Group Full Throttle Playthrough - Now underway!
 

A bunch of people are starting a playthrough of Full Throttle this weekend. Join us if you like...

We'll be playing and posting our impressions on the way through.

One suggestion for our first stopping point is a cutscene that happens after Ben successfully rides away from the bar at the beginning on his bike.


See this thread to see who's in and how we chose Full Throttle

http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...ad.php?t=22234

Way!
 

Wow, I've had this game for a while but never even finished it. This sounds exciting, count me in if possible?

:)

I finished this one a dozen times! It will never bore me.

--Erwin

We will discuss the Full Throttle Playthrough here and the other one discuss which game for the next Playthrough

Rats, I just played through Full Throttle about 6 weeks ago.

Does anyone have the purple case rereleased edition instead of the original? I started mine today for the playthrough and it quits after the limo cutscene. Is anyone else having this problem?


*Edit* I just copied the disc to my hard drive and ran it through scumm instead...all fixed!

F***, the bike fights are annoying. Talk about frustrating. :frusty: I can't seem to get passed it at the moment so i can't get to the stopping point. ;(

EDIT: Whew, done it.

Bike fights plural? There should only be one fight to get to the initial stopping point. To clarify, the point I suggested aiming for is when Ben has an accident (due to a problem with his bike) It sounds like you may have gone further than that.

The normal practice in previous playthroughs has been to set a stopping point (as already described) and have everyone play to that point and then post their thoughts on that section of the game. To allow everyone time to achieve that we then give it a few days until the next section is played.

If everyone is agreeable I would suggest that we start the next section on Wednesday 23 April and that we make that section acquiring the parts to fix Ben's bike. This gives a meatier chunk of game with a nice variety of puzzles in it.

Just searched out my copy and will play through the first section when I've finished up a few things here.

Yeah, the first bike fight was the one i was referring to. That one annoys me the most whenever i play it. I should've been more clear. i can't quite remember how annoying the others are though but i think they still might've annoyed me a bit in the past. I've saved at the beginning of Maureen's garage and left it.

*Gruff Voice*

When I'm on the road, I'm indestructible. No one can stop me,(sees an enemy biker in view)... but they try.

I always did like Full throttle although it has it's weak points (which we will get too).

Ahem..

It has a great intro with some cool music, I still get the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when Ben goes over the limo and the music kicks in.

The voice acting is spotless from the gruff Ben to the smarmy Ripburger and his 2 goons I felt they all fit the characters to a T.

So we have a lenghty intro sequence, a chance to play around with the interface and a beginner bike fight. Kinda sums up the whole game in the 5 minute intro.

The interface is similar to the coin from MI3 in that a mini icon driven menu come up when you left click on a hot spot (red box round cross hair identifies hotspots). The menu system can be seen during the intro as a tattoo on the arm of one of the polecats. It's pretty intuitive, just select the part of the amatomy you want to use, eyes to look, feet to kick etc etc.

Not a lot to do in the initial stage. Get out of the dumster, and get the keys to your bike.

For fun try doing odd things to some of the hotspots "I'm not putting my lips on that" or try kicking the piano.

Once the first puzzle is sorted get ready for the first annoying part. The Bike Fight. These fights are dreadful, right click to change weapon, left click to use weapon and move mouse left and right to move bike. Object of the initial fight is to get in close and rapidily left click and hope that he falls first. NAFF.

Once vanquished another cutscence to end section 1.

So far so good.

I had trouble with the bike fight, but eventually got it. I like the graphics, and the opening tune was very cool. It seems fun so far, I can't wait to play on!

It's great to play Full Throttle again! ;)

I haven't forgotten the story, but Ben's comments are like new and I'm severely stuck on one of the puzzles. (Okay, so I didn't stop after the bike fight... that first part is real short.)

The opening title track is "Legacy" by The Gone Jackals. I liked their music so much I went out and bought the album. Bone to Pick I think their music fits the game well.

