Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work

aka: LSL5, Larry 5, Larry 5: Fala milosci, Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti macht beim Geheimdienst mit, Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti se fait Détective Privée
Moby ID: 408
DOS Specs
Buy on Windows
$1.24 new on Steam

Description official description

Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work! is (despite the number) the fourth game in Al Lowe's Leisure Suit Larry series. The middle-aged would-be-womanizer Larry Laffer fell off a boat during a cruise and sustained amnesia, forgetting how he and his sweetheart Patti got separated, how Larry got a job in LA, how Patti got a job with the FBI, and what happened in (the never released) Larry 4. Now Larry and Patti are working independently on two cases that are connected to each other, even though the heroes aren't aware of that. Larry's new bosses are involved in shady business, while Patti agrees to take a break from her career as a performing pianist and become an undercover agent. Will the two be together ever again?

Unlike the previous games with their text input, Larry 5 utilizes a graphical, icon-based interface. The player uses verb commands ("Look", "Talk", "Use" etc.) to interact with the environment. In a way not quite typical for Sierra's adventure games, it is impossible to "die" in Larry 5, and the amount of "dead ends" (unwinnable situations) is greatly reduced. The game is also less puzzle-oriented, allowing the player to proceed even if he/she fails to solve the required puzzle in some cases. However, the player is awarded more points for finding the "right" solution. As in the third game, both Larry and Patti are available as playable characters during different chapters of the story.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (DOS version)

48 People · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 22 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 75 ratings with 6 reviews)

Larry 5 is to adventure games (Larry legacy included) what Larry is to women

The Good
Great graphics, great sounds, great production values overall. Just as pretty much all Larry games, this one has a unique style to it, quirky, tongue-in-cheeky, with colorful cartoony graphics, Larry truly does become alive on this game. Everything is silky smooth in this game, just as you would expect from an early 90's Sierra game. In a word: professional.

Also the idea to use multiple characters is always a plus.

The Bad
Well, the game that comes in that shinny, graphically wonderful-streamlined-blablabla package is a piece of crap. It is one of the dullest adventure games I've played. The gameplay is akin to clicking the up & down arrows on a notepad window to scroll a story up & down. No, seriously. This has got to be the worst Sierra adventure gameplay-wise, with puzzles that are almost non-existant and a difficulty level that will make even retarded people shameful. Sierra just felt that they had to try that "LucasArts style" and removed all the "whoops you died" moments from this game, unfortunately they took the lazy route at doing so and just removed every difficult aspect of gameplay, in fact there is no possible way to be stuck on Larry 5, even if you miss critical aspects of the game you can still finish it (ie: at a certain point you need a green card, which you have to use to coax what's-her-name into letting you boink her, yet if you don't get it, she'll still do you, and you'll still be able to carry on with the game as if you had, ditto the evidence in the radio station, etc. etc.)

Furthermore, the humor that usually lifts the Larry games up also takes a kick in the balls. For instance, there's a sequence that involves a gadget operator describing the use of a machine-gun-toting bra to Patty. The sequence devolves into a physical gag, yet as it plays onscreen, the game text describes the joke to you as those obnoxious uncles often do, just to be sure you "get it"...groan... At least there are the usual politically-incorrect jabs that the Larry games are famous for, but for the most part I just sat there looking at the screen thinking "Is this supposed to be funny"..? Uh... should I laugh??" "Lookee, Larry's name just got mispronounced for the umptenth time:... funnnyyyyyyy......weeeee..."

Additionally you get a couple of annoying design choices, such as a password system similar to Zak McKraken's which means you'll have to input the required password many times as you travel around the globe, etc. And for as minor as it may be, just as another reviewer noted: They totally screwed up Larry!! He now looks like an old geezer!! Ah well... that was just bitching.

The Bottom Line
I have not played the entire Larry saga, so I'm not qualified to say whether it's the worst Larry ever or not, but I have a hard time imagining something worse than this. It's definitively the worst "Next-Gen" Larry, and definitively one of the worst and most boring adventure games ever. The only saving feature it has is the lush technical detail, and a definitive late 80's retro-feeling that adds to the game a slightly amusing edge.

