Nancy Drew #1: Secrets Can Kill

The Nancy Drew book series is classic and instantly recognizable. When I was younger, I read most of the original books written by Carolyn Keene (not the revamped ones by Simon & Schuster): the spunky girl detective is a role model for all readers.

So when HerInteractive (whose logo "For Girls Who Aren't Afraid of a [Computer] Mouse" strikes the right chord with yours truly) released a first-person computer game based on this series, I eagerly bought it and prepared myself for a trip down memory lane.

CD cover

Note: HerInteractive recently released a "Remastered" version of this game. My review is for the original, should you be tempted to purchase this over the Remastered copy.


Contents: Cast of Characters     Box Summary     The Good     The Bad     And The Stunning     Verdict    


Cast of Characters
The investigator:
Nancy Drew: Our heroine, whose innate curiosity and unyielding determination to discover the truth may deliver right into the hands of a merciless killer...

The victim: 
Jake Rogers: A high school student found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs...

The suspects:
Connie Watson: An aggressive but otherwise seemingly normal student... what is she concealing about her relationship with Jake?

Hal Tanaka: A Japanese foreign exchange student studying to be a doctor... why is he so politely disinterested in the crime given how well he knew Jake?

Hector Sanchez: A stereotypical jock loved by the ladies... does he really think he can charm Nancy into not learning his dark secret, a secret he may have killed Jake to protect?

Daryl Gray: A pretty boy with wealthy parents, who drives a Porsche and works at a local diner... he was the first to find Jake's body, but was he also the last to see Jake alive?

top


Box Summary
    A family visit throws you, as Nancy Drew, into the scene of a crime that happened only last night. Jake Rogers is dead, and a secret died with him--or did it? Roll up your sleeves and dig into an engrossing, 3-D interactive mystery that's full of places to explore, puzzles to solve, suspects to question and evidence to evaluate. A wily killer may still be on the loose...so keep your wits about you!

top


The Good
   This game relies solely on first-person perspective to deliver a personal feel to an all-inclusive audience. It doesn't matter if you are a girl or a guy playing because you aren't locked in to a specific body image. As verbal interaction is only part of the game, Nancy's voice is not a distancing drawback. (The option exists to mute sound and follow along with the ever-present subtitles). It feels like I am performing the investigation, not Nancy Drew.

   Built-in hint systems are always a favorable aspect of any game: they save time and minimize hassle when searching the Internet for a spoiler-free walkthrough. This game utilizes a rather clever hint system: I can telephone either of Nancy's friends, Bess or George, or her boyfriend Ned when I am stuck. This fleshes out the background and adds a realistic dimension: after all, whenever I need help I make a quick phone call to family or friends. It also lessens the impact of Nancy's obnoxious "know-it-all" character trait.

   If you also appreciate the option of several difficulty levels, then this game may appeal you. I can choose from Junior, Senior, or Master Detective. As I climb the ranks, puzzles increase in difficulty (see screenshots below) and hints are more vague. For example, the hint in Junior Detective level that tells me exactly where I can find the safe combination simply says in Master Detective level, "How is your Aunt Eloise? Her house is so beautiful" (Nancy is staying at her Aunt Eloise's house for the course of the investigation; Aunt Eloise is a librarian at the high school where Jake was found dead). 

Junior Detective Level Puzzle

Master Detective Level Puzzle

I appreciate that I can choose whether I want a relaxing game to enjoy or a real challenge. 

    The inventory is small, which assists with organization and minimizes pixel hunting. The images of collected objects appear in the lower right box of the screen (as you can see in the Junior Detective Level Puzzle screenshot above), and though it is easy to see what they are, it would be nice to have a mouse hover label for similar items (for when I have two keys, for instance).

    Controls are intuitive. The cursor is cleverly a magnifying glass when searching a screen. It turns either blue for advancement to the next screen or red for hotspot activation. When choosing dialogue interactions or selecting inventory items, it is the usual arrow. Buttons such as menu options are clearly labeled and easy to manipulate. The developers definitely recognized their audience as younger teens who don't want a complex  interface. Unfortunately there are only seven save game slots, but I can type in whatever title I want for quickly-understood chronology.

    Sometimes it is frustrating when I have to re-enter a combination on a door or safe, but that just adds a level of realism to the game and highlights Nancy's appreciable safety-consciousness. Most people lock doors and safes after use. Details in the environment add a certain charm to the game, too. Aunt Eloise's home has a homey feel, complete with personal photos and a flower motif. The high school library contains all the accessories one would expect: globe, pens in a cup holder, a memorial plaque on the back wall. I can also call phone numbers (such as the local pizza place or Judo club) and get answering machines, which is a nice touch, though it would have been more fun to be able to order a pizza or sign up for Judo classes.

