''Full Throttle'' is a 1995
graphic adventure video game developed by
LucasArts
Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor, former video game developer and video game publisher, publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George ...
and designed by
Tim Schafer. It was Schafer's first game as project lead and head writer and designer, after having worked on other LucasArts titles including ''
The Secret of Monkey Island'' (1990), ''
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge'' (1991), and ''
Day of the Tentacle'' (1993). Set in the near future, the story follows motorcycle gang leader Ben, who must clear his name after being framed for the murder of a beloved motorcycle manufacturing mogul. A
remaster
A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
ed version of the game was developed by
Double Fine Productions and was released in April 2017 for
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
and
PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...
, with later ports for
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
.
''Full Throttle'' was LucasArts' eleventh adventure game overall and the tenth to use the company's in-house
game engine
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...
,
SCUMM. It featured
full-motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
and action sequences, using LucasArts'
INSANE animation engine, which was previously utilized in ''
Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire''. It was the first LucasArts game to be distributed only on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
. as well as the last SCUMM game on
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
. It also introduced a contextual
pie menu through which the player controls interactions with objects and characters. In contrast to other computer games of the era, which mostly relied on in-house talent for their
voice acting
Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...
, ''Full Throttle'' used mostly professional voice actors, including
Roy Conrad as Ben,
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...
as the villainous Adrian Ripburger,
Hamilton Camp as the elderly Malcolm Corley, and
Kath Soucie
Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...
as Ben's ally Maureen. It was one of the few LucasArts games to use licensed music, featuring songs by
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
-area
rock band
The Gone Jackals.
Gameplay
''Full Throttle'' is a
single-player video game
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...
in which the player controls the actions of the
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
from a third-person perspective using a
point and click
Point and click are one of the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse or other pointing device (''click''). An example of point and click is in hypermed ...
interface. Players can move the player character to any place on the scene, interact with objects that are highlighted by the cursor, or leave scenes via exits - either on foot for most scenes, or via the character's motorbike, both types denoted by their own icon. As with other LucasArts graphic adventure games of the era, dialogue plays a large part in the game, presenting story elements and information necessary to advance, as well as fleshing out the characters. During conversations with other characters, several choices of dialogue are presented. The currently selected choice is highlighted, and once clicked, the player character responds with the selected choice. Choosing the correct response allows the player to advance the conversation and ultimately advance the scene.
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
Following on from LucasArts' previous graphic adventure, ''
Sam & Max Hit the Road'' (1993), which introduced a new inventory and interaction system to replace those of their prior games, ''Full Throttle'' continued to refine on the changes introduced in ''Sam & Max Hit the Road'': objects or characters with which Ben can interact are indicated by a red square appearing around the cursor's crosshairs when it is placed over the object. When this occurs, holding down the control on this causes a contextual
pie menu to appear - designed upon the emblem of Ben's biker gang: a flaming circle topped by a skull and flanked by a boot and a gloved hand. The player hovers the cursor over elements of the emblem and then releases the mouse button to attempt various interactions with the object; for example, selecting the skull's mouth to speak to a character, its eyes to examine an object, or the hand to pick up, use, or pull the object. Right-clicking anywhere on the screen brings up the player's inventory of collected objects, which can be examined or
dragged and dropped in order to use them with other items in the inventory, or with objects or characters in the scene.
Plot
The last domestic
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
manufacturer in the country is Corley Motors, whose founder and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
, the elderly Malcolm Corley (
Hamilton Camp), is en route to a
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
s meeting at the Corley factory, accompanied by his vice president, Adrian Ripburger (
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...
). Malcolm suspects that Ripburger is scheming to take over the company, and is suspicious of Ripburger's plan to recruit a biker gang to ride with them to the meeting. Malcolm's limousine is overtaken by one such gang, the Polecats, and he is immediately impressed with them. Catching up to them at a
biker bar, he quickly befriends their leader, Ben (
Roy Conrad). Ripburger offers to hire the Polecats to escort Malcolm to the meeting, but when Ben declines, he is knocked out by Ripburger's flunkies, Bolus (
Jack Angel
Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor and radio personality. Angel voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' Super Friends'', '' The Transformers'' and '' G.I. Joe'' and was involve ...
) and Nestor (
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
).
