Amazon.com: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude: Playstation 2: Video Games

19 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

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3.2 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable sexual escapade & 1 of the best games of 2004!!, March 10, 2005

By	Jason Dickson "Needs More Money" (Maryville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

"Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude" is the first LSL game in about 8 years, and also the first to cross over from the personal computer to home video game platforms on the Playstation 2 & XBox. As a fan of old Sierra games (even though I was too young to have played the early LSL games), I was incredibly pleased to see the series resurrected and brought to new heights!

Important note: "Magna Cum Laude: Uncut & Uncensored" has now been released for the PC, and it features full frontal nudity and none of the pesky "censorship bars" that are present in this version.

Obviously, nudity is the main selling point of this game. Anyone who says otherwise is trying too hard to justify his or her purchase. The college co-eds are voluptuous, they are animated in a sexy, often provocative, ways, and the main quest of the game is to get Larry laid. Because of the time and attention put into creating realistic (though cute in an almost-anime way), this game is more titilating than any of the "Dead or Alive" series of fighting games, more fun than any of the WWE wrestling video games that feature the strip matches, and the females are more desirable than Lara Croft ever has been.

The women are mostly stereotypical "college girls" -- we have the head cheerleader Barbara Jo Bimbo (B.J. for short), the Italian castoff from "The Sopranos" Analisa, the Russian exchange student Zanna, the hot but nerdy college professor Beatrice, and so on. Chasing after each woman requires different approaches, and the result is never the same twice. And no, Larry *does not* get with all these babes. I hate to spoil it for you, but he only has actual intercourse a few times during the entire game. But every encounter is sexy, funny, and most importantly, packed full of eye candy!

The gameplay is fun. It is not very involving and has been criticized for being mostly a string of "mini-games." That is true; however, the variety of the games keeps it interesting as you progress through the storyline. The script is absolutely hilarious, and the comedy is equal to the nudity as a selling point for this game. If you are a guy, or even a gal who likes to laugh at guys, you will laugh at Larry and the things coming out of his mouth. He rambles on a lot, gets off-topic, tries horrible pickup lines, lies constantly, and even staggers around drunk and farts. If you've ever known a man who made you laugh simply because he was, to quote Steve Martin, "a wild and crazy guy," then you will enjoy the story of Magna Cum Laude. And the voice acting is wonderful; there is not a bad actor or actress in this entire game.

Now a few words on the Mature Audiences rating: This game is about sex, (...) drinking, jokes, and other things guys find enjoyable. For some people, this is disturbing. Those people need to get a life. I can play Grand Theft Auto, in which my character is able to walk down any street and at any moment cut off the head of a pedestrian with a sword. Or gun down dozens of policemen, only to enter a cheat code and get away with it all at the last possible minute. Yet somehow, the ESRB (game ratings board) finds Larry's girlfriends more offensive when they drop their shorts. Give us a break! Violence is much more detrimental to society & to teenagers than sex is, and yet we still can't get over our fear of pixelated private parts. It's ridiculous!

All in all, I give "LSL: Magna Cum Laude" a totally positive recommendation to anyone old enough to purchase it. It was definitely one of the best games of 2004 simply because it is like nothing else on the market today: a fun, sexy romp through college life. 5 stars! 2 thumbs up! Just buy it!

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sierra disowns the long time fans..., September 15, 2005

By	Big Joe '83 (Melbourne, VIC Australia) - See all my reviews

Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars

More of an attempt to create a Leisure Suit Larry Xtreme Party Games title, rather then a continuance of the classic adventure series, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude will disappoint a majority of it's long time fans. Instead of talking to women, working out puzzles and trying to persuade them to spend some quality time with you, here you have a number of arcade games to complete to pass the game. It's the most laziest game design I'd ever seen, my heart sank when a majority of the puzzles required you to play Pong or take photos. The comedy in the game is okay, but it does wear out its welcome when most of the jokes rely on swearing and the fact they've all been done before to better effect in previous titles. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude also has little reply value compared to its predecessors. A game like Larry 7: Love For Sail had heaps of secrets programmed into it that kept the gamers busy for months playing with shortcut keys and program files. In MCL, all you have to do after you finish is keep playing annoying arcade games until you can afford to make everyone nude.

There's almost nothing here for the long time fans except slight nudity and a few cheap references to the previous titles. Although it should be noted, Sierra tried to win the old time fans over by saying the series creator, Al Lowe, would participate in the creation of this title as a creative consultant. However, months went by with Lowe not receiving any word from the developers. People had grown impatient and evidently gave up hope on Sierra making an effort to contact Larry's creator. However, just before the release of the game, Lowe recieved an e-mail from the developers. It turned out the only involvement they intended for Al Lowe was to make him sign a waver that wouldn't allow him to criticise the game when it came out. Lowe humbly refused their offer.

If you want a game that shares the Larry series traits, look over eBay for Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist.
If you're just after a little computer nudity, can't you find cheap Hentai instead?

P.S. The difference between the uncut version and the censored version is that the censored signs have been removed, and there's slightly more graphic version of the Barbara-Jo ending.

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NAUGHTY FUN, February 18, 2005

By	plasticbrain "gamer" (Corvallis, OR) - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

this game is a hoot! it is definitely the naughtiest PS2 game out there. it's terribly easy to play, but that's because it really wants you to experience it's witty (and dirty) story. you won't believe the stuff you're asked to do in this game. it's really not pornographic as in this console version "censored" bars cover up the nether regions, though the game does feature topless characters. it's about as dirty as a SI swimsuit issue. one dissappointment was that the loading screen girls, pictures of actual girls in the costumes of the game's characters, don't show as much as you might want, especially after being tittilated by the game's sex-hunt for a couple hours. but, regardless, i was cracking up the whole way through this clever, silly, no-holes-barred game. a definite rental if not a must-buy.