Released by LucasArts in 1995, Full Throttle is a classic graphic adventure game from industry legend Tim Schafer, telling the story of Ben Throttle; butt-kicking leader of biker gang the Polecats, who gets caught up in a tale of Motorcycles, Mayhem and Murder.
Now over 20 years later, Full Throttl...
Released by LucasArts in 1995, Full Throttle is a classic graphic adventure game from industry legend Tim Schafer, telling the story of Ben Throttle; butt-kicking leader of biker gang the Polecats, who gets caught up in a tale of Motorcycles, Mayhem and Murder.
Now over 20 years later, Full Throttle is back in a remastered edition featuring all new hand-drawn and 3D high-resolution artwork, with remastered audio and music.
I never played the original game but heard great things about it throughout the years nonetheless. I got this remastered edition and was pretty excited to give it a try, so I played through the whole thing one Friday night.
The game itself is a solid adventure game with great mechanics, puzzles, art, voice acting, and sound. I can see why it would have been highly praised back in the day and the remastered features in it do look like a great addition to the game.
The only downside to it is that I expected more from the story. It is not a bad story, but I expected something deeper after all the hype generated. It was a bummer, since story and narrative is the aspect I usually look forward to the most. It started as something really promising, but the ending did not fulfill my expectations.
Nevertheless, it is a great adventure game that I am sure fans of the genre will enjoy.
Full Throttle was a mind-blowing experience back in the 1990s and I think it's safe to say the remastered game holds its own even without the nostalgia glasses on.
Graphics have been updated to suit modern screens, music and sounds remastered and become much more crisp, while nice add-ons such as developer commentary and stand-alone jukebox playing in-game music are added. The purists can always go back to the roots by changing relevant options.
Now, after the remaster came out, many lamented that the game is too short (which is funny seeing as these days shorter games seem much more acceptable and gather very good press. HLTB lists an average play time of 6h which is about accurate if you have never played the game and don't use walkthroughs. Let us remember that this is only marginally less than how long it takes to beat Gemini Rue, the point-and-click adventure everyone was raving about despite crappy graphics (come on, let's not make the whole "oh, but it's pixel art" excuse) and so-so sound. Full Throttle is much more to the point and in your face, with unique charisma (there are simply no other adventure games in a remotely similar setting), witty writing and great production values (the original still looks and sounds better than many pixel-art adventures released recently). So yeah, I'd rather take one hour less of playtime but have intense and memorable experience rather than spend double that time pixel-hunting my way out of badly designed puzzles and listening to uninspired dialogues.
Some also complain about "easy" or "terribly aged" action scenes. Well, this is an adventure game, and the whole point of the action here is not to test you reflexes but rather solve a puzzle embedded in the game world in a form of the action piece by finding the correct weapon-enemy combination and a sequence of actions in a car derby.
The bottom line - if you like adventure games and value games for the experiences they give you rather than the time you are staring at the screen, this is a good buy, especially if you have never played the original. It's well worth extending the playtime by going through the second time with commentary on - it's actually quite interesting for those who have heard of Lucas Arts and Tim Schafer before :)
I missed out on 'Full Throttle' when it first came out, so to be able to play it now is a treat. 'Full Throttle Remastered' is a straightforward, no nonsense, linear adventure starring Ben, the leader of a biker gang. He and his gang were framed for the murder, and he had to go clear their name and seek vengeance.
The puzzles in 'Full Throttle Remastered' were not particularly hard. New to the game, I finished the first half in about 2 hours because the solutions to puzzles were quite grounded and practical (i.e. nothing that requires moon logic or outlandish combinations of actions and objects). The second half was comparatively more outlandish puzzle-wise, and featured more action mini-games. While the mini-games fit the theme of 'Full Throttle', they did feel out of place in what seemingly a traditional point-and-click adventure game.
The remastered graphics in 'Full Throttle Remastered' were very well done, adding crisp lines to the beautifully designed and drawn characters and locations. Although I am a fan of the remastered graphics in ‘Day of the Tentacle Remastered’ and ‘Grim Fandango Remastered’, I have mixed feelings about the new art in 'Full Throttle Remastered'. For more elaborate and expanded locales, like the penultimate setting in the game, the remastered graphics were an asset. However, for cutscenes and close-ups, the remastered graphics actually stripped away the grittiness of the original pixel art that befitted the game’s tone and style. This just goes to show how well the original art holds up over two decades later.
Double Fine’s remastering work was not for naught though. 'Full Throttle Remastered' benefitted most from the remastered audio. The remastered music and dialogue sounded clean and sharp, and the sound of the motorcycles racing down the freeway was blaringly aggressive. Thankfully, one can choose to play this game with the original graphics, paired with remastered music and sounds, to achieve what I deem to be the best way to (re)experience this game.
I completed 'Full Throttle Remastered' in about three hours with some help from a walkthrough for the second half of the game. If I did not get help, I would have clocked in four or five hours of game time in total. Given that, 'Full Throttle', as some reviewers had already pointed out, is not a long game. Considering how linear the game is compared to its LucasArts peers, it is hard not to feel something was missing in 'Full Throttle' – perhaps a couple of scenes or a few more puzzles. While I appreciated the lack of frills in the core game, part of me wished Ben’s adventure could have been a bit longer.
Have no previous sentimental attachment to or nostalgia about the game, I feel 'Full Throttle Remastered' at its regular full price is not a good value. I paid just under $10 for the game during a sale, and felt I got a decent value for such a short, yet entertaining game. Those with a stronger sense of nostalgia about 'Full Throttle' may be willing to pay more. However, if you are like I, you may want to get this game when it is discounted.
Many of these games I'm playing today were featured on a demo disc that would come with Computer Gaming World Magazine. I only got to play a small bit back then, but today, for less than the price of that magazine, and sometimes for free, I get to finally play the whole game. It's strange, because when I began to play Full Throttle: Remastered, I felt the graphics were the same as many years ago. That is, untill I clicked the button that allowed me to view the game as it was years ago. Yuck! I guess my imagination must have filled the pixels in back then! If you're looking for a somewhat humorous, yet intriguing storyline, this game is for you. The autosaves are placed perfectly so there isn't a lot of backtracking should you make the wrong choice. It flows along so smoothly that before you know it, you've won! If you're sitting on the fence not sure if you should buy it, check out this glimpse https://youtu.be/q-mvOfZA9y8
Full Throttle is a point-and-click adventure game classic and even if you don't consider yourself a fan of the genre, you should absolutely give it a try.
The story, characters and dialogue are all superbly written and there will be times when you will definitely laugh out loud. The voice acting is excellent and it was a surprise to learn that even the legendary Mark Hamill has had many roles in it. Overall, Full Throttle has a lot of humour and visual charm in its veins. This is nothing new from Tim Schafer but I can imagine how fresh the whole game must have felt back in the day.
I am not usually fond of point-and-click adventure games simply because I find some of the puzzles somewhat outside of my usual logic and thinking. (Of course, maybe that's the point, who knows!) Thankfully, the game doesn't have many of these so it is a great experience to start with if you are looking forward to getting into this genre.
For these reasons, Full Throttle Remastered easily earns my recommendation even at full price.
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