Ben awakens to learn that the Polecats have been duped into escorting Malcolm, and that an ambush is planned for them further up the road. He tries to catch up, but his motorcycle has been sabotaged, resulting in a fiery crash. He is rescued by young photographer Miranda (
Pat Musick) and taken to the town of Melonweed, where he is treated by a mechanic named Maureen (
Kath Soucie
Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...
). Maureen describes how her father taught her about motorcycles, and repairs Ben's bike after he retrieves necessary parts, adding a
booster to it as well. Ben catches up to the Polecats at a
rest area
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names ...
, but is too late: Ripburger murders Malcolm and frames the Polecats for the crime. Miranda manages to catch the murder on film, but her camera is snatched by Bolus. Before dying, Malcolm tells Ben of Ripburger's plan to take over Corley Motors and produce
minivan
Minivan (sometimes called simply a van) is a car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows . The equivalent classification in Europe is MPV (multi-p ...
s instead of motorcycles. He reveals that Maureen is secretly his illegitimate daughter and begs Ben to convince her to take over the company. Bolus tries to kill Maureen, but she gets the drop on him and escapes with the film from Miranda's camera.
With the Polecats jailed for Malcolm's murder, Ben is a fugitive. Miranda tells him about her film, and Ben convinces
semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...
driver Emmet to sneak him and his motorcycle past a police roadblock and to an abandoned
mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
farm where Maureen is hiding. He is stranded there when Emmet steals his motorcycle's
fuel line and Maureen steals his booster fuel. Emmet's truck is blown up by a biker gang called the Cavefish, destroying the bridge over Poyahoga Gorge, which Ben needs to cross. Having replaced his fuel line and gotten advice from the Polecats' former leader, Father Torque (Hamilton Camp), Ben outwits Nestor and Bolus and does battle with members of rival biker gangs in order to acquire hover equipment, booster fuel, and a ramp, with which he is able to jump his motorcycle over the gorge.
Ben locates Maureen, who is a member of rival biker gang the Vultures, at the Vultures' hideout, a large
cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft generally feature one or more large door ...
. Maureen believes Ben killed her father and is about to have him executed, but Ben reveals personal information that Malcolm shared with him and convinces her to develop Miranda's film, which shows that Ripburger was the murderer. Ben suggests exposing Ripburger at the shareholders meeting, but Ripburger has postponed the meeting until he is sure Ben and Maureen are dead. The Vultures come up with a plan to fake Ben and Maureen's deaths by entering them in a
demolition derby
Demolition derby is a type of motorsport, usually presented at county fairs and national events. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their v ...
under false identities that will be obvious to Ripburger. Their cars are rigged to explode, but Ben is protected by a fireproof suit and Maureen's car ejects her safely out of the stadium. The plan works and results in the deaths of Bolus and Nestor, while the Vultures recover the winner's prize: a special motorcycle built by Malcolm and Maureen that contains a hidden pass code to Malcolm's safe, in which Ben finds Malcolm's recorded
will and testament
A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate (law), estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its fi ...
. Ben exposes Ripburger during the shareholders meeting by projecting Miranda's photos of the murder and playing Malcolm's will, in which he leaves leadership of Corley Motors to Maureen and exposes Ripburger as a sham.
Ripburger flees in a semi-trailer truck, but as Ben and Maureen ride away he reappears and rams them. The Vultures arrive driving their flightless cargo plane, which scoops up the truck along with Ben, Maureen, and Ben's bike. The plane and truck wind up hanging precariously over the edge of Poyahoga Gorge, and Ripburger falls to his death. Maureen and the Vultures flee the plane while Ben makes it out at the last second by jumping his bike out the back cargo door just as the truck explodes and it and the plane fall into the gorge. Members of the biker gangs attend Malcolm's funeral, at which Father Torque delivers a
eulogy. Maureen takes over Corley Motors, and despite her desire to remain in touch with Ben, he explains they are now in two different classes and should not associate. Ben leaves and rides his bike into the sunset.
Development
The concept of ''Full Throttle'' originated following the 1993 release of LucasArts’ previous adventure game ''
Day of the Tentacle''.
The company wanted to create a game that could revitalize the genre,
and could offer LucasArts greater financial success than its earlier projects, such as the commercially unsuccessful ''
Monkey Island'' series.
Convening its designers, LucasArts expressed to them the idea and encouraged the staff to suggest potential conceptual avenues for the game.
