Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist

"Comedy + Adventure + Al Lowe = Genius"

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist is by far one of the best, most unique, adventure games I have ever played. I enjoyed it from start to finish, and I enjoyed every aspect of it. It was created by the same man who birthed the adventure game icon Leisure Suit Larry. Though, I wish he would have done Freddy the courtesy of at least one sequel in comparison to Larry's 7 game series (yes, I know there wasn't a Larry 4, but there was the casino to make up for it.) The idea of the game is that you are Freddy, a one-time bad-ass cowboy, who put down his guns, moved to a new town, and set up shop as a pharmacist. The earlier part of the game involves conjuring up remedies for the townspeople's ailments and what have you. But you soon find yourself in a plot of being run out of town, along with the rest of the businesses. So you set out to fix a wrong, and maybe win the heart of a school marm. Filled with some of the crude humor you'd expect from the guy who's claim to fame is a series of games in which you try to get laid, you'll find this game to be funnier, but in a more tasteful way, then the Larry series.

The most important feature in any adventure game is it's puzzles. If you can breeze through without having to think for a minute of how to get around something, then the game is going to get boring, fast. If it's so hard that you can't seem to last five minutes without running to a walkthrough, it get's frustrating, and with the constant aid of a walkthrough it might as well be a super easy game. That's probably why I liked this one so much. It found a nice happy medium, in which you had to scratch your head, and do some good old fashioned thinking, but never to the point that you crushed your mouse under an enraged fist. Some of the puzzles were too easy, some were a little hard, but for the most part, they were there to show you what potential your brain has. It makes you feel good when you figure something out by yourself, as such, this game makes you feel good.

Another key element is the story line, and for Pharkas, it doesn't falter. You'll enjoy a love story, a friendship, and a sinister plot hatched by a mysterious madman. And if that wasn't enough to keep you clicking, it's filled with some of the funniest dialog I've seen in an adventure game. One of my favorite jokes, is when you try to TAKE a picture of a 'naked kitten' it says ''You won't be needing any kitty porn.'' That's just one example, and the game is filled to the brim with one liners like that.

The graphics aren't too revolutionary, but given the period it was released, and the size of the game (remember it had to be loaded from floppy disks) I think this game looks really nice. I can usually tell what I'm looking at, unless it's particularly small. The game would have been a little more pleasing with something better than the midi soundtrack it came with. But again, that's most likely due to size limitations. And, I suppose, for midi, it sounds pretty good.

As far as gameplay goes it's pretty much dead on. I mean what more can you expect for a point and click adventure game then to move your mouse around, point, and click, right? It works well, and makes for plenty of hidden jokes. I really respect these types of games, and it's a shame there aren't more of them. It seems nobody has time for a game that actually requires you to think these days, it's all about fast shooting and blasting through levels as fast as possible. It's pretty basic gameplay though, in that you have an inventory, in which you hold things you pick up. Later you use those things, usually in conjunction with multiple items, to solve a puzzle to advance further in the game. This game has a pretty neat way to deter people from pirating it though, as for some of the puzzles, mainly I speak of the ones involving the pharmaceuticals, you will need the book the game comes with, which includes symptoms, and remedies, as well as instructions to produce them. Without that book it would be near impossible to figure out on your own, plus it gets you involved in the game a little more, since you physically look through the book yourself.

The replay value on this will only have value for those who are obsessive about doing everything that can be done. It is very easy to get through this game with a score lower than 999, which is the maximum. So for those out there that wouldn't be satisfied unless they get the highest score possible I'm sure they'd want to go through it again and again. I've probably played through this game about 4 or 5 times, a couple with a score of 999. It's a nice game to pick up every now and then and run through in a day or so, after you've beaten once. But for the most part, the game will be the same, as that's just how it is with adventure games. It is fun enough, to me, that I wouldn't get bored with it playing it every few months or so.

All in all this game is entertaining, which is what any game is supposed to be. I don't think there are nearly enough adventure games out there, and this one ranks up in the top games in it's genre for me. Without much competition that's saying a lot. I guess you won't be satisfied without some scoring so here goes:

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 6/10
Controls: 10/10
Story: 9/10
Replay: 8/10
Overall: 9/10 (8.2 average rounded up with my curve)

Worthy of a purchase? If you can find it, buy it! You won't regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/02, Updated 02/11/02