Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch is a 1999 video game and the fourth of five adventure games in the Freddi Fish series of games. It was developed and published by Humongous Entertainment.
Plot
Freddi and Luther are on their way to Calico Ranch in Briny Gulch to meet Freddi's cousin, Calico Catfish, who agreed to teach them to raise hogfish. When they arrive, Cousin Calico tells them her hogfish herd has been rustled and that she couldn't call the authorities as the Sheriff supposedly went out of town. Freddi and Luther offer to help find the hogfish and catch the rustlers.
After entering the Town square, the two meet Saltwater Stella, the owner and operator of the local "sodaloon" and ask her if she saw anything suspicious. She tells them that two suspicious-looking fish had entered the sodaloon the other day. While investigating, Luther finds a note dropped under the table where the rustlers sat, which mentions a meeting at the Rusty Rustler, a local shipwreck, at High Tide.
When Freddi and Luther arrive at the wreck, they enter the combination code from the note to the hatch entrance and succeed to pry it open. Freddi hears the hogfish grunting from inside, but a slim fish named Goby starts guarding the hideout and, after Freddi and Luther attempt to enter, tells them that only rustlers are allowed in the hideout and that they need a colored hat, a kind of neckwear, and a belt buckle with a certain letter on it to qualify as rustlers. Using the magazine advertisement the rustler gave them, Freddi and Luther then set out to find materials for making a rustler disguise.
As Freddi and Luther find all the materials for their disguise, another rustler named Moray is shown having a difficult time dealing with the hogfish, who refuse to cooperate; he keeps threatening to call somebody called "Mr. Big" (who is later revealed to have planned the rustling). Moray later confides in Goby about his problems with the hogfish and reminds him not to let any non-rustlers in the hideout.
Once Freddi and Luther have all the necessary materials for their rustler costume, they head back to the Rusty Rustler and Luther manages to fit inside Freddi's hat to avoid getting caught. Goby falls for the duo's disguise and allows them to enter, but after Luther pops out of the disguise, he and Freddi are caught by Moray, who locks them up in a prison cell and calls Mr. Big to decide what should be done with them.
In their cell, Freddi and Luther discover a door underneath a bunch of cannonballs, which leads them to the hogfish's cell. They meet one of the hogfish named Gruntle, who explains that they have tried to break the handlebars on their window, which are slightly loose. A certain object is also found in the cell, which gives a clue to who Mr. Big is. Escaping through a hole in the cell and exploring around the wreck, Freddi and Luther discover an anchor and a hook, attach the hook onto the anchor's chain, secure the hook and chain onto the handlebars, and lower the anchor so that the handlebars can be pulled off, allowing the hogfish to escape and return home.
When Goby and Moray return to find the hogfish leaving, the Sheriff and townsfolk arrive and Freddi and Gruntle explain to everyone about Mr. Big, with the former having deduced who Mr. Big is due to the clue in the hogfish's cell, as well as the suspicious actions of him. Once the rustler is exposed, he explains the whole reason why he committed the theft and Freddi gives a speech on why nobody should take anything that does not belong to them. Goby and Moray then apologetically admit that they only wanted to be hogfish ranchers and not rustlers. Hearing this, Calico decides to hire Goby and Moray, along with Mr. Big, as assistant hogfish ranchers and finally begins teaching Freddi and Luther how to be ranchers as well.
Gameplay
The game uses the same principles as its predecessors, but similar to the third game, it has multiple endings on who the main culprit is based on evidence Freddi and Luther find. There are four possible suspects, and each one has a different reason for stealing the hogfish. These are Eight Finger Phil, Nelson Torso, Sahara Slim and Gill Barker (from the previous game) and they have different reasons for planning the rustling.
Reception
Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch was generally well-received, getting scores of 85% from GameBlitz, 93% from Gamer's Pulse, 4.5 out of 5 stars from Review Corner, 4.5 out of 5 stars from Metzomagic and Unikgamer gave a 6.5 out 10 score. Review Corner also gave this game the Award of Excellence.