The company specifically asked ''Day of the Tentacle'' co-designers
Tim Schafer and
Dave Grossman to submit a
design document
A software design description (a.k.a. software design document or SDD; just design document; also Software Design Specification) is a representation of a software design that is to be used for recording design information, addressing various de ...
outlining games that the two planned to develop afterward.
At LucasArts’ request, Schafer and Grossman collaborated to propose prospective third entries in the ''
Monkey Island'' and ''
Maniac Mansion'' series.
However, Schafer was willing to helm a project by himself, and he proceeded to develop concepts separately from Grossman that summer.
''Full Throttle'' was among the five concepts that Schafer submitted to LucasArts;
according to Schafer, he produced "a pitch for a spy game,
a Day of the Dead game, and a biker game" that later evolved into ''Full Throttle''.
Schafer later said that management "hated" the initial pitch, but he revised the design and repitched it with greater success.
''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'' reported that "it was eventually greenlit on Schafer's assurance that it would be a hit", as he felt that its protagonist and concept were "more commercial" than the company's earlier adventures.
According to Schafer, he came up with the idea for ''Full Throttle'' while listening to a traveller's tales about time spent in an
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
n
biker bar. As he listened, it occurred to him that "bikers are kind of like pirates — like another culture that people don't have a window into most of the time, but
hich
Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
has its own rules", and might provide a neat alternative to a fantasy setting. He began his research into biker culture, reading
Hunter S. Thompson's ''
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs''.
The game originally would have featured an interactive sequence where Ben undergoes a
peyote
The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to glisten". p. ...
-induced hallucinogenic
trip. This was eventually cut from the game, because the developers couldn't get it to "work out" with the publisher. The concept eventually became the basis of ''
Psychonauts
''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platformer, platform game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox (console), Xbox and PlayStation 2. Set in a Retrofuturism, retro-futuristic version of t ...
''.
Schafer recalls the reaction from the management at LucasArts as being one of "'We can't believe we paid you to write this'", and that "they hated it".
In an interview with Gamasutra, Schafer said that the biker aesthetics of the game were an appeal to fantasy. He stated that the team was depending "on the
layer'ssecret desire to be a biker: big, tough, cool. Riding a huge hog..."
On the game's setting he noted that often it was mistaken for a
post apocalyptic world, but he clarified that the setting was simply an alternate world which was more desolate than our own.
Developed for
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
with a budget of $1.5 million, ''Full Throttle'' was powered primarily by LucasArts'
SCUMM engine, however elements of the company's
INSANE animation engine, previously used in ''
Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire'', were also implemented so as to allow for improved
full-motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
(FMV).
The game featured completely voiced dialogue, full-motion video, and a digital audio soundtrack. Project leader Schafer also served as the game's writer and designer. ''Full Throttle'' has thus been called Schafer's first "solo" project, leading Schafer to quip, "I did it all on my own with about 30 other people". Production lasted one and a half years, which Schafer considered to be "crazy" for the era.
''Full Throttle'' employed several skilled voice acting professionals, such as
Roy Conrad,
Kath Soucie
Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...
,
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
,
Tress MacNeille
Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...
,
Hamilton Camp,
Steven Jay Blum and
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...
. ''Full Throttle'' was the first computer game to employ mostly
SAG-registered professional voice actors instead of relying on in-house talent, and also featured a few pieces of licensed music. Schafer stated that Conrad's voice was a "huge part of making Ben Throttle a charming character".
It was one of the few LucasArts games to use externally recorded music, courtesy of
The Gone Jackals. Certain tracks from their album, ''
Bone to Pick'', were featured in the game.
Release
''Full Throttle'' was released on May 19, 1995. At the time of its release, LucasArts adventure games were aiming to sell about 100,000 copies; ''Full Throttle'' broke that mark by selling over one million units.
According to ''
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'', it was the very first LucasArts adventure to reach this number.
Reception
At aggregate review website
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
the game received generally favorable reviews,
and has over time become a
cult classic
A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
among adventure games.
Critics generally praised the game's animation, voice acting and soundtrack, but many reviewers felt the game was too short.
A ''
Next Generation'' reviewer called ''Full Throttle'' "the kind of game the Mac was meant for" and "a sheer joy to behold, even if you loathed ''Monkey Island'' with a seething, purple passion". Citing the futuristic setting, "kick-butt" soundtrack, outstanding voice acting, understated humor, and overall cinematic presentation, the reviewer gave it four out of five stars.