Aunt Eloise's Living Room

The High School Library

top


The Bad
    A knowledgeable detective has in her repertoire skills beyond the average citizen. But for us detectives-in-training, it is unreasonable to expect immediate recall of uncommon facts. In two separate instances I am expected to know Morse code and Braille in order to solve problems. The game does not even provide any help with that: the library contains books on common Judo throws, handwriting analysis, and sign language (none of which are relevant to the game, I may add) but nothing on Morse code or Braille. This forces me to pause the game and conduct research. Including internal resources is a practical design: providing us with the tools necessary to solve a puzzle should be a given, not a bonus.

    This leads me to another issue: the puzzles utterly fail to challenge me. Doubling as clues to possible motives and hints on what inventory items to acquire, these are placed none-too-subtly on bulletin boards in the school hallways. Oftentimes they require nothing more than a hand mirror (another external tool you should have ready) to read clues written backwards or upside-down. They end up telling, rather than showing, the storyline. It is a lack of trust on the developers' part that we desire and can overcome a trial of the mind. A quality mystery game, as this claims to be, should quietly tease our subconsciousness rather than obviously feed us answers.

Clue One

Clue 2

   This puzzle fiasco results in a shockingly short game length of about 3 hours (and that's being generous). Even excluding the constant swapping of disc 1 and disc 2 (which can be forgiven as this is an older game), the short game doesn't really allow for a fully-developed story or nuanced characters.

    The "mystery" part of the story is lacking.  Because the characters are cartoons, a sole reliance on inflection combined with no facial expressions or body language means one less dimension of detective work. I can't tell if Connie is lying because her eyes don't slide sideways, or if Daryl is hiding something because he can't fidget during questioning.

Talking with Connie

    Additionally, few red herrings means too simple a story. I want to question everything I learn: it makes the detective work more exciting.  The suspects have their motives for wanting Jake dead (with some reasons less fathomable than others), yet they don't try hard enough to cast suspicion on others. No interaction between the four suspects, including any sort of link or connection, makes it feel like I am conducting four disjoint investigations rather than one. Misdirection is at the core of a good whodunit.

   A lack of locales is another issue that contributes to an underdeveloped story. I can only visit Maxine's Diner, Aunt Eloise's home, Paseo Del Mar High School, and Vandelay Pharmacy (which I can't even explore). And within those locations I am limited in my investigation. I can only rummage through Jake's locker, for instance, but I can't see what Hal might be hiding in his. This was a golden opportunity to further cultivate the characters' personalities, backgrounds, and motives.

    In the end, it is the absence of psychology that kills this game.

top


And The Stunning
  I reserve this section for those aspects of the game that put it "over the top." It is the last weight I place on the scale. When I have a balance between The Good and The Bad, it is the deciding factor on the game's fate in the Verdict section.

   Regretfully, the game does not provide that unparalleled feature that makes all the mental effort and invested time utterly worth it. I cannot find anything that the developers lovingly nurtured to eminence. Nothing stands out to make me recommend it to others.
 
top


Verdict
   Though quick and fun, this game fails to provide the basic components of a quality mystery game. Clues are too easy to find. There are too few places to explore. It is the why not the how that interests you and I the most. Nothing redeems it.

    Don't buy it.

    However...

    Every heroine has her humble beginnings. Each Nancy Drew computer game hereafter achieves greatness with cunning puzzles, in-depth characters, extensive gameplay, well-written storylines, and appropriately-chilling ambiance. They do what this game does not. Without the benefit of full reviews and compelling explanations, I entrust you to do the series justice and buy it, starting with #2 Stay Tuned For Danger. They are the Nancy Drew games you have been waiting for.

top

Syberia

This is another wonderful game from The Adventure Company. It is a masterpiece by Benoît Sokal. I bought the limited edition Syberia Saga (which contains Syberia II as well) simply for the intriguing cover art and the unique storyline.

Front cover

Inside left flap

Contents: Cast of Main Characters  Box Summary  The Good  The Bad  And The Stunning  Verdict


Cast of Main Characters
Kate Walker: Our heroine, aged 30s, who is challenged to adapt or fail as she travels via train from France to Syberia on what may be a fruitless quest or the greatest adventure ever...

Hans Voralberg: A genius at creating automatons, solely obsessed with mammoths, and child-like in every other way, he is the one Kate seeks, though he may never be found...

Oscar: One of Hans' greatest creations, Oscar the automaton is Kate's companion and train engineer, more human-like than even his gears and metal casing may realize...

top


Box Summary
   For Kate Walker, a sophisticated New York Attorney, the Voralberg Toy Company acquisition seemed like an easy task: a quick stop-over to a small alpine village in France to buy-out an old toy factory, then straight back home to New York.

