Larry Lovage is back and bringing polyester pride to the big screen in
Box Office Bust. Introduced in the first latter-day
Leisure Suit Larry game, 2004's
Magna Cum Laude,
Lovage is the nephew of
Larry Laffer, the original "Leisure Suit Larry" made famous in
Al Lowe's inimitable string of risqué-humor computer adventures created in the late '80s and early '90s. The play style of
Box Office Bust is similar to that of
Magna Cum Laude. Gamers control young
Larry from a third-person 3D perspective, in a relatively large, open setting, where interactions with certain characters and locations begin quest lines and trigger mini-game challenges. Although
racing and
platforming mini-games may be conquered with good stick handling or the well-timed touch of a button, the
adventure game's plot-driven challenges call for clever puzzle-solving and creative thinking.
As the cinema-themed story goes, Uncle
Larry Laffer finally made good and is the head of his own movie studio, but someone is revealing the deepest secrets on the lot. Young
Larry Lovage hires on to do odd jobs, secretly hoping to root out the mole, and ends up uncovering much more than he'd expected. Although its ribald tone may be less overt than that of its immediate predecessor, the game's humor is unapologetically sophomoric and scurrilous, in the mode of films such as
Porky's or
American Pie.
Box Office Bust features the voices of several real-life Hollywood actors and comedians, including
Dave Attell,
Carmen Electra,
Shannon Elizabeth,
Jay Mohr, and
Josh Keaton as
Larry. The game's "Director" mode allows players to use the movie lot's sets and actors to stage and shoot their own
Leisure Suit Larry movies.
~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide
;)
