Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1989
Platform: DOS; Amiga; Atari ST
Score: 8
How do you take the success of Looking For Love and turn it into something better?
1) Crank up the laughs. Al Lowe is at his absolute funniest here.
2) Include lots of sex, but use it simply for the comedy material it presents rather than for titillation.
3) Change the perspective. Halfway through the game, you get to play as Patti!
Larry has lost his wife to a lesbian affair and consequently his job when nepotism was no longer an option for him. So, Larry is without money, a job, or a place to live, and must regain his sense of purpose in life.
Nearly everything is improved, including the graphics, music, and parser. It is easier to make out those necessary takeable items on the screen. The music, while still mostly just variations of the theme song (including the points notification), is at least crisper. The puzzles are also fairer, without being ridiculously easy, providing a good pace to the game.
Playing as Patti is a rare treat after bumbling around as Larry for two and a half games. She’s still horny, like Larry, but very decidedly a woman who sees the world very differently. As such, the approach to solving puzzles is a refreshing change of pace. While it would have been perhaps more fun to have tag-team puzzle solving, in 1989 you take what you can get.
And as mentioned already, the game is relentlessly funny. Al Lowe trusts the player more to get the jokes without having to bonk you over the head with an applause sign. My favorite running gag is the narrator slipping in double-entendres, then adding the parenthetical: (a feeling not wholly unfamiliar to you!). The combination of whimsy and subtlety makes the experience quite the enjoyable ride.
Contemporary Rating: Low. There is one puzzle that is tied into your computer’s memory. On faster computers, the time needed to beat the puzzle approaches infinity. Playing the game in DOSBox can help, but it still is touchy. There is also a puzzle that is copyright protection.
Cruelty Rating: Tough. Unlike the previous game, you can only go walking dead if you do something obviously dumb.
