Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1988
Platform: DOS, Amiga, Atari ST

Score: 7

Review: Released only two years after the first installment, Looking For Love is an exceptional game, much better than the original. Also, while the game is still rated for adults, the sex has been toned down considerably, relegated to jokes and conversation rather than the act.  In fact, the more willing you are to mattress dance with the various women you meet, the more likely you are to die! This game is appropriate for most teenagers.  This was the only game in the series my parents allowed me to play before high school and I understand why.

Poor Larry has been dumped by Eve (his primary conquest from the first game) and with no money, job, or place to live, he must wander the streets of Los Angeles once more. If Larry gets lucky he’ll also wander a cruise ship, a tropical island, and an airplane! The plot, rather than focusing on sex, involves a KGB conspiracy that Larry accidentally gets himself into the middle of without knowing it!

Using their new SCI engine, the graphics have been revamped considerably. The scenery is significantly more detailed and the world feels more like a real place rather than a collection of set pieces. From a game show studio to the cruise ship bar to the smoke-filled cabin of a jet liner, there is always something cool to look at or interact with. The parser has also been upgraded, able to understand some complex sentences. Unfortunately, the sound effects and music are mostly unimaginative and flat. The Larry theme song is over-used, with even a short clip of it used for the points notification. It’s not unpleasant, but it doesn’t give me the thrill of scoring (pun intended) that I would prefer.

What really makes or breaks this game for most people is their relationship to the puzzles. While most are creative, this game probably holds the record for most ways to put yourself in an unwinnable state and not know it. What sets this apart from most games that do this is that most of the time it’s hilarious. There are at least four different points in the game where Larry dies, and only then do you realize you forgot an item near the beginning of the game. In fact, I think I encountered every single one the first time I played. The game is already quite long as it is, and the playing time was quadrupled for me due to these gaffes. I’d like to think I was able to forgive these torture puzzles as they are humorous, but more likely the reason is I played the game when I was ten and had no other games to boot up. I had an e-mail exchange once with the game’s creator, Al Lowe, and asked him about the design.  He pretty much admitted that designing a game in this manner is unforgivable and was glad I liked it anyway.

If you can put up with the puzzles, you should have a good time.  The humor is ubiquitous and quite refined in comparison to its predecessor. Along with the more overt sexual innuendo, there are more subtle jokes that are satire of everyday life, politics, and adventure gaming itself. Both should please fans with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. And the endgame, which involves some complex puzzle-solving and goes well beyond Larry getting the girl, is a satisfying conclusion to a satisfying adventure.

Contemporary Rating: Medium. The parser is actually pretty good, and the jokes hold up well.

Cruelty Rating:  Cruel.  The cruelest game ever!