Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist is a gallant tip of the ten-gallon hat to the good old days of Sierra Adventure games. Set in the Wild West and starring a bumbling (yet lovable) hero, this game combine action, puzzles, cheap sexual innuendos, outrageously stereotypical characters with pun-tastic names (Sam Andreas? Madame Ovaree?!?), a perky soundtrack, and the expected quota of Sierra inside jokes to create one of the most unique and memorable experiences of my twenty years of being a gamer.
The premise is rather simple: you are a pharmacist in a ramshackle town in the Midwest.
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist is a gallant tip of the ten-gallon hat to the good old days of Sierra Adventure games. Set in the Wild West and starring a bumbling (yet lovable) hero, this game combine action, puzzles, cheap sexual innuendos, outrageously stereotypical characters with pun-tastic names (Sam Andreas? Madame Ovaree?!?), a perky soundtrack, and the expected quota of Sierra inside jokes to create one of the most unique and memorable experiences of my twenty years of being a gamer.
The premise is rather simple: you are a pharmacist in a ramshackle town in the Midwest. It is up to you to expose and fight corrupt townsfolk, rediscover your own history, find friends and allies in the townsfolk (Indians, schoolmarms, bordello madams, and cloddish cowboys) and ultimately
save the town from some bizarre threats and cartoonish baddies. The puzzles are straightforward but not TOO easy. One puzzle requires the use of the manual (which can be found here, thanks to the creator and genius behind the game, Al Lowe).
The graphics of this game are DELIGHTFUL, more cartoon than realism. Even with the advanced graphics and computer animation of more recent games, I find the bright colors and caricatures of FPFP to be real eye candy. The soundtrack boasts some truly entertaining songs (most of which you can hear, jukebox-style, in the saloon.) The music gives the game such a colorful atmosphere, from typical cowboy standard guitar twanging to upbeat saloon ragtime to funny, choppy Asian-influenced tunes. The Ballad at the beginning is delightful (and features a sing-a-long option, just follow the bouncing ball!) The sound effects are icing on the cake... especially the funny little “Scoooore!” that accompanies each raise in the score for Freddy.
One of the strengths in FPFP is the talent they gathered for the talky edition of this game. The voices emphasized the cartoonish quality of the game admirably. I sometimes think that if game developers can’t find GOOD talent or at least people who can do an acceptable job at the material given) for a game with speech, honestly, perhaps they should stick with text only. Nothing ruins an otherwise entertaining game for me than voice actors who slog through dialogue (shout out to Journey to the Center of the Earth, here.) However, Freddy came through yet again, with pleasing voices and actors who were equal to the clever dialogue (my favorite being the narrator. Brilliant.)
Speaking of the dialogue, it is cliche and silly and dryly ironic, and often bordering on the risque. FPFP was obviously Al Lowe’s love child (Al we have to thank for his previous work on King’s Quest and the Leisure Suit Larry series.) While not as blatantly sketchy as Larry, FPFP does feature some funny innuendo, both in commentary and conversation.
Another positive feature of FPFP is that I encountered zero bugs or hangups... the game runs perfectly smoothly. And it adapts well to Windows (when played in 265 colors and 640x480 screen resolution.)
I really can’t think of anything I didn’t like about the game... I have enjoyed since I first played it as a kid... it’s one of the few games I don’t want to get rid of, ever. To me, FPFP brings back the golden age of gaming (because, let’s face it, my heart belonged to Sierra... much as I enjoy modern adventure games, they lack a certain something Sierra adventure games were never without). FPFP can be over and over (and you always find something new and funny with each play.) I give FPFP 5 out of 5 and a place in my personal PC game Hall of Fame.