I think this is the first usage of the interface in this style. (MI3 was later) I like the animation when you select the various actions (the bloodshot eyes being a particular favourite) and the burning noise from the flames is a nice touch.

I love the long cinematic to this, especially with the theme. It's the attention to detail that gets me every time. The moving material on Ben's clothes. The flickering reflections in the bike's metalwork. All these little touches serve to create the illusion of movement. Also, characters blink. It's such a small thing but with little details like that being dealt with you have more confidence in the bigger picture.

We get a nice broad background setup here with a lot of the major characters benig introduced. You get a feeling for who's who and what parts they are playing. No prizes for guessing who the villain of the piece is.

The bike fights can be an annoyance. I must be honest that I've never found this one a problem (just move over and pound the left mouse button for all you're worth) but the later ones are trickier. There are some tricks to beating most of them which don't require fighting game reflexes but we can cover that later.

You've got to admit that Ripburger isn't lying (slight spoiler. Leave until after the 3rd section if you're playing for the first time)

Spoiler:

He most definitely is not WAITING for Malcolm Corley to die.

There's no rule saying you can't play ahead as much as you want to. Just try to avoid speaking about the later parts until we all get to them. :)

Play the first part, and yah the fighting part is pretty annoying.. Now at the 2nd part where accquire the parts.. So which is the stopping point so i can play first and wait for u all.. Maybe after playing Limbo of the lost..

Playing Limbo realize the inventory interfaces similar to Full throttle as both have the interface where u can click to interact, pick up or etc the item when click..

Anyway back to Full Throttle, find the graphics so cartoonish and really make me wana play Sam and Max and the Day of Tentacle.. Really miss the old school Lucasart games..

When I first started playing this I was struck by how cinematic it was. I knew I was in for a treat once I started.:D Also, the soundtrack by Gone Jackals is top notch.

I never had a problem with the bike fight. I'm not quite sure what others find so hard about it?

I should say first up for full disclosure that I've played Full Throttle before, so I won't speculate on story points and where I think they're going, etc. Already this game is pretty damn immersive, pulling me into the world again from the moment the opening sequence starts. The world and characters are so well realized. Although we don't know the specifics of the setting yet (such as time, location, etc.) it's already dripping with post-apocalyptic-like atmosphere. (The best kind. ;)) In reality I know next to nothing (and really don't care) about bike gangs, but already I feel attached to the Polecats and Ben's mission. Ben's a man of few words which is refreshing for an adventure game, but when he does speak he usually says something incredibly cool, incredibly funny or both. He's a very likable guy.

After Grim Fandango I definitely think this is one of LucasArts most cinematic games. All the production values are there from an excellent soundtrack, beautiful stylized art, a freakin' awesome script and some pretty great voice acting. I love how the bar man tells Ben that "They were going to kill you and make it look like an accident." Ben dismisses it until the plan actually happens a few moments later. I like the seamless interface too and how it's designed to look like the Polecat tattoo. (The kicking option has got to be one of the most awesome actions ever. From kicking the piano to kicking the dumpster. Good times had by all. ;)) I find myself clicking on all the options just to hear Ben's responses -- definitely a sign of awesome writing. The attention to detail is great.

I sort of like the bike fights, but I prefer the future ones. (Which I'll talk about when we reach them.) Ben's a biker and the fact that he's got rivalries and foes on the open road definitely adds to the atmosphere. There's nothing wrong with a little combat. We're not far into the story right now, but they've done an incredible job setting the scene and putting all the characters into place. (From the backstory behind Corley Motors to the various agendas of the characters.) There's already a feeling of definite trouble a brewin' and I can't wait to play more.

As I said earlier, I think the entire section where you acquire the parts for the bike should be the next part. Since you can acquire the parts in any order there isn't really another point everyone can be sure of reaching before all the parts are collected.

Just played the first part...very short but I understand why we are stopping there. I decided to wait until Wednesday to move forward so I can keep pace with everyone.

I love the beginning and the music adds so much to the game.

