Full Throttle

The Good
This is a real good adventure game. The graphics are dark and, together with the twisted music it creates a very nice atmosphere. There's some good humor in this game too. The tough main character Ben rules, and the other characters in this game are nice too.

The puzzles in this game are nice, some will really get you thinking and some won't require too much of it :). In this game, the obvious answer is almost never the right one.

There's some action in this game, (beat up rival bikers on abandoned mining roads) in this game, it fits, other then arcade/action scenes in some other adventures.

The Bad
Well... The destruction derby was a little annoying, altough not impossible, it didn't really hold me up long. The game is a little too easy sometimes.

The Bottom Line
This game rocks! A must for adventure fans.

The Good
In the genre of point n' click, graphic adventure games, LucasArts has demonstrated its cool, creative and mastery time and time again. In 'Full Throttle', these masters of adventure gaming weave a sci-fi biker tale that is amazingly touching, without losing any of the mystery, suspense, humor, in-jokes and social satire that have become trademarks of other LucasArts adventure games.

The Bad
My complaints are few and, largely, minor. However, each one is worth noting.

The game is a bit too short for die hard LucasArts adventure fans with the prospect of sequels seeming more and more unlikely in an era where adventure gaming has become something of a lost art within the industry.

The arcade battle sequences with the various bikers is a bit of a challenge, for what is mostly a thinking and exploring adventure game. As a kindness, you have unlimited lives and the ability to save your progress. However, their are a couple times during these arcade sequences where my level of frustration rose more then I would have liked.

Last, but not least, their were a few problems with the storyline that are never fully explained. For example, a photo may imply that Mo's Uncle was a transvestite, not that their is anything wrong with that. But, its never developed any further beyond a vague hint. Another example would be the central storyline that Malcolm Corley would have shunned his daugher because she was bed out of wedlock. Are we to really believe that in the future, their would be a significant prejudice against illegitimate children, within the biker community? I doubt it.

Most of these story problems could have been fixed with a longer game or, better yet, a proper sequel.

The Bottom Line
'Full Throttle' was released in 1995, when point and click CD-ROM graphic adventure games were still considered popular enough to warrent the high degree of creative development, talent and wit seen in this game.

The 1980s - late 1990s was a great era for these types of games, with LucasArts leading the way. Sadly, Full Throttel was not given a proper sequel or the chance to develop into a franchise as the overall trend has been away from making these type of adventure games.

The Good
One has to ask oneself what's the key to the sheer success of the LucasArts adventure games, they are virtually identical gameplay-wise, they aren't extreme quantum leaps technology-wise, and heck! They are adventure games! A genre chastizised by many as games where the concept of gameplay is "guess what the designer wanted you to do"...! So what gives?? What could possibly turn those things into succesful games?? Let me tell you what: Creative content.

LucasArts crammed each and every one of their games with inventive plots, fantastic characters and some of the most original moments in pc gaming history... case in point?: Full Throttle, truly the most badassed adventure game ever made, a rock&roller adventure with a story that flows like a good action movie in which renegade biker Ben (total badass) gets framed for snuffing out the benevolent president of the country's leading motorcycle company and has to run from the law. Since he is such a baddass, Ben sets out to set the record straight, get the bad guy and kick some shit around. Doesn't sound like much on paper, but when you transport that to the stylistically crafted gameworld and twist it in the already familiar cartoony ways of LucasArts, you have a fantastic experience in your hands. All the elements are there: baddass anti-hero, baddass babe, baddass bikes, baddass soundtrack, biker gangs, corporate pigs, dumbass rednecks, barbrawls, you name it... Full Throttle has the "zing" and by zeroing on all the right "kickass" elements manages to stylistically blend them and turn a rather simple storyline in one of the most exciting experiences ever to grace a computer screen.

Furthermore, the game has LucasArts already famous production values, which translate into stellar voice acting (which deserves special recognition as perhaps the best one ever for a computer game), killer graphics which merged cartoony (yet-realistically proportioned and animated) characters with pre-rendered bikes and lush scenery and backgrounds, as well as an absolutely bitching soundtrack by The Gone Jackals, a legitimate down-and-dirty rock&roll band from whom Lucas licensed their entire album Bone to Pick, and which only needed Steppenwolf's "Born To be Wild" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" in order to become the ultimate biker soundtrack

The interface moved a step up from Sam&Max, by re-working the old mechanics and introducing a floating menu from which you selected your action AFTER you selected the location, the result is even less clutter, and easier adventuring and puzzle management. And the whole thing is layed out as Ben's gang logo! How cool can this thing get??

The Bad
It's really easy, and it's really short. You can try dressing that one up all you want, but the reality of it all is that Full Throttle is REALLY short and is REALLY easy. Proof positive of what kickass content it has is that despite being an introductory-level adventure with the length of a demo it still rocked,...but...

The Bottom Line
It's the most kickass thing in the history of kickassed-ness!!(?). Full Throttle is like Walter Hill's "The Warriors", a simple straightforward story that due to it's sheer style in execution and understanding of source material becomes a stylistical masterpiece. Get it. Get it now, "Caaaaan Yoooooouuu Diiiiig Eeeeeet???".

Besides, the game has a "kick" command!!!.... WHAT THE HELL MORE DO YOU WANT????