Nancy Drew has been a legacy of mystery, murder, intrigue and suspense for decades. I first began to read the series when I was in grade school, and every book was a treasure to me. When I was told that I had the opportunity to review a Nancy Drew game, I could almost feel the sleuthing bug tickling my brain. This game is by Her Interactive and is provided by Brighter Minds Media.

Once the game arrived, the first thing that struck me was the artistry. The cover is dark and ill boding, featuring a cowled figure on a backdrop of the manor. The box is enormous, about the size of a large three ring binder. Opening the box I found that the inside contained an enormous plastic tray and a tiny DVD case with the game, which fits on one disc. The sheer waste, all that packaging for one disc, appalled the recycler in me.

I played the game using my Playstation 2 slim, a Playstation memory card and controller. If you play it using your PS2, be aware of what controls you need to use, or else you’ll wind up doing what I did: restarting your game on accident four or five times during the course of play. Also, if you’ve never played the Nancy Drew DVD/PC games before, when you start this game, set it to “junior” mode. You will thank me later.

The main menu is the first view you’ll get of the graphics quality of the game, which is generally above average. You’ve got several options available:

New Game: Start the adventure!

Load Game: Periodically through the game you’ll be given passwords.
Write them down and use them in this option to pick up where you left off!

“Second Chance”: This option fixes major mistakes you may have made along the way.

Credits/Overview: Pretty self-explanatory, and not essential to game play.

I started play as a junior detective, which gives five ‘jokers’ (hints) to use as you go through the game. These hints are used in puzzle mode. If you begin the game in “senior” mode, you only receive three hints.

The true game begins when you’re dropped off at Blackmoor Manor and Nancy reads her letter to Ned (her boyfriend) telling you the history so far as she knows it of this case.

Movement in the game is slow, each step or change in direction requires a key press and takes a few seconds so be sure you’re patient. Most of the time spent playing will be spent waiting for Nancy to take a step, turn the proper direction, or figuring out exactly where to position Nancy to allow you to turn a certain way.

My excitement waned as hours drug on, game play became somewhat repetitious as I completed puzzles to get icons and exhausted my list of dialogue options to incite story advancement. I played long enough to get the fourth “key” and then lost interest in playing further, as I realized how long I’d been playing merely to get to that point in the story.

The Nancy Drew fan in me screamed to finish the game, and I probably will… someday. For today however, I will make the following suggestion:

If you are a Nancy Drew fan over the age of 12, I suggest you play this game in short sessions to keep the interest alive. Players under the age of twelve may find a good deal of entertainment playing the game for as long as they wish.

On a scale of one to ten, this veteran of Nancy Drew’s mystery world gives Curse of Blackmoor Manor a four.

Rating:

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