''Full Throttle'' later won ''Computer Gaming World''s 1995 Readers' Choice award for "Adventure Game of the Year", although it was not among the editors' nominees.
''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...
s Steve Poole also praised the game's sound, citing both the inclusion of The Gone Jackals' music and the professional voice acting as points of high praise. Poole did note that puzzles can at times be too simple, with an aesthetic of "find item A to use on item B".
Commenting on the game's length, he noted that while short, "it's one wild ride while it lasts".
Bernard H. Yee of ''
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues .
Overview
''PC Mag ...
'' had similar thoughts in his review. He too felt the game was short, but praised the game's cartoon-like animation and visuals, voice acting and soundtrack. He noted that some adventure gamers might "grouse at the action-arcade fight sequences or grumble at the long narrative sequences" but felt that the game was "impressive and attention-grabbing".
''PC Gamer US''s editors later presented the game with a "Special Achievement in Musical Score" award, and argued that it "showed the world that every game can benefit greatly from a good musical score". The editors nominated ''Full Throttle'' as their 1995 "Best Adventure Game", although it lost to ''
Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity''.
Charles Ardai of ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'' felt that the puzzles were not challenging enough compared to similar games of the era. He did note that this was the "ideal starter game" for those players who were not comfortable with more complex and difficult puzzles.
Ardai stated that players experienced in the adventure genre could still enjoy the game by treating it as a "highly interactive movie".
Macworld
''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG.
History
''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...
's Tom Negrino felt that the new pie menu system was a refreshing change to the traditional adventure game interface. He also gave high marks for the lack of a
game over
"Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in ga ...
sequence and noted that any time the player fails a sequence it simply resets. He further praised the game's writing, voice acting and soundtrack.
In a review for
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
Jeffrey Adam called ''Full Throttle'' "arguably LucasArts' finest graphic adventure creation".
Adam did note two flaws in his review. The first is during on-motorcycle action sequences with rival gang members, in which he notes that, even considering an unlimited number of attempts, the sequences relied too much on twitch responses. The second frustration Adam noted was that he felt sometimes he resorted to randomly clicking on whole areas of the screen in hopes of finding a clue. He felt that this method did not allow players to use deductive reasoning.
The game's humor was praised by ''PC Gamer''s Steve Poole for its many LucasFilm and other cultural references. Specifically he cited two ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' references in the game. The first is during the demolition derby sequence in which rival driver is illustrated to look like
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
. The second is during a scene where Ben is talking to the reporter, Miranda. She says "Help me Ben, you're my only hope!", a play on
Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa ( or ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is a princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Galactic Empire (Star Wars ...
's dialogue to
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...
from ''
Star Wars: A New Hope''. Other references found by Poole were nods to the 1964 film ''
Dr. Strangelove'' and the 1993 LucasArts adventure game ''
Sam & Max Hit the Road''.
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' gave the game a B+ and praised the soundtrack, and the humor.
''Full Throttle'' was the second-place finalist for ''
Computer Game Review''s 1995 "Adventure Game of the Year" award, which went to ''
Mission Critical''. The editors noted that "it had wonderful graphics, animation and voice work and the story was good, too".
It was also a finalist for ''
MacUser''s award for the best strategy game of 1995, which went to ''
You Don't Know Jack''.
Legacy
Cancelled sequels
In spring 2000, LucasArts began production of ''Full Throttle 2'', an official sequel to continue the storyline of ''Full Throttle''.
Since Tim Schafer had already left the company at the time,
Larry Ahern, who was involved in the original game's development, was appointed the project lead and
Bill Tiller, the
art director
Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
. The story would have focused on Ben's efforts to foil a plan by a "large corporation" and the local governor to replace all paved highways with hover pads, robbing the bikers and truckers of their traditional ground. In the first half of the game, Ben would have prevented an assassination attempt on Father Torque, who now leads the anti-hovercraft rally, then team up with a "persistent undercover female reporter" to bring down the villainous governor. In Tiller's opinion, the sequel "was going to capture the feel of the first game yet expand upon the
milieu
The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...
".
At the early stages, the project received positive feedback from other LucasArts employees but according to Tiller, it eventually fell apart because of disagreements on the game style between the production team and "a particularly influential person" within the management, which led to a series of "mistakes". The production ceased in November 2000, when 25% of the levels and about 40% of the preproduction art were complete. LucasArts never released an official statement regarding the game cancellation.
