Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry

Review By John Wilkie

I don’t often get stuck for words, as you can find out in our Discord channel.  But I have to admit that writing this review of the latest instalment of Leisure Suit Larry has honestly been one of the hardest I have ever written. 

I have been a fan of the series throughout the years, I really enjoy the typical bottom-Esque humour bought by the Leisure Suit Larry series and if you can appreciate crass,over-sexualized narrative in a fun context then this title is right up your street.

The game begins with Larry Laffer our hero waking up in a dark room, unaware of where he is or what is happening. He leaves the room via an elevator that places him in front of Lefty’s, where he realizes that the landscape has dramatically changed.

Inside the bar, Larry talks to Lefty, who tells him that he has been missing for about thirty years and that much has changed in his absence.  Briefly taken aback, Larry nevertheless resolves himself to chasing women as he always as.

The first thing to take note of in this click and point getting your leg over adventure is as any fan of the series knows is Larry’s appearance.  Taller, thinner and as a fan of the franchise I really struggled to get past this.  He just does not look right. 

Larry has always been short and stumpy that added to the humour but it’s gone.  This is a straight click and point adventure with collecting items to unlock story progression later.  There is little else to add with the exception that on occasion it is required to combine items in the inventory. 

X picks up the item, square pulls up your inventory and triangle allows you to combine in the inventory.  The mechanics are the same as they were in 1987 they do what is required although actually getting on the specific point to pick up an item can be a living nightmare using a controller, It can be really frustrating to get on the specific point to interact with an item. 

Visually the title is clean and vibrant.  Textures are solid and surprisingly even the character speech motion was relatively well syncronised. Except for Larry not looking right the game looks incredibly good as you move between the 6 story locations using Unter as you try to raise your score on Timber. 

Which brings us into the Story itself…oh dear.  Al Lowe considered by many as the father of the leisure suit series is notably absent from the game and it shows. 

The story of Larry Laffer has never really varied to a massive degree, it’s getting your dating game on and although there are some sparks of comedy gold (such as meeting the current American president and even returning to its 1987 graphics for a brief spell) it shows through rarely. 

The humour for me on the whole just felt forced for the majority of the game and not as free-flowing as it has been in the past and some of the puzzles are challenging to the point of ridiculous. 

At one point of trying to get a unicorn head out of a shop took me around 4 hours to finally figure out how to do it which really pissed me off, especially as I am familiar with the genre so I can only imagine the torture a relaxed player who is in for the narrative would go to a guide before walking away from the title out of sheer frustration at what should be a relatively free-flowing game.

So for me, it’s a poor outing for my man Larry Laffer.  Visually appealing with some golden humour moments but are too few and far between with some over complex puzzles. 

If you have been a fan of the franchise for some time then it’s well worth a dip but if you want to know the Larry Laffer story?  Pick up a copy of Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!  Written and directed by the legend Al Lowe.

Overall Score – 5/10 – For the fans only. 

Badger

Life long gamer and Geek, Considered by most to be of doubtable sanity. never seen without my trusty Stetson

See author's posts