Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice Review

Developed by CrazyBunch and published by Assemble Entertainment, Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice is the latest release in this long-running series, sticking to the same formula of crude wordplay, immature double entendres and a challenging point and click adventure.

Following on from the plot of the last game where Larry evaded capture and accidentally blew up the mansion, Faith – the woman Larry desires the most – is nowhere to be found. So you begin still stranded on the island of Cancúm (and yes, that is how it’s spelt). He is being forced to marry the Chief of the islands daughter without seeing her or speaking to her until the day of the wedding. But Larry has no interest in getting married to her as he is still longing for Faith. So with the assistance of the AI from his PiPhone (as in Pie Phone), he needs to escape the island as he discovers Faith is alive. He’ll need to use all his tricks and experience to track down the woman he desires the most.

The character art is something you would expect from a point and click adventure game. A lot of the models and music seem to be very similar, if not re-used wholesale, from its predecessor. But the artistic style is still pretty good considering there are a lot of colours and phallic-shaped objects. There are plenty of sexual references all over the place; from the language used, the many genital shaped objects are strewn everywhere and the occasional sexual cut scene played out in snapshots that will raise a few eyebrows. There are some characters in the game, mostly the bad guys, that could be seen as somewhat culturally offensive, but I guess fans of this series expect this kind of thing and those that are easily offended are probably likely to be put off by the title of the game alone anyway.

Aside from the sexual references and racial insensitivity, the game is fiendishly tricky. I am sure I am not the only one that feels like they have tried everything and lose patience and have to sin and look up a guide to move to the next section, but considering this game is chocked full of sin I didn’t feel too bad in doing so. I only had to resort to the guide about halfway in as some of the puzzles become less straightforward and you realise there are some things you would just not think to do. This is where the game comes alive making you think outside the box, and no, that is not a sexual reference.

The controls for the most part are simple to use as with any point and click game. You do have the bonus of being able to move Larry with the control stick whilst the other stick controls the cursor. It allows you to easily see all parts of the scenery quicker without having to click on both ends of the room to move Larry there. There are also smart controls like the triggers that allow you to cycle through all the interactive items on the screen without needing to drag the mouse over the whole screen. Also clicking on both control sticks highlights all the interactive spots which speed up the process of gaining information and puzzle-solving.

There are a few things I didn’t enjoy about the game though. The control of the PiPhone I never really got to grips with. You need the PiPhone to review combinable items, build schematics, or check the progress log, but I found flicking between those menus harder than it needed to be. I also found the labyrinth at the end of the game either super over-complicated or just broken. You are supplied instructions on how to tackle it, yet it still didn’t work for me. I understand making a puzzle difficult makes it all the more satisfying when you overcome it, but I didn’t feel that with the labyrinth; it just felt like a time consuming broken mess. I had to guess my way through that in the end and no guide exists that will ease that pain.

Conclusion

Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice is a dedicated addition to the Leisure Suit Larry series using the same tried and tested formula. There is more than enough crudeness, sexual humour, interesting plot twists and fiendishly difficult puzzles for long time fans to enjoy. This game is not for everyone, nor does it want to be; it knows what its fan base wants and aside from a few niggles it delivers something the fans will enjoy.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.