Freddi Fish 4: The Case of the Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch

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 invited by Freddi's cousin, Calico Catfish, to visit her hogfish ranch set in a western-themed town called "Briny Gulch". Upon arriving at the ranch, Freddi and Luther learn that Calico's hogfish herd was rustled. Since Briny Gulch's Sheriff Shrimp is absent, Freddi and Luther offer to find and capture the rustlers.

Freddi and Luther enter a bar, where they discover a note, which mentions a meeting at a shipwreck called the Rusty Rustler, as well as a lock combination in order to enter. Once Freddi and Luther arrive at the shipwreck and enter the combination, they meet one of the rustlers named Goby, who refuses to allow the two to pass as they lack the clothing to qualify as a rustler, prompting the duo to search for materials in order to disguise themselves as one. Meanwhile, another rustler named Moray struggles to take care of Calico's hogfish, who refuse to cooperate; he keeps threatening to call someone named "Mr. Big".

After obtaining the right kinds of clothing for their disguise, Freddi and Luther return to the Rusty Rustler, where they manage to fool Goby into allowing them to enter but are discovered by Moray, who locks them in a prison cell and calls Mr. Big to decide what to do with them. Freddi and Luther soon realize that their jail cell is just above the hogfish's cell, where they discover a clue to Mr. Big's identity and free the hogfish by attaching a chain and anchor to the window's handlebars. Afterwards, the townsfolk, led by the recently rescued Sheriff Shrimp, arrive at the Rusty Rustler, where Freddi exposes Mr. Big's identity. After Goby and Moray express their desire to be hogfish ranchers, Calico hires the two, along with Mr. Big, as assistant ranchers.

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: Eight Finger Phil, Nelson Torso, Sahara Slim and Gill Barker (returning from the previous game), and each one has a different reason for stealing the hogfish.

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.

During the year 2001 alone, Freddi Fish 4 sold 65,106 retail units in North America, according to PC Data.