In Gold Rush!, Jerrod Wilson (the player) receives a letter from his long-lost brother (who fled the city years before when was hastily accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit) asking him to join in Sacramento, California. If that's not enough for Jerrod sell everything and give his hometown Brooklyn a fond adieu, under the stamp was one of the first nuggets of Californian gold seen in the Atlantic shores of the United States. So, Jerrod bids farewell to his peaceful life as a newspaper editor, and becomes a fore-runner in the the great Gold Rush of 1849, hoping to find his brother and "strike gold" (literally).
Released late into the lifespan of Sierra's AGI engine, Gold Rush! features some tricks not seen before the more advanced SCI engine, such as enlarged characters, but it is best known for the three routes available to reach California: by land, travel by boat to reach the Atlantic shore of Panama, cross the isthmus, and then get a second boat in the Pacific shore, or making the dangerous all-boat trip by Cape Horn. Each route has it's dangers: Cholera might strike as you make your way across the Northern states or your boat might sink.. As usual with Sierra adventures, instant killing happens if the player is careless, but will also happen at random. Other important (and innovative) concept is the game being timed. If Jerrod takes too long to leave Brooklyn, passages to California increase in price, and his house devalues.
Even though Sierra made Gold Rush back in 1988, it's still a classic I really wish they'd make a sequel to. The storyline is fresh and interesting and seems like a Monkey Island in the Old West or even an older version of Sierra's later western game, Freddy Pharkas.
The story follows the misadventures of a city slicker named Jerrod Wilson. A journalist for a Brooklyn newspaper, Jerrod's main goal in life is to go to California and find his long-lost brother who has been accused of a crime he didn't commit. Jerrod also hopes to find gold, become rich, and settle down with the lady of his dreams. It is up to you to help Jerrod accomplish his goals. He'll face many dangers in the Old West, so keep on your toes in order to protect him from danger. The game contains three different paths, but you'll have to find them for yourself as I don't want to spoil the game for you.
Game play is the same as all of Sierra's adventure games of the time. Examples include Space Quest, The Colonel's Bequest, and Quest for Glory. Use the arrow keys to move the character around; type ‘get' to get, ‘look' to look, etc; and use TAB to bring up the inventory. But beware, because like many Sierra games there are many ways to die. I recommend you save before doing something, so you get to see every hilarious dying scene. They are quite worth watching.
Puzzles are complex and difficult, but I always found that this was the best part of Sierra's games. Music and sound in the game are pretty good and give it an authentic Wild West feel.
I highly recommend this game to those who like Sierra games or any of the old adventure games.
Another fine Sierra adventure game, this time in the wildwest. This game starts off during the great gold rush in California. You're a young guy, named Jerrod who has a good job, a satisfied boss and a nice house. However, you still are determined to go look for gold in California. There's a man in town who sells boat tickets to go to California at the prices of 650 and 900 dollars. But this is an adventure, so you've already guessed it, you have only 15 dollars!
Well, it's up to you to find out how to get in California and maybe you can fullfill his wish to see his brother Jake again. That would be great, wouldn't it? Re-uniting 2 computer game characters! How touching...
Anyway, the graphics are not really special, just the basic graphics for a game of its time, gameplay is fine, sounds are, well, annoying and the addictivity is more that average.
It's quite an interesting plot to play and I must say, you can replay it. Maybe not immediatly, but due to the fact that you can walk around the world freely without alot of restrictions, it's quite a good game for its time. The choices you make affect the game in total, giving you new gameplay when playing the game differently. Maybe up to 3 or 4 times. This makes the game very unique. I recommend this one or at least I suggest that you try this one out!
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
People who downloaded Goldrush have also downloaded:
Final Fantasy VIII, Future Wars, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Ishar 1, Icewind Dale, Police Quest 1: VGA remake, Geneforge, God of Thunder
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