Full Throttle Remastered

I actually really like point and clicks because when you just want to see a good story they cut out gameplay. Even though I liked this game as a child I tried it again some months back and couldn't even be bothered to finish it. The story isn't that deep or great. This game game also really doesn't have any kind of puzzles (or good ones really) and this game suffers greatly from trying to find hidden objects. It's really just pretty bad and there are much better adventure games being made even today.

I was keen to play this remastered version of the old-time classic. Wow, renewed graphics looks so cool on big screens while keeping the feel of the original! Unfortunately, I was disappointed, because along with all the goodies developers introduced issues that weren't there in the original version of the game. Most experience-breaking one is transition music abruptly stops in cut scenes. I just can't force myself to get over it. YMMV. Worst thing is Double Fine weren't able to fix the issue and they apparently aren't going to try again any time soon. Details here: http://support.doublefine.com/forums/597328-full-throttle-remastered/suggestions/19083223-music-during-scene-transitions-abruptly-stops.

Seul defaut : trop court ....

Full Throttle is probably one of the easiest LucasArts adventure games, but that doesn't spoil the fun whatsoever. Okay, the story isn't the most original, but the game has great graphics and an amazing soundtrack by Peter McConnell, with help from biker rockband The Gone Jackals. I still get goosebumps every time I hear 'Legacy', which is an enormously catchy rock song. Look it up on Youtube, kids! The puzzles are logical and not infuriatingly obtuse like the ones in Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle. The voice actor who voices our hero Ben is phenomenal and Mark Hamill also voices several characters. The only complaints I have is the Road Rash-esque mini game, which just involves a lot of button mashing, and that the game is a bit on the short side.

I was a PC game-loving kid in the '90s and while I didn't play this game back in '95, I have had it on my radar for the last thirty years. Tim Schafer, is one of my favourite game-makers out there. His follow-up to this game, Grim Fandango, might just be my favourite game of all time. So... why am I disappointed? I think there are two key factors here. The first is the puzzle design and overall gameplay. While I appreciate how Schafer was trying to think out-of-the-box with these puzzles (i.e. Ben Throttle would rather kick a door in than find a sneaky way to enter), I feel like the leaps of logic required here push things into the obtuse. I'd guess I had to consult a guide for roughly 70% of the puzzles (UHS for the win!) I am much more forgiving of the action segments. It's very easy to forget that back in the day, adventure games were seen as "slow". I admire Schafer for trying to try and spice things up - I'd bet the action felt more fun in '95. The final arena in which I was left unimpressed was the storytelling and animation. And this is 1000% an unfair critique. The original PC Gamer review heaps tons of praise on the animation - "It's like you're watching a real cartoon!" That was such a novelty back then. And yet in the intervening years we've seen so much great (2D and 3D) computer animation that rewinding the clock to this 1995 sample just doesn't impress. It's fine. But it's not the entire value proposition of the game, like it once was. While I played the whole thing with the original pixel graphics, I often found myself hitting F1 to see the updated art. The commentary is also fun. If you're returning to this game after decades for a hit of nostalgia, you will find it. And I wish I could tap into what it felt like to play this game back in the day. But if you're coming to it for the first time be warned that its strengths are lessened, and it's weaknesses are heightened, in a modern context... but it's still worth taking for a spin.