more than worth the wait. The score contains some of the catchiest music I’ve heard on a Mac game. If you can find Larry’s fully functional antique 8-track player, you can preview some of the game’s songs. The sound effects are also well done; and Al Lowe, the magnanimous game designer (“Better Babes Through Technology”), allows you to play with them after the game’s finale.
I ran into “out of heap space” problems at one point and the game wouldn’t boot. It took some time for me to actually get hold of someone at Sierra since the line is forever busy. Despite that, the tech support people and the main Mac guru, Gary, were all most helpful. Trashing and then re-installing the game helped and I was able to finish Larry 5 without any problems. A word of warning: Larry 5 needs a lot of memory (8MB)! I had to turn off all extensions before I could play.
I have to admit that I was a Leisure Suit virgin before I played Larry 5. Now that I’ve been seriously invloved with Larry and Patti, sometimes until indecent hours of the night, I’m ready to backtrack and immerse myself into the first four editions of their sordid saga. These are two licentious characters you won’t want to miss.