DOS · by Zovni (10504) · 2002

Hey Ma! Look what they did to Larry!

The Good
I fell in love with the antics of poor, little ole' Larry in LSL1 and have played every one in the series. We gals have always chuckled in the shadows watching the "one liners" and gags you guys try on us, but Larry takes the cake. That said, I'll cover a little bit about this particular game.

I agree that the graphics and music are better than in any of the previous games. The gameplay aspects overall are also better. But ... but .... now read my major complaint about the game below.

The Bad
They RUINED my Larry! Man was I disappointed when I saw how ugly they made him. Sure, he was always dorky and nerdy, but they drew his head WAY out of proportion. The ~old~ Larry really grew on me and I hated the new look they gave him.

The Bottom Line
A good game overall, if you can get beyond the awkward looking lead character. Bring back the old Larry, I say!

DOS · by Jeanne (75959) · 2001

Silly and easy, but fun...

The Good
The graphic is very nice (scanned handpainted backgrounds) and I just love the music. It's easy to complete, but you have fun while doing it.

The Bad
You have to play on the casino to win money (as usual in the these games), but it's not that hard to win and actually it's quite fun even if it interupts the ordinary game. The plot is sleazy and stupid and so the jokes... but's that's why I like it I suppose :-).

The Bottom Line
I played this first time when it was new at a friends PC. I was then impressed by the nice graphic, the fun sampled sounds and the sleazy music. I have played it several times since and I still love it.

DOS · by Carl-J. Johansson (36) · 2000

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

Date

Examining your boarding pass at the airport shows that the date of Larry's next flight is always exactly 60 years from whatever date your computer is set to. Considering the game's release year of 1991, this means the game would've possibly taken place in the year 2051 at the earliest. Though more than likely it's just a programming gag than anything else.

Difficulty

According to Josh Mandel, the reason for the relatively low difficulty was not only because of the new point & click interface, but mainly because Ken Williams evaluated customer feedback and discovered that almost no one finishes their adventure game. So he gave Al Lowe the order to make a game that everyone can finish.

Product placement

You thought product placement would only occur in the movies? Not quite. Sierra might well have been the first company to place an advertisement in a computer game. US-American telephone company Sprint paid to be featured in Leisure Suit Larry 5. Whenever Larry or Patti were making a phone call in the game (which happened quite a few times), the call would end with the line "Thank you for using U.S. Sprint!" and later in Space Quest V: The Next Mutation. See the screenshot section for graphic proof of the advertisement.

Releases

Leisure Suit Larry 5 was available in four packages: a 16 color version (supporting EGA, MCGA, VGA, Tandy/PCjr) with either 3.5" DD or 5.25" HD disks, and a 256 color version (supporting MCGA, VGA) with either 3.5" HD or 5.25" HD disks.

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1993 – #2 Best Adventure Game of 1992 (Readers' Vote)
  • Enchanted Realms
    • January 1992 (issue #9) – Distinctive Adventure Award
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #69 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking

Information also contributed by Servo

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Leisure Suit Larry: Collection Series
Released 1997 on DOS, Windows
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Released 1987 on DOS, 1988 on Amiga, Windows...
Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits and Misses!
Released 1994 on DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows...
Leisure Suit Larry: Triple Pack
Released 1990 on DOS, Amiga
Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places)
Released 1988 on DOS, 1989 on Amiga, Atari ST
Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
Released 1996 on DOS, Windows, Windows 3.x...
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (Uncut and Uncensored!)
Released 2004 on Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Leisure Suit Larry: Ultimate Pleasure Pack
Released 1999 on DOS, Windows, Windows 3.x

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 408
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MajorDad.

Macintosh added by Eurythmic. Amiga added by POMAH. Windows added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: -Chris, Katakis | カタキス, Jeanne, James Isaac, JRK, Alaka, Vaelor, 6⅞ of Nine, Amayirot Akago, Patrick Bregger, Narushima.

Game added November 10, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.