Sure, it's a bit outdated; the graphics, obviously, are laughable by modern standards. Still, I'd argue that the game has aged rather well, considering how long it's been around. While the graphics (in a technical sense) are pretty awful, the artistic style can still be appreciated. Instead of attempting realism (which never looks good seventeen years later), the game's designers chose a rather cartoon-like aesthetic, which might seem at odds with the violent biker gang theme, but the game is not without its share of humor. What's important is that it still looks good... I mean, once you look past those big pixels.
It might not be good enough for children who grew up with HD everything, but it's good enough for me. In any case, whether it's pretty or ugly — especially, in fact, when it's ugly — a game has to be fun. Unfortunately, I'd be lying if I said this game is for everyone. Given that it's heavily story-driven and consists mostly of clicking on things, some might find it rather dull. I think some might even claim that it's hardly a game at all, but more of an interactive cartoon.
As I mentioned two weeks ago, such things have been said — perhaps unfairly — about several recent releases by Telltale Games, a developer of similar story-driven adventure/puzzle games. The similarity, in fact, is no coincidence; the company was founded in 2004 by former LucasArts employees, who were working on an unreleased sequel to the classic Sam & Max Hit the Road, when LucasArts suddenly pulled the plug on their entire adventure game department. Since then, Telltale Games has been making what are essentially the modern equivalents of the old LucasArts adventure titles (and even a few sequels, most notably their episodically released Sam & Max series).
Despite the common criticism regarding a lack of what some purists would consider to be "real" gameplay, however, many of these recent games have been well received, so we know there's an audience who can still appreciate what Full Throttle has to offer. Then again, perhaps it's just more nostalgic bias, since a lot of this audience probably shares my fond memories of the '90s. Certainly it's not the same desirable mainstream audience that thinks Call of Duty is the pinnacle of interactive entertainment. Full Throttle, though it's a very short game (easily finished in one sitting if you know what to do), is probably not for the player with a short attention span.
Like many of the adventure games of its era, particularly those made by LucasArts and based on the SCUMM engine, Full Throttle is essentially point-and-click puzzle game. As such, it requires a bit of patience. You walk around, talk to characters, and find items to use with other items in specific places. That's pretty much it, except for a few mandatory mini-games with frustrating controls. While it is a bit more than an interactive cartoon, you'll have a lot more fun with this game if you do like the idea of an interactive cartoon, because without the story this game would be little more than a series of items to collect and doors to kick open.
In other words, aside from a few deadly biker fights (somewhat reminiscent of a backwards-facing Road Rash) and a single demolition derby gone wrong (warning: you just read spoilers), there isn't a whole lot of action outside of the cutscenes, and winning the game means little more than doing the right things in the right order, rarely with a time limit or any sense of urgency. Surely Full Throttle is among the most action-packed of the LucasArts "point-and-click" adventure games, but it's not an "action game" by any stretch of the imagination. Like all of its brethren, it's a "casual" game if I ever saw one — at least, that's the modern terminology — and, worse, there's only any replay value if you're highly entertained by the plot. That being said, though, the plot of this one is rather good.
Not much of a back-story is explicitly revealed during the game. The presence of hovercraft technology, of course, tells us it's sometime in the future; meanwhile, the heavy security at the local gas tower and the sad shape of the surrounding town tells us that it's not a very nice future, at least not for the barren wasteland of an unnamed western state in which the game takes place. There are even some vague hints of something post-apocalyptic — see, perhaps, the lyrics of this pleasant song that plays on a radio in the game — but all we really know is what we see. Except for the occasional gameplay hint, none of the characters seem willing to explain to the player what Ben should already know.
Ben, the protagonist, is a bit of an enigma himself. We know he's a tough-looking dude who loves his motorcycle, and that he's the leader of a biker gang called the Polecats, but his past is a mystery. His future, also, is anything but certain; he and his buddies are running low on cash. (Being an outlaw in this particular post-apocalyptic future doesn't seem to be as lucrative a career as one would hope.) Ben, however, is confident that things are about to change.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Corley, the founder and owner of the last motorcycle manufacturing company in the nation, is in poor health, with only a few months to live. This is bad news for bikers everywhere; Malcolm is somewhat of a hero to them, while Adrian Ripburger — the man who plans to take over Corley Motors in Malcolm's stead — has only his own best interests in mind... and we can only assume he's plotting something horrible.
It's not long before their paths cross; when the Polecats happen to encounter a fancy hover-limo on Highway 9, Ben pops a wheelie and drives right over the top of it, presumably unaware that Malcolm Corley himself is inside. Corley, more impressed than offended, catches up to the Polecats at a nearby bar, and Ripburger takes the opportunity to offer the Polecats employment as escorts to the Corley Motors shareholders meeting. When Ben refuses, he gets knocked out and stuffed in a dumpster, while the rest of the gang — believing that Ben changed his mind and got a head start — is tricked into driving straight into an ambush.
Things start out kind of slow — after the long opening cinematic, your first act as the player is to punch your way out of the dumpster so you can find the keys to your bike, which (spoiler alert) gets wrecked shortly thereafter, and following another long cinematic you're sent on a quest to find the necessary tools to have the bike repaired. But once you're back on the road for good, things start to get interesting... like, murder-and-conspiracy-and-explosions interesting. I don't want to spoil any of the really good parts, but things very quickly go from exciting to completely over-the-top, culminating in some truly awesome scenes part-way through the game and a ridiculous finale involving an airplane.
As far as I was concerned, back in 1995, the game was a masterpiece. Critical reception, while not quite that enthusiastic, was favorable to say the least. But I suspect it's not as timeless as I wish it could be. Today's critics and players would no doubt be more harsh. Perhaps, at the time, we were more patient. Or perhaps we were all too easily amused by the use of games as a storytelling medium, complete with full voice acting and witty dialogue.
While storytelling in games had been around for quite a long time, Full Throttle did it well, due in part to a talented cast. (Despite the developer's obvious connection to the Star Wars franchise, I was surprised to see Mark Hamill in the opening credits.) Throw in a notably enjoyable soundtrack, a ludicrously bad-ass main character, and a handful of explosions, and you've pretty much pushed the point-and-click adventure genre to its absolute limits.
Finding a working copy of the game shouldn't be too much of a challenge, despite its age; last time I checked Amazon, there were a number of them for sale. (I'm sure you could download it illegally, as well, but I never tried this; I still have my seventeen-year-old CD copy of the game, and it's a bit scratched, but it still works.) As for getting it to work on a modern computer, you can thank the makers of ScummVM for doing this for you. Their software is free, and it runs these old SCUMM-based adventure games almost perfectly on a number of operating systems and devices.
So is it worth playing? If you're a fan of old games, absolutely; if you're a fan of biker gangs and exploding bridges, most definitely; otherwise, it's hit or miss. I'd like to think anyone can enjoy this game, but it's hard for new players to get excited about old things when there are a million newer (much prettier) games to play. But if outdated graphics aren't a problem for you, then Full Throttle might just be the old-school biker-themed graphical point-and-click adventure game you've been missing all your life.
