Gold Rush - Sierra On-Line RRP œ24.99

Gold Rush! tries to capture the hardship and adventure of 
California in 1848-49. You take the part of Jerrod Wilson, an 
East Coast city slicker, seeking fame and fortune. With your 
parents dead and your brother missing, you spend the early part 
of the game selling your Brooklyn home and preparing to head 
west.
 
There were, historically, three ways to get from the East Coast 
of America to the West in 1848, each with it's own set of 
perils. In the first fourteen minutes of Gold Rush!, you have 
to decide if you will attempt to make the treacherous journey 
overland, the long boat trip south around Cape Horn, or the 
shorter, but possibly even more dangerous trip to Panama and 
across the isthmus - that's a narrow strip of land between two 
larger land masses, folks!!
 
If you elect to take the overland route, careful timimg is 
required to ensure that there will be plenty of grass on the 
plains to feed your animals. Hazards include steep mountainous 
terrain, long treks through the desert and, of course, Indians. 
The ocean trips take less personal planning, but you may be 
overcome by disease or storm as you sail the world's most 
menacing waters. You may even face food and water shortages 
before the long voyage is over.
 
If you decide on the shorter trip through Panama, there are 
natives and wild animals to worry about, not to mention 
quicksand and cholera. The choice of travel modes makes Gold 
Rush! almost three completely different adventures in one. I 
would advise you to take a shot at all of them just to 
experience the joy of dying in all it's myriad forms!!
 
One way or another, your travels should end at John Sutter's 
Fort. Once you reach the fort, you can search for clues to your 
brother's whereabouts, picking up gold along the way.
 
This is probably the last Sierra adventure you will see that 
was developed with the old AGI (Adventure Game Interpretor) 
system, used in the development of King's Quests 1,2 & 3. Since 
the release of King's Quest 4, we have seen the impressive 
results of SCI (Sierra Creative Interpretor), that gives 
double-resolution graphics and enhanced sound and music.
 
As Gold Rush! has been under development for some time, it did 
not make economic sense to go back and re-do it with the new 
system. At first, I anticipated disappointment with regards to 
graphics and sound, but I was pleasantly surprised. Even though 
the resolution is clearly no match for SCI, the graphics are 
quite good. There is an almost excessive amount of spot 
animation, such as people and carts making their daily rounds 
in your home town, and the bustle of the little townsfolk when 
you reach Sacramento. Keep an eye out for other miners as you 
head out from Sutter's Fort, for they are liable to hang claim 
jumpers out there!
 
Musical sound is also adequate; each time your score advances, 
a few bars of 'Oh Susannah' are played, and you will hear 
'Anchors Away' as you pull out of port. There are a couple of 
other musical interludes and several effects, but sound is 
generally rare.
 
Gold Rush! does have some serious weaknesses. The first is the 
tedious nature of all three of the trips to the West Coast of 
America. There is an attempt to spice it up a little by 
breaking each of these long automated sequences into smaller 
segments, and by giving a running narrative of the hazards of 
the trip. Each of these segments is separated by mini-
adventures that you have to actually control, but they are 
short and few.
 
In California, gold is found an ounce at a time, and there are 
50 ounces to locate, with the closest being at least nine miles 
(screens) away from the fort. However, you only need a few 
hundred dollars in gold to buy some supplies (the rest is there 
for people who enjoy the thrill of discovery), and some screens 
offer up to five gold strikes, which speeds up the process 
quite a bit and emulates life, since gold wasn't just lying 
everywhere for the taking, even if it seemed like it!
 
Another personal criticism, being a mapping buff, is the wierd 
layout of some areas. Around Fort Sutter, you might walk off 
the screen going north. But when the new one is displayed, you 
find yourself going south, or even east! This was obviously 
done to increase the number of locations that could be squeezed 
into the fort, unfortunately, it just serves to confuse.
 
Included in the game packaging is a 90-page historical textbook 
entitled 'California Gold'. The primary reason for this is copy 
protection. When the game is first run you will be asked a 
question and directed to the section of the book where the 
answer can be found. Copy protection is always a bit of a pain, 
but in this case it is almost palatable because the question 
and answer is always interesting.
 
As usual, the Sierra sense of humour is never far away; answer 
the questions wrongly and you'll be presented with the 
hangman's noose! You don't have to read the book to play the 
game, but it conceals a few small hints that might make things 
easier. It is, however, very interesting reading and increases 
the eduational value of the game considerably.
 
In conclusion, I would expect avid players of Sierra's games 
will not want to miss this one. As an educational value it is a 
clear success, even though it can be frustrating and tedious in 
places.
 
                                       John