   But deep in the alpine valleys, Kate uncovers a secret which starts her on a fascinating quest of discovery. Due to an unexpected twist, her business trip quickly becomes a journey across land and time throwing all she values into question, while the deal she set out to sign becomes a pact with destiny...

top


The Good
  So many questions fill my mind with the intriguing opening cutscene of the game: who are these automatons that form the funeral procession? Who made them? How do they work? Why are they bearing the coffin along rather than humans? Instantly I am hooked: I, like you will, desire to know more.

  As I soon learn, these automatons are sophisticated robots created by Hans Voralberg, designed for both everyday and outlandish functions. They are marvels to behold: works of art that successfully capture the contradiction of forward-looking and nostalgia. Their rough, sketched-out texture married with their astonishing and realistic movements makes them characters not to forget. Their magic, what makes them tick so to speak, is never revealed. I only wish there are more throughout the game, though it is their individuality that makes them so special. Two in particular, my favorites, I wish to share with you:

This automaton hangs outside the entrance to a building. When the lever on its left is pulled...

  ...it lifts its arm so its telescopic eyes can skirt over Kate's introduction letter...

so the person inside can see who is at the door without getting up. A clever invention.

  The other automaton embodies the essence of grief as it guards the Voralberg tomb: head bowed, hat removed, metal cape listless in the cold wind. Under this sentinel's eyeless gaze, Kate must pass.

  Even as members of a computer game, the automatons exhibit such craft that I must define them as engineering marvels.

  If you, like I, are a compulsive saver, then you will be pleased to know there are plenty of save game slots. I find it especially helpful when I want to revisit a particular scene in case I missed something. A potential drawback is that I'm unable to type in a title for the saved game (e.g. "in cemetery before tomb") because it automatically saves time, date, and an accompanying screenshot. But I appreciate this time-saving method for it allows me to return quicker to my game.

  Controls are simple point-and-click. Though no tutorial accompanies cursor meanings, they are easy to pick up. There is an overall sleek feel to the game that stems from the absence of cluttered buttons and menus and options. Everything is clearly labeled with words rather than symbols so I know how to adjust sound or open a diary in my inventory without wondering or guessing. Additionally, fellow speed readers can skip through subtitled dialogue and certain cutscenes with a right click of the mouse.The game can be paused with a simple tap of the space bar.

top


The Bad
  This game promotes itself as a puzzle game. Unfortunately, the puzzles are lacking in depth and integration.

  Puzzles that aren't challenging enough, or puzzles for the sake of a puzzle (as if placed to meet a certain quota) want for complexity.  Take, for example, fixing the bandstand automatons that have been broken for years. All this involves is pulling a lever. This "problem" is pointless and tedious: it does not require the deep thinking or minutes of scribbling to figure out the solution that you, like I, may crave.

  A puzzle should not stand out from its surroundings; it should not jolt you and me from the game by announcing its presence. Its placement within a game should make sense. For instance, I shouldn't be able to use a machine without first turning it on. Yet there are a few puzzles that make me scratch my head and wonder why they are there. One involves entering a code on a console. In order to get the code, I have to extract it from a sequence of numbers provided by the console's help hotline automated answering system. The phone call seems gratuitous: why can't those numbers simply be available on the console itself, or in a user's manual attached to the console? It is an extra, unnecessary step that does not add anything to the storyline or game.

  Which leads me to another issue: pixel hunting. You know how frustrating it is to search a screen for that one inventory item needed to proceed. Because this game is inventory based, I have to double-check screens to ensure I have acquired everything so I don't have to return later. Even activating a hotspot requires pixel hunting at points. One door in particular gave me trouble when I first tried to locate it because it was tucked away in the corner in a dimly lit room. Sokal (the creator) should consider incorporating a hot key to highlight inventory items onscreen, because searching should not be the focus of my attention. This is so much else to experience. 

The chain Kate needs to pick up (highlighted by the yellow "Y" cursor) is a dash of silver lost on the grey floor

   Regrettably, the soundtrack cannot be included in that ideal. An average of one song plays at each location, and while beautiful in their own right, a mere handful of songs is not enough to capture my heart. In fact, there are long stretches of quiet, interrupted only by ambient sounds such as birds chirping. While this may reflect the reality of life, a quality soundtrack can evoke more emotion than graphics or storyline alone. Lack of a soundtrack, or the sparse use of, simply teases cruelly.

   Clarity is another drawback. For Kate to verbally interact with others, I click on a brief list of names and subjects, which prompts discussion. However, this list is vague at best, so I don't know what information I will receive. Some information spurs on the game, other simply provides some interesting but ultimately useless background. Kate can ask about such topics as "Kate," "Mission," "Hans," "Help," "Automaton," "Birds." It is only by going through all the choices can I continue on with the game. While this is not a tedious process, it would be more streamlined if I could select the entire question instead of the one word.

