Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist

Sierra, looking at the interviews from people that worked there, seemed to be a very collaborative environment where a programmer/designer usually had a small credited piece in an adventure before jumping onto a personal project. Josh Mandel had already been working on a number of Sierra games, most famously the great edutainment title Pepper's Adventures in Time (that one co designed by Gabriel Knight's Jane Jensen, Eco Quest's Gano Haine and Puzzle of Flesh's Lorelei Shannon), and he would jump to the problematic Space Quest 6 and the wonderful Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, but for this one he joined with one of the better and, after all, most overlooked of the puzzle designers in adventures, Al Lowe. Both have a similar sense of humour, both love bad jokes, both love their settings and their characters, and both are generous with the descriptions. That is what makes Freddy Pharkas so charming. Not only it is one of the few western adventure games out there (to me, the better one), but it has a team that really love what they are doing and are overflowing with ideas, jokes and pure love. The very western tropes are everywhere (though mostly it is a kind of adventure remake of, yes, Blazing Saddles, including toilet humour), and when you get to the expected High Noon finale you are completely engaged with what you have been told. The puzzle design is excellent, except a couple of situations that depend on the copy protection, the music is wonderful, everything looks great, and everything, just everything, has a description. It's a game where you try everything with everything just to get the unique response from the narrator (who is probably Al Lowe himself). It's like what Gaiman and Pratchett did in "Good Omens", but in a game. It is one of my favourites. Just another advice: play the floppy version. The CD one lacks a lot of the very well written text.

If you like the style of humor from the early Leisure Suit Larry games but you want it less overtly adult and set in a Western setting, this is the game for you.

I was a fan of Leisure Suit Larry long before I should've been a fan of Leisure Suit Larry, and I was in good company if this game is any example. Rather than continue with the adult-themed comedies Al Lowe and Sierra Games released this delightful, adventure comedy that's both engrosing and kid-friendly. Sort of. Okay, maybe all the sheep jokes flew over my head when I was young, but that being said this remains a touchstone of comic storytelling from the golden age of adventure gaming. And I personally say thank-you to GOG for tracking it down. It was the first and only game I requested from them when I first heard about their service (they made no promises at the time but came through for me all the same).

'Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist' is a hidden gem among Sierra's adventure game catalogue. It never quite caught on like the 'Quest' games did, including 'Leisure Suit Larry', even though it was co-written by Al Lowe himself. In fact, after 'Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail', I would say 'Freddy Pharkas' is my favourite Al Lowe game. 'Freddy Pharkas' is easy and short compared to its Sierra adventure game counterparts, but it is no less fun. In fact, the puzzles are mostly logical, though the last act can be outlandish and more action oriented. Overall, it is a good western parody with puzzles that are fresh and well implemented in the world of 'Freddy Pharkas'. It's a shame that this game never got a sequel that it so well deserves.