Image remix 14/12/2012: Happy Whatever

Happy Whatever (14/12/2012)

1600x1200, also for a special holiday treat, if you're interested check out the .gif version! Make sure to download and view the file in your browser to see the AMAZING glowing background!

Image remix 27/11/2012: Raccoontownofulm

Raccoontownofulm (27/11/2012)

1024 x 768, This one is an homage to all the raccoons who gallantly gave their lives in the great Imotski round-robin tournament of 1723.Who left the door open? You're letting all the raccoons in!

Image remix 12/11/2012: Meanwhile in a Series of Tubes

Meanwhile in a Series of Tubes (12/11/2012)

1600x1200, so if you want you should be able to use this as a wallpaper. Good luck finding your icons though :D

Game Review: Full Throttle (1995)

So full throttle eh? Although I don't think I was aware of it when it originally came out, I remember hearing about this game when I was in Germany, of course then I didn't speak English and from what I recall I think that I thought the games title was in fact the English for "Voll Trottel" which is German for "Total Idiot". Now it being an LucasArts Point & Click adventure this didn't actually seem too out of place. Considering that at the time I would have probably been familiar with the Monkey Island series, which features the beloved Guybrush Threepwood who is indeed a total idiot most of the time.

Ripburger, the villain of the game.

 Well as it turns out the hero of this game, Ben, isn't as much an idiot as just a "kick everything with a big fat boot ask questions later" biker bad-ass. He's also huge and not someone you'd want to get in an argument with. The sci-fi biker theme in the game is pretty thick and somewhat stereotypical, but hey that's not a bad thing, it's entertainment after all. The whole story-line is relatively simple and revolves around Ben and him trying to stop the the slimy corrupt corporation from threatening the renegade biker gang way of life. There are several gangs with different gimmicks, but it seems like maybe a lot more thought went into them than made it into the final game. Overall the gangs have an almost steam-punkish feel within the futuristic hover-car world. The Cavefish gang is a blatant rip off of the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars. Then there is also the: "Help me Ben, you're my only hope!" quote.

Other than that there are some funny moments and gags speckled here and there throughout the story, but the general narrative is rather serious and that's not necessarily a bad thing since it also means the game play and the riddles make a little bit more sense when you compare them to the likes of The Day of The Tentacle where its just a matter of using everything with everything until the next silly cut-scene happens. The fact that the riddles mostly make sense coupled with a relatively small number of usable items at any given time makes the game fairly easy. This results in a pretty short game altogether, while watching the credits, I thought "these are longer than the actual game."

The only other problem really are the mini-games like the magnetic crane and those stupid bike battles.  What's awesome on the other hand is the soundtrack, the music is spot on and gives the game plenty of atmosphere.

Altogether this deserves a 7/10 rating and is a neat little distraction if you have a free weekend. Also if you played it first time around you'll probably have a super nostalgia rush with all the pixelated SCUMM graphics and what have you.

An appropriate starting point...

Hello world! :-)