[Vel]

Introduction. One of the best, but underrated sierra games is undoubtfully Gold Rush. It is my personal favourite AGI game,and in this review I will try to describe why.

Plot. 1848. The Gold Rush to California attracts millions of people worldwide. The main character, Jerrod, is currently living in Brooklyn. One day, he receives a letter from his brother Jake, who he has not seen in years, to come to him in California. So your goal is 1) to get there 2) to find Jake. The plot of Gold Rush is incredibly enjoyable and interesting. It keeps you playing till the end.

Graphics and audio. Well, Gold Rush is an AGI game, which means EGA 160*100. You just cant make the best graphics using this engine, but they are also the best for this configuration. The animation is immense and smooth. Overall, even today the graphics do not look bad. As for sound, it uses your PC speaker.

Gameplay. The most innovative part of Gold Rush is without a doubt its gameplay. For example, there are three ways to get to California(Ever wondered where that three-path idea in FoA came from?), and each is completely different. The puzzles are the best in an AGI game - they are neither too easy nor too hard; another point for the puzzles is that many of them are optional and have alternative solutions. Throughout the game, you get to dig and pan for gold, choose when the coach to California to head west, considering the weather changes throughout seasons, climb ledges... I think that this proves that the puzzles are varied. I also may assure you that they are very enjoyable and satisfying. As for the interface, it is the standard AGI parser one.

Conclusion. Gold Rush is my favourite AGI game. The only reason that it did not become a classic is that it was released in 1988 - and it also was one of the very last AGI games(maybe even the last). A year later, King's Quest IV was released - it used the new SCI0 engine, supporting 320*200 and MIDI music. Nevertheless, Gold Rush has everything needed for a timeless game - interesting and involving plot, a great atmosphere and intriguing puzzles. It is a pity that it is not as widely known as Early King's Quest and Space Quest game, and thus, was left the only one of its series.

[Lagomorph]

It's nice to see a review of a game that's not usually discussed. I've always thought Gold Rush looked like an interesting game. Hopefully I'll get to play it some day.

[Leonardi]

I think Gold Rush was good for its time, but it has some flaws that make it unbearable nowadays. I say this because I''m playing through it right now and I noticed several parts of it where you are doomed to be stuck forever if you do something wrong. I hate when adventure games make it impossible for you to advance if you forgot a key item that is no longer possible to obtain, and Gold Rush is full of this.

That aside, I do agree the story is great, even if the interface has some problems.

[Deshrill]

Leonardi, a lot of old games had parts where you could get stuck and were screwed, having to start over... As annoying as it is in those older Sierra games, it's not nearly as annoying as the old text adventures where you were dropped in a scenario with little idea of what to do.

[Leonardi]

Originally Posted by Deshrill

Leonardi, a lot of old games had parts where you could get stuck and were screwed, having to start over... As annoying as it is in those older Sierra games, it's not nearly as annoying as the old text adventures where you were dropped in a scenario with little idea of what to do.

I agree with you, and I can bear with the "you are stuck forever because you failed to do something much earlier" in old games. I just mentioned this kind of thing is unnaceptable in today's adventures.

[Deshrill]

I agree with you, and I can bear with the "you are stuck forever because you failed to do something much earlier" in old games. I just mentioned this kind of thing is unnaceptable in today's adventures.

Point taken, Leonardi.

However, you could still have the "you are screwed because you forgot one tiny item back in Chapter One" part in a modern adventure game if you wanted that old-school flavor.