I was taking my time and looking at everything to make it last a little longer. My favorite line so far from looking at one of the pictures on the walls of the Kick Stand (love the name of the bar, by the way!):

"Is this your pit bull?"
"No, it's my baby picture" :D

I can't wait until Wednesday to continue the adventure!

I had almost forgotten, what a awesome game Full Throttle really is. I mean, what a great way to start a game!
The intro really gives you the perfect feel for the game and the universe it takes place in.

Don't have anything interesting to add, but I'll definitely play along. Maybe this time I can finally finish it. :P

I think everyone's covered everything I wanted to say. All I have to say is that I'm glad the first section was so short because it took me a long time to work out how to open the interface. :D

Looking forward to continuing tomorrow!

Count me in. I think the interface is cool (also took me a few mins to figure out) I think I got out of the dumpster by accident :) I like kicking lots of things. I just wailed away for the bike race, but I guess they get a little harder as you go along. Dunno why I never played this before, should have known Tim Shafer would put out a first rate game.

:) Ace. Love the whole setting of the game, the futuristic meets Highway 66 road rebels. Excellent opening, hopefully this time I will be motivated to finish the game as I'll be appreciating it in small chunks.

The 3D animation brings back all sort of memories of 90's PC games, I love it too!

I loved, loved, LOVED this game. I got it as part of a LucasArts multi-game pack my mom randomly picked up, without knowing better. Also came with The Dig, the first Jedi FPS (Dark Forces? I think?), and the Monkey Island 1 & 2 disc.

I don't know if I still have my Full Throttle disc handy, but will follow this playthrough avidly!

Finally found some time to join in... luckily this first section was quick.

After spending so much time on my "to play" list, I'm really excited that we chose Full Throttle. I'm instantly struck by how amazing it is to be playing something that feels so original, at least in theme. It's kind of a sad state of affairs really that anything not involving space marines, dwarfs and elves, or evil cults is enough to make a game feel so different. And then there's Tim Schaefer, whose imagination reminds me of a lot of filmmakers I really like such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet...

Anyway, love the intro. Love kicking the dumpster. Love playing as an adventure hero who will actually intimidate people rather than always being a pussy...

Looking forward to more!!

Great, the second part today!

Talking about the first part, i really enjoy that intro just as much as everyone else. That's probably one of my favourite intros in an adventure game. Legacy by The Gone Jackels kicks ass and how the whole thing is set-up just like a movie.

FULL THROTTLE PLAYTHROUGH - PART II - FINDING PARTS FOR THE BIKE
(Don't read if you're still playing through the first part.)

I loved Maureen's introduction with the gas mask and surreal music as Ben woke. She's another very cool, well realized character. Already there's chemistry between her and Ben and I really liked the banter between the two. (Particulary the stuff about Corley service centres. :D) There weren't many characters to interact with here but the little conversation Ben took part in was great. I particularly liked talking with the reporter and Ben's reluctance to ask for a ride in her car. This game is pretty damn funny, but also a little dark -- a good combination.

Melonweed by night has a creepy and mysterious vibe. It was a lot of fun exploring the shadowy, desolate surrounds of the decaying town scowering for parts. One thing I noticed in this section was how great the sound design is. The ambient background noise (crickets chirping, dogs barking, etc.) with the mysterious music definately contributed to the town's freakin' great atmosphere.

I really liked the puzzles in this section too, not to mention the pacing of the story. Ben's got clear and simple objectives and there's no really unnecessary obstacles in his way. Everything he's doing has a point. I remember the solutions to most of the puzzles from the last time I played so only really got stuck once, forgetting the specifics of how to get the fuel. I impatiently resorted to a walkthrough and realized it was simple enough, I just hadn't explored the location enough. (A little hot spot would've been nice, though. ;)) There's some original puzzles here. I thought the way Ben ended up getting the fuel despite being at a fuel tower was awesome to the max!

