Missing celebrities found in "Les Manley in: Lost in L.A."!

You watch that bay, dude!

After exploring L.A. during my previous game session, I didn't really have a clue as to where to go or what to do next. Thankfully the solution soon presented itself, but also leads me to a big gripe I have about Les Manley in: Lost in L.A.: the fickleness of the walk-icon! Coupled with the fact that I didn't know how to open up the map from my inventory, I often spent some time frantically clicking the borders of my screen to get Les to move to the next screen. This also means that sometimes, I didn't even realize there was a next screen!

Look behind you! A two-headed... No, better not go there...

So after I pretty much accidentally stumbled onto the beach I hadn't yet found earlier, the game took off again with one thing leading to another. Since I'd already done most of my other exploring, I quickly figured out where to go next this time, and I could finally enter the mud-wrestling club as well, which led to a cutscene consisting of a series of still shots of bikini- and lingerie-clad women, immediately making obvious this game's notoriety.

So this was the hideout all along?! Would never have guessed!

Next up it was straight gaming into the finale, though not without a couple of reloads because I had missed some things and found myself in a soft lock, though thankfully not as many as in the first game. By now I must confess the game had grown on me a bit. Yes, it's cheesy as hell, and you don't want to ignore Les's touch-icon, especially near the end. And yes, there were even some genuinely funny moments. Though only some absurd ones that only seem to exist as an excuse to hand Les an inventory item he will need to tackle some obstacle later on.

I don't think Les is in for a nice massage...

After almost three hours of gaming, I reached the end, which was much faster than I had antipicated. Truth be told, I expected to get stuck a lot more times, similar to the first game. Instead, there were enough clues to keep you going, and even when I encountered a game-over screen, the text shown would give a suggestion on what I should better think of the next time. Not really giving away the solution but at least making you aware that you're still missing something and thus nudging you in the right direction.

I wouldn't really go that far, personally...

In the end, I enjoyed this game a lot more than the first game, but of course I was pre-warned how terrible it would be. So with very low expectations, I can certainly say it was indeed an improvement, but perhaps too silly a story and also too 1991 to pass not only today's standards but also today's morals and values (though sometimes reading the news and watching TV I do doubt if things have rilly changed that much since then...)

Next up I'll play a more modern game again - though it's almost twenty years old as well by now! - about a female vampire, since there's a sequel in the works...

You can find Les Manley in: Lost in L.A. on Steam and on GOG!