    Speaking of words, a minor but consistent annoyance is the unreadability of some fonts in documents. Such fonts are designed to make the diary or book look handwritten, and are successful in that attempt, but fail to make collection of pertinent information quick and easy.

top


And The Stunning
   Character development is a key component to a realistic game. It is not often that a game fleshes out secondary and background characters. It is refreshing that every single person Kate interacts with has personality and dimension.They all exhibit the right emotion, and the right amount, at the right time. Not one person or automaton sounds flat or artificial, as if they are reading off a script. Each character possesses depth regardless of the length of their appearance in the game. Just from one short phone conversation I can tell that Kate has a flaky, shallow mother and an inflexible, results-driven boss.

    The main character should always be developed to an identifiable point: she is someone whose spirit I embody. What is unique about Kate is that she continues to develop throughout the game. She is not a static character whose personality and viewpoints are set from the very beginning. She changes as she encounters new situations and problems. Like any human in the real world, Kate matures with age.

   Kate starts out as a likeable enough character. She speaks her mind without being rude, she is persistent, and she knows how to handle different types of people (treating children with kindness and lecherous men with amusing verbal retorts). She has the do-what-it-takes attitude, even if it involves skirting the law. 

    Yet she has two great flaws. One is her spoiled personality. She won't get her hands dirty, quite literally. She pitches a slight fit while trying to retrieve a boat oar resting in a couple of inches of stream water: "Yuuck! That oar is all dirty and wet!" Her city attitude is disappointing, even disheartening. Also, she allows herself to be walked over. She is submissive when speaking with her boss, and unceasingly apologetic when her pushy boyfriend Dan doesn't get his way. At one point she says to Dan, "The sale isn't going through as expected. I've got to stay a bit longer. Dan... you don't mind, do you?"

    Maintain your faith in Kate as I do, and continue playing, for your confidence is not misplaced. For this is the lure of this game: I watch her attitude gradually mature into that of an independent woman with poise and self-assurance. My respect for her increases as time goes on. By the end, she has grown from likeable to admirable. She is more the core of this game than any storyline or set of graphics can hope to achieve.

    True to her pragmatic nature, Kate is a practical dresser. Wearing a long coat, pants, and tall boots as befits the cold European weather, she conveys a subtle stylishness that won't offend fellow female gamers.

    But where would Kate be without her right-hand man, or automaton rather, Oscar? The dapper Oscar is the right mixture of man and machine: his seemingly unintentional sense of melodrama humor balances his infuriating penchant for rule-following. He is Kate's guide, both physically as they journey to Syberia, and emotionally as she has to overcome challenges along the way. He tells her, "I have total confidence in you, Kate Walker. You are, after all, a brave and resourceful woman."

    The chemistry between the two develops as much as Kate's personal attitude. At one rest stop, someone has overpowered Oscar and stolen his hands. Kate and Oscar are discussing how to proceed:

Kate: Right, Oscar! Let's go find this hand-bandit then. And this time we're not going to be such a pushover!
Oscar: Kate Walker. Please do not think that this problem does not concern me. But if it's all the same to you, I would so much prefer to stay here, just to be on the safe side. An engineer never abandons his train, after all.
Kate: Yeah! Sure! Another good reason not to lend a... I mean, not to help me out!
Oscar: Kate Walker. Even an automaton deserves a little compassion. I have just been savagely assaulted... Ooh I can feel one of my spasms coming on... I am on the verge of a clockwork breakdown. And all you do, is accuse me of being selfish.
Kate: OK! Take a rest, Oscar! You're not much use without your hands anyway!

    Oscar is a true friend to Kate, a source of reliability and trust. They are more alike than not, despite him being metal and wood and she being flesh and blood. Both desire to fulfill their potentials, which makes Oscar just as human as Kate. When she first meets him and calls him "Model XZ2000," he politely corrects her, "Please, all my friends call me Oscar. This fad for cryptic names is such a bore. Could you imagine being called by your passport number?"

    With such a great focus on character development, that is not to say that the story is unimportant. Captivating from the start, the storyline takes me on a journey to fantastic locations that border fantasy and reality. Though the graphics lack crisp detail that would make them a stunning aspect unto themselves, the unique atmosphere they produce in each location more than compensates. From the fusty halls of Barrockstadt University to the bleak industrial Komkolzgrad, each stop on Kate's journey feels like a world of its own. 

Barrockstadt University

Komkolzgrad

top


Verdict
    Everything about this charming game is to be savored, from its diversity of characters to its dream-like locations. Its ending should not dissuade you from continuing the journey, because its sequel, Syberia II, awaits.

    Buy it.

top