I mentioned the attention to detail in this game in my previous post. Some of the small, seemingly throw away touches in this section really adds to the atmosphere. I love the smile Ben gives Maureen when he successfully returns with a part -- he's definitely proud of himself. The look of this game is great from the shadows and lighting of the locations Ben lurks around in to the animations of him running away at the fuel station. The animated sequences are always great! Although the graphics have dated a little, the style has definitely remained.

I stopped immediately after getting my bike back after finding the parts. Can't wait to play on!

One of the Ben's opening lines really sum Maureen very well:

"Whenever I think of Maureen, I think of two things: asphalt ...and trouble." :)

I really loved Ray Conrad's voice, may he rest in peace.

Hope you, who are playing it for the first time, will enjoy it as much as so many of us have before you.

Happy playin' time.

Well said DC, you saved me a lot of typing!

I had a couple of tricky moments with this section. I kind of had the idea that ben should try to hide from the searchlights at the gas tower, but I couldn't figure out how to do it until I looked at a walkthrough. That was the only part I needed help with, but a few other things I discovered purely by accident. The junkyard was the hardest part, I was trying everything on everything and laughed out loud when I discovered that the way to open the door was to

Spoiler:

lock it closed...

NATCH! And then the dog, Jeesh! I was throwing meat at everything and the darn dog STILL wouldn't leave me alone. The hot spot for the tower was so hard to find. I clicked on it by accident, figured out the controls and DID THE WRONG THING! Yes, instead of

Spoiler:

lifting the dog out of harms way, I dropped cars on top of it (I know, I probably wasn't hugged enough as a child.)

Then I had to go back to the tower and try again and even though I knew it was there, it still took me forever to find the stupid hot spot to get up into the tower.

I also liked the sound effects and the music is great, particularly in the trailer. I was disappointed to be whisked back to the garage so quickly after finding the torch, as I intended to hang around til the end of the song. I've never replayed an adventure game, no matter how much I like it the first time around, i never have any patience with it the second time. I could see playing this one again however, just for the great music and one liners.

Ben: "Not a people person?"
Mo: " I'm just better with toasters, that's all."

**EDIT** sorry about the spoilers, I thought it was open discussion for the completed parts.. I'll be good, promise!

I'm certainly enjoying this game more second time round. First time, i cheated throughout most of it... as always. :shifty: Thing is, if i cheat on pretty much all the puzzles in a game, i'll just end up forgetting the solution to them next time round. Whereas, if i solve a game myself, the characters, locations, dialogue and especially the puzzles will stick in my head more.

As a result, there were a couple of puzzles i forgot about. The crane puzzle and getting the gasoline. As for

Spoiler:

hiding in the shadows

that suddenly came to me. Traces of my first time through were vaguely coming back. The crane one i solved eventually by just sitting back for a few seconds and thinking. I love it when i work out a puzzle it makes me feel smart lol. But i ended up doing the same thing as buddi with the cars.

When's the next starting point?

On this second section: First time I played it, it took me forever to figure out how to get past the dog. I kept getting chased by it, which is very irritating after that happened to you around 50 times.:crazy: So, I had to resort to a walkthrough. This time around I knew just what to do.

Getting the gas was kind of tricky too. Overall it was a nice section of puzzles. Of course the music played at Todd's place gives some hint as to when the game takes place.

Just finished getting the bike parts.

I remembered most of the solutions but it still didn't detract from the game. I love the conversations and I love the solution to getting in the junkyard.

I only had one complaint. I pretty much remembered the solution of getting past the dog however:

Spoiler:

I threw the meat in the yellow car and NOT the purple car. It's annoying that it only works with the purple car. I seriously spent about 45 minutes on this before I finally went to a walkthrough and noted that it had to be the purple car. It would have been nice if they didn't let you through the meat in the yellow car if it can't be used to get the solution.

I remember hating this part of the game, the first time I played it. :P
Luckily, most stuff I remember, I remember so well that they are forever burned into my memory, and I can therefor feel that I can enjoy them more this time.
The puzzle solutions are all really smart and logical, but the bad thing for me, was the feel that the game is always trying to hide something from you. (Kinda like when you're hunting for hotspots, but without any actual hotspots).

