METAL JESUS ROCKS!: Reading Bawdy Language
 

If, as a young PC gamer, you ever innocently asked your parents who Seargent Pepper was, then odds are that this week's episode of METAL JESUS ROCKS! will kindle some fond childhood memories of confusing innuendo and heavily pixellated boobs. You see kids, before the Internet came along and made exposed cleavage a ubiquitous commodity, curious young boys seeking nipular titillation had limited options. Generally, you either rummaged along the side of the road looking for discarded nudie mags, or you played Leisure Suit Larry games.

Given his Sierra pedigree, it was only a matter of time before the Metal Jesus got around to sharing his thoughts on Al Lowe's infamous softcore adventure series. But rather than starting at the top, MJ jumps straight to lucky 7 and gives his review of the final LSL game proper: Love for Sail.

Speaking of love, here's some interesting trivia: did you know that the Mrs. Metal Jesus worked alongside her future husband while employed at Sierra as (among other roles) a beta tester for Leisure Suit Larry 7? It's true! So it's only fitting that she provide her feminine insights into a series many might wrongly presume to have held only male appeal.

It's a marital metal tag-team review of the final voyage for PC gaming's most lovable loser. So make sure your parents have gone to bed, then put up your slightly-NSFW privacy screen and check out this week's video below:




A wife who not only helps make your video reviews, but also enjoys playing mildly-pornographic retro adventure games with you? Seriously, dude. Seriously. </jealous>

I'm super excited that they're scheduled to be releasing the HD remake of LSL1 this year. Hopefully this time I'll be able to make it through the Age Verification Quiz without my parents' unwitting assistance.

I remember playing Leisure Suit Larry and the Lounge Lizards on my Amiga back in 1989 when I was 12. Great times.

Oh and for the record, true Sierra-philes outright reject Magna Cum Laude and Box Office Bust from the official LSL canon. In part because they were made without input from Al Lowe, but mostly because they're just terrible, terrible games.

Ok, all is forgiven for not reviewing the LSL:6 Talkie. Alas all I have left of that amazing boxed collection is the massive guide that came with it.

Your wife did great on camera.... and thank you I'll be here all week! :D

I still have several Leisure Suit Larry titles packed away somewhere in the closet.

Another great video MJ! You wife has the same 'good on camera' mojo as you do. Awesome job.

OMG that slightly-NSFW privacy screen is hilarious!

...and yes, my wife does rock. :D

I will agree that LSL 6 is generally considered the last truly great Larry game... but I wanted to review LSL7 since Rebecca had experience with it. Plus, Cybersniff 2000 & Where's Dildo were just too good to pass up!

I think at some point, I'll do a LSL Retrospective... which would be a lot of fun, and probably illegal in several States.

That reminds me MJ, do you happen to have an original CD version of Quest for Glory:Shadows of Darkness? I bet you're going to very soon lol.

Funny you mention that... as I want to do a review of that game soon, but I can't find my original copy. I think I have the QFG Anthology, but it's not really the same. :)

Say herrro to mah rittle friends.

http://i.imgur.com/n5ya5l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FjOZxl.jpg

I found it with the tech manual so you won't even need to crack it.

I have to admit, I never finished QfG4...

For the record, my area of expertise at Sierra was the Action/Simulation games. I specialized in all the Dynamix games (Earthsiege, Red Baron, Aces over Europe), as well as the Lode Runner games, Half-Life, etc... Adventure was Rebecca's forte. It will be fun to play through this game and see what the big deal is!

Isn't that the QFG game where they tried to insert that goofy 2D side-view arcade fighting mechanic? I remember playing the demo and thinking "Weak sauce" (or whatever the 90s equivalent of "weak sauce" was) compared to the way battle was presented in first two games. Almost like they were trying to jump on the fighting game bandwagon or something.

And coming from someone for whom the original Hero's Quest was his favorite adventure game ever, that's saying a lot.

One of the biggest deals of this game was that Playing as a Warrior, Thief, or Mage had different gameplay and alternate ways you could solve puzzles so each felt like a unique story line. Plus it also helped that playing the game was entertaining enough you wanted to complete it 3 times to get all the endings.

I have to admit, I've never played a LS game. I do know they have some er, risky content, but what are they about? Are they any good?

They're basically traditional adventure games (similar to King's Quest, et. al.), except you're playing as a sort of weasly, stuck-in-the-70s-during-the-80s/90s loser who's trying to find the love (or at least a love) of his life and get his freak on. The naughtiness levels honestly seem very subdued by modern standards, although the later games (up to 7) did really start to press the boundaries with language, innuendo, and just-off-screen action.

After the 7th title, the publisher that bought the IP rights to LSL just went with a sophomoric, titty-flashing cash and grab approach that was very out of character for the series. That's not to say there wasn't gratuitous partial nudity and sophomoric humor in the first 7 games, but they relied more on subtlety and made you work for it, whereas Magna Cum Laude and Box Office Bust could have just as well been titled "The Guy Game - Adventure Edition".

The true LSL games were about helping a flawed underdog achieve his less-than-noble goals in unorthodox and hilarious ways. Plus, for many of us, it was one of our earliest encounters with digital boob, so... you know.... nostalgia. :)

Hah, good synopsis. Sounds like you're playing a character you don't want to like, or isn't a likely "hero", but almost have to, because you're taking his roll. Is the gameplay solid? As far as partial nudity, etc, I assumed with graphics better then ever, we'd see a lot more of the boundaries trying to be pushed, for quick/easy cash reasons. Not surprised they strayed away from subtleties recently, then. Trying to recall my first - "whoaa, boobies!" moment with games. Nothing comes to mind. Maybe it was Duke Nukem 3D. Although, the original Soul Calibur had some gravity defying boob physics.

I did enjoy Kings Quest quite a lot. My favorite was 8: Mask of Eternity, which as I understand, Most Kings Quest fans didn't really like 8. Still vividly remember that one. I was a bit late in the game with PC gaming. Right around Kings Quest 8 is when I started getting into PC gaming. I was probably 12 when my folks bought us our first computer, and I was born in 84, so around 96.

Maybe I'll check out some reviews/coverage of old LSL stuff.

My favorite LSL is the original that ran on the AGI engine. Sarien.net has several original Sierra adventures that you can play in a web browser via flash (and they now have an iPad port as well, apparently--AWESOME!), but unfortunately it seems they couldn't get permission to keep LSL1 on their page. Still, if you want to get a feel for how the old-school adventure games (including LSL1) played, you should give one of them a go. Personally, I would recommend Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter. But be warned: these old adventure games don't molly-coddle your ego in order to keep you playing. They are hard as hell, and the rule is that you die repeatedly until figuring it out. (Which is why they also sported a generous "Save anywhere, any time" feature.)

"Nipular Titillation" Geez, Evil Avatar, where do you keep coming up with these words? Very good write up intro too.