 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Her Interactive |
| Publisher: | Her Interactive | |
| Genre: | Adventure | |
| ESRB: | Everyone | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: |
|
|
| Buy Now: |   |
I’ve always loved a good mystery. As a kid I have fond memories of visiting the local library with my parents, and checking out the maximum number of paperback books allowed on each visit. Since the local library had limited stock and often rotated its selection, for a several year period I found myself alternating between both the Choose Your Own Adventure series (another challenge involving figuring things out) and the Hardy Boys series. As far as I know, I literally read every single installment the library stocked in each series, moving on only because I had nothing left to read.
Of course, the Hardy Boys are basically equivalent to Nancy Drew (aside from gender of course), which is why I decided to delve into this game when given the chance. Of course, covering the industry I long ago noticed that the franchise consistently ranks as one of the top sellers, which is an amazing feat considering this is #16 in the series. Her Interactive has basically cornered the market on mysteries aimed at young girls, and it’s not hard to see why after playing this.
This time out, our intrepid sleuth travels to Canada, to attempt to solve the mysteries surrounding Icicle Creek Lodge. There are explosions in the wilderness, the usual assortment of eclectic guests, and an eerie white wolf that shows up at odd times. In true adventure game fashion you’ll point and click your way to the answer(s), interviewing guests, calling various contacts, and finding clues that somehow come together to reveal the secrets behind the lodge’s mysteries.
Your cover is that of a new employee at the lodge, and this gives the game some variety aside from the standard point and click sleuthing. The game runs on a day/night cycle (not real-time), where your duties will include cleaning the rooms in the morning and giving the residents three square meals a day. In the cooking mini-game, you’ll have a preset list of orders to fill, and must add ingredients as requested. Unfortunately this gets a little tedious after a few “days” in the lodge, especially because you can’t actually see each order while cooking. So to prepare a meal, you’ll have to read each of the six orders (initially anyway), then start preparing them while double checking to make sure you’ve prepared things properly. While this does test the player’s memory, it hardly makes for great gameplay when it would’ve been easy enough to simply display all of those orders at the same time (like any real restaurant would).
There are other mini-games of course, including an easy snowball fight, a basic overhead snowmobiling section (similar to SkiFree), a version of Minesweeper that finds you cleaning off a pond, and even an electronic version of Fox & Geese. While these are all simplistic, they are nice diversions for a game aimed at younger players, and don’t feel like throwaway sections since all play a role in the overall storyline in some way.
There are other indications that Her Interactive has refined its craft, as the game has both Junior and Senior detective levels (with or without hints), and there’s no real way to “die” as mistakes simply mean starting over where you left off at. So even though the game is challenging, younger players shouldn’t get too frustrated. I was also pleased to see (especially as a male) that the game doesn’t get too “girly” about things. Sure, the game called me a sassy detective, and I called my boyfriend a few times for advice, but for the majority of the game (aside from Nancy’s voice) my character could’ve easily been a male or a female. I can honestly see pre-teen boys enjoying this game too, despite the protagonist’s gender.
Bottom Line:
Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek is another excellent installment in gaming’s most under the radar juggernaut franchise, and well worth the low MSRP for anyone that simply likes a good mystery. It’s really a mystery anyone can enjoy, although adults will find it too easy even on Senior level.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
|
| 8.0 |
Posted: 2007-07-24 18:33:49 PST