Spoiler:

The secret elevator in the trailer

Spoiler:

The fact that you can actually walk along to the right upside at the wall.

and

Spoiler:

The shadows you are supposed to hide in.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that all those things could have been made much easier by just setting out a few hotspots.
Perhaps too easy.

Everything else is great, music, sound effects, animations and dialogs.
"I don't collect art. ...And I don't collect whatever that is..." Classic :D

Spoiler:

Strange, throwing it into the yellow car worked for me. :crazy:

I didn't even know you could access those areas either the first time i played. They were the main parts i had to use a walkthrough on.

Ray Conrad's voice is superb. Ben is a great character and his lines are always in character. One of my favorite short but eloquent oneliners in this part of the game: when you put Ben's fist on the window of the trailer and he simply says: "Bars." :D

I love that too! Straight to the point. :D I love Maureen's voice and personality as well.

I remember the first time I played the game I did something similar. Partly due to the fact that I...

Spoiler:

...didn't find the meat in the fridge, cause Ben was concealing it most of the time with his hulking frame. Talk about confined spaces. ;) So I tried to solve the puzzle without it and get the dog while it went from car-to-car. :D

I didn't realize the whole spoiler space thing in this thread, either.

Yay, really enjoying this so far and managed get the bike sorted without a walkthrough. It's my first time playing through, but have tried to start it many times before without getting much beyond the first section.

I am playing it half on a PC and half on my PocketPC through ScrummVM, although the PC is better for getting the full atmosphere of the game.

Thanks for getting me to have another crack at this classic.

Where is the next Stopping Point, and if it doesn't spoil things too much can someone give us a rough idea of how many stopping points they expect there to be?

I think that probably we want to do the Old Mine Road sequence (with all the bike fights) as the next section. As I recall this is the next major section of the game but I'm not in a position to check right at the moment.

After that I see two more major sections being

Spoiler:

Getting into Corley motors

and

Spoiler:

End game on truck and closing credits

But if anyone else thinks we need more split points then I'm happy to go with that.

I was also thinking Saturday 26 April as being the next discussion point (the Old Mine Road sequence) but that depends on whether everyone else wants to move along already.

That sounds good, stepurhan. I'm happy to wait it out for others to catch up too.

I must confess that pushing the next part back to Saturday is partly for my own benefit. I haven't had time to play the current section yet.

Hey, hopping in late. Just finished the parts-gathering-part.

This is my first time playing, and dang, it's awesome. I'm having such fun, although I am having to re-orient my thinking a little. I have to remind myself that I am playing a six-foot-something badass burly gang leading BIKER DUDE, and thus have options that would not be available to me in other games.

In another adventure game, when faced with a locked door, you talk to the owl who tells you to talk to the elf who won't talk to you unless you find his fiddle and then if you ask nicely he'll trade you some cheese for the key.

In Full Throttle, you KICK THE DAMN DOOR DOWN.

It is... really, really refreshing, actually. And slightly giddy-making. I'm pretty petite; I don't get to intimidate and muscle my way through problems much. It's FUN. But I'm still thinking and puzzling, which I like.

Had to walkthrough my way into the junkyard, but once in, I figured things out myself, which I'm proud of. Although I did start with the same solution Buddi did,

Spoiler:

Dropping a car on the dog. Actually hit 'im, too, "YIPE!". But poochie dug his way out, so I gave up on that after one drop. When I thought about it, he was UNDER the scrap heap when we first came in, so made sense that he could gnaw his way out from under a car.

I still have that post-apoc country western song from the trailer stuck in my head. "The population is greatly decreased..." Snrrk. Ya know, at one point I'd totally forgotten there was a sci-fi element? I got a hell of a jolt when I saw my first hovercar.

Voice acting is awesome. I was so excited watching the credits. They got some pretty big name voice actors. I squealed when I saw Steve Blum's name. Ohmigod ohmigod, Spike Spiegel's in this game! I can hardly wait to find out who he plays.

See you at the next stop point!