The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition (Surveyor)

I try to show off as many FMVs as I can along the way. I did finish with a good score, which is measured by acreage in this game. I named my character after the true stars of the Oregon Trail series- Death N' Disease. This is the "Beginner" difficulty, but I don't know if that played a part in my zero mortality rate or not. However, it definitely does affect my starting cash. Austin Billings, Jeff Goldsmith, Sally Goldsmith, and Casey O'Neill are my party members.

I'm quite impressed with how they wrote Austin Billings. Considering the minimalist script, they gave a fairly good image of how slavery played out in the era, and not with the guilt tripping people they usually like to do with the narratives. Togba Norris gave an excellent playful performance, while not dumbing it down for the intended audience. The character at least has some depth (albeit limited), though when compared to the one-dimensional nature of most of the other characters, it's a fresh breath of air to have one in 2D.

Even the Native Americans are better written in this version- without the "YOU did this to us" and more of show of how they got a raw deal (though I didn't get it during this playthrough, since conversations are a little bit on the randomized side). At least they're not like the "I'm happy to let you drive us from our land, here's some free fruit, you cursed white devil" types from previous games in the series.

That's not to say I don't have my problems with the writing and research. They try placing the blame for the Donner Party incident on the people involved more than the weather- especially with the newspaper guy ranting about Lansford Hastings. Even the bit where the old guy says they started in late summer was totally inaccurate- the Donner-Reed Party left Independence on May 10th. At least they got the cannibalism part right, and put the right tone on it.

There's also a bit of inaccuracy dealing with the Whitman Massacre, making it sound more like it was the Whitmans' fault than it actually was. They didn't bring the disease with them- other pioneers travelling the trail did. At least they leave you to draw your own conclusion about the Whitmans' attempt at converting the Natives to Christianity. I guess it's OK they left out some of the real complexities of the cause/effect with the incident, considering younger kids are the target audience. But I still wish they would've got their info right on the bits they did share.