Suit Larry: Box Office Bust. Is it any good or is it ...well bust?
Box Office Bust sees Larry as ever down on his luck, living out of a filthy van and surrounded in jazz mags, he gets a call from his uncle who is a studio exec asking for his help to find a mole who is selling his secrets. To keep incognito he has to pretend to be a lowly assistant and ends up getting all of the rubbish jobs as he searches for clues in his own ridiculous way.
Unlike other Larry games which were more adventure game based, this is essentially a 3D platform game based on a huge studio lot, there are missions spread all over the map that you have to complete to get further into the story. Controlling Larry is like any other platform game with double jumps and a few context sensitive areas to operate. There are also buggies to drive around, making it a bit easier to traverse the large and maze-like film lot.
The missions are all movie based, early on you will have to run and jump around rooftops to collect lost script pages or drive around delivering post. A large majority of the levels involve fetching items which does get repetitive after a while. There are also quests that are more like mini games including shuffleboard and a zombie shootout. These offer an alternative to the otherwise seemingly endless item collecting but are flawed by some poor fixed camera angles and bad controls.
Of course it would not be Leisure Suit Larry without the rude jokes and there are plenty here, unfortunately they are a bit hit and miss and presented in a very deadpan way so you may miss them. Other than a few chuckles it does feel a bit childish but that does keep on what Larry has been about all of these years.
Graphically the game is a bit of a mix, the characters look really good with their caricature appearances but the game world is a little bland and feels empty at times. The background music will annoy you as it feels like the track is about five minutes long and on a continuing loop There is however a very impressive voice cast with the likes of Carmen Electra and Shannon Elizabeth.
Like with all Leisure Suit Larry games there is clearly a market for titles like this but it is a departure from the other games with no nudity (surprising as everyone else is doing it these days) and far too many fetch quests.
Box Office Bust is a very disappointing title which may not even have enough depth to please ardent fans of the series, but should we really have expected anything else?
6.0
Story
Help your Uncle find a mole who is selling secrets at his studio.
6.0
Lastability
8-10 hours of play and some collectables to find.
5.0
Playability
Very basic platform game controls.
3.0
Originality
A very basic play form/adventure game.
5.0
Graphics
The caricature characters look ok by the rest of it looks pretty bland.
4.0
Sound
Whilst there is plenty of good speech the embarrasing jokes and mind numbing soundtrack spoil it.
4.0
Overall
Overly repetitive, boring and childish. There is not enough going on to keep you hooked.