Both Ahern and Tiller left LucasArts in 2001, after the game was cancelled.
In mid-2002, LucasArts announced ''Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels'' for Windows and, for the first time,
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
. The game was to be an
action-adventure
An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.
Definition
An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
, with more emphasis on action and fighting than adventure, because the designers wanted the game to feel more physical than the first. ''Hell on Wheels'' would have been set in El Nada, Ben's "old stomping ground", whose roads have been mysteriously destroyed. Ben believes that one of the new gangs introduced in the game, the Hound Dogs, are behind this but soon discovers a more sinister and murderous plot. Together with Father Torque and Maureen, he would have thwarted the unnamed
villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...
's plan and protected "the freedom of the open road".
Sean Clark was named the project lead of ''Hell on Wheels'' and the development progressed smoothly until late 2003, when it was abruptly canceled. Just months prior to that, at
E3 2003, a
playable demo was shown and a
teaser trailer
A teaser trailer, also shortened to teaser, is a short trailer (promotion), trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release film or television show advertisement. Sh ...
was released by LucasArts.
Simon Jeffery (then president of LucasArts) said that "We do not want to disappoint the many fans of ''Full Throttle'', and hope everyone can understand how committed we are to delivering the best-quality gaming experience that we possibly can" in the official press release. Critics cited poor
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
compared to other 3D action adventures of the time and
Tim Schafer's lack of involvement in the project as possible reasons for its cancellation.
Additionally,
Roy Conrad, the original voice actor for Ben, died in 2002.
Critics considered development of new sequels to ''Full Throttle'' unlikely. LucasArts' interest shifted away from the adventure genre in later years, and failure to develop two sequels presumably hindered the possibility of a third. Also, nearly all developers who were involved with the original ''Full Throttle'' in 1995 had since left LucasArts.
LucasArts ceased all internal development in 2013, shortly after their parent company
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
was purchased by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. In a 2017 interview discussing the work on the remaster, Schafer said that he feels that the story of ''Full Throttle'' was essentially complete with the game, and does not envision creating a sequel himself.
''Remastered''
A remastered version of ''Full Throttle'', titled ''Full Throttle Remastered'', was developed by Schafer's
Double Fine Productions for release on
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
OS X
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
,
Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
and
PlayStation Vita
The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...
. The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions are
cross-buy and cross-save. The remastered version was released on April 18, 2017. Like ''
Day of the Tentacle Remastered'' and ''
Grim Fandango Remastered'', the remastered version of ''Full Throttle'' includes updated graphics and sound, improved controls, and developer commentary.
Similarly, the game allows the player to swap between the original graphics and sound with the remastered versions.
The game uses the original voice actors' dialog pulled from the original recordings, with Schafer calling Conrad's voice "irreplaceable". The remastered version premiered at the 2017
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
, where Schafer presented a remaking of a magazine pack-in demo that included recorded lines that had not been included in the full game. Schafer said that fans had been critical of ''Full Throttle''s relatively short length of about eight hours compared to other LucasArts games at the time which could take up to 40 hours. However, as he worked at the remaster, player expectations have changed, and he felt that ''Full Throttle'' would be much better suited at its length in 2017, comparing it to other fully polished, short games like ''
Inside
Inside may refer to:
Film
* ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz
* ''Inside'' (2002 film), a Canadian prison drama film
* ''Inside'' (2006 film), an American thriller film starri ...
''.
A port for the
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...
was released on October 29, 2020.
Potential film adaptation
Duncan Jones
Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (born 30 May 1971) is a British film director, film producer and screenwriter. He directed the films ''Moon'' (2009), ''Source Code'' (2011), '' Warcraft'' (2016), and '' Mute'' (2018). For ''Moon'', he won the BAFT ...
had written a screenplay based on ''Full Throttle'' in 2021, and reached out to fans of the game in 2022 to try to help convince
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
to fund production of the work for the
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
service.
References
Notes
External links
*
*
{{Double Fine Productions
1995 video games
Adventure games
DOS games
IOS games
Linux games
LucasArts games
Classic Mac OS games
MacOS games
Motorcycle video games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation Network games
PlayStation Vita games
Point-and-click adventure games
ScummVM-supported games
SCUMM games
Video games scored by Peter McConnell
Video games developed in the United States
PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games
Single-player video games
Windows games
Xbox One games