Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor

"Another Nancy Drew game that does NOT disapoint."

Nancy Drew 11: Curse of the Blackmoor Manor

Genre: Point-anc-click spooky adventure

Here we go again with another Nancy Drew game. For the ones that don't know, its a series of underrated first person point-and-click adventure games with scary storylines, but without violence or blood. You control the teenager Nancy Drew, a very intelligent detective that isn't afraid of anything (yeah, right!).

Curse of the Blackmoor Manor is the eleventh game on the series, but one thing should be noted: its the eleventh game in FIVE years, so expect to see more of the same.

Graphics (9): This game has the basically same graphics as the earlier games (well, just a TAD better), and they are still very good. Like all the other games, this is a 2D game with some 3D effects, and thanks to Bink compression, this game has more animations that the other ones. The backgrounds are still very realistic and very interactive, and the characters animations are even more realistic than before (the lip sync is almost perfect now). Nothing to complain here. Not a perfect 10 just because the dark places are... well, TOO dark.

Sound (10): Now this is something that always seems to get better and better in the ND games. The sound here is PERFECT. Every action has a very realistic sound effect, and now they use a full 3D environmental method (AKA surround). This makes the soundtrack very scary now, since when you hear a weird crack, you KNOW from where it came from, just don't know WHAT made this sound. Very nice. The songs are still fitting to the theme, and this game has lots of tracks. A perfect 10 in this department.

Gameplay (9): This is another thing that seems to be improving from game to game. This game plays just like most point-and-click adventures, but they added some tweaks here and there. The cursor is now very helpful. Just like the earlier games, it changes form depending on where you are pointing, but you can now determine if you are pointing to something clickable or pointing to the way out. This game also has a diary where Nancy writes some infos, but now she uses it way more often. You also has a cel phone that you can use to see the time, call your friends or surf on the Internet. The puzzles are very clever, and to solve most of them you HAVE to pay attention to everything around you, not just near the puzzle. Oh, and I cannot forget about Loulou: she is a parrot (a very intelligent one) that can give you some nice hints if you get stuck. But she won't tell you exactly what to do, just give you some vague clues. Very nice gameplay. Not a 10 just because the frame-by-frame navigation (that it's the same on ALL the games on the series) can be annoying sometimes.

Story (7): The weaker thing on the game, but still good. In this adventure, Nancy is called to a manor to investigate the reason why one of the owners of the place is sick and getting worse and worse everyday. Not only that, but the lady refuses to be seen by people, and keeps a curtain covering her bed all day. But the place is sooo spooky that even Nancy is afraid to go there. Maybe something is wrong with the manor? Ok, its not the most original storyline, but believe me, it gets better. Maybe after 11 games the creativity of the creators is weaker, but at least they still CAN make the story as spooky as ever.

Challenge (8): Here's a plus: this is one of the hardest adventures ever!! But here's a minus: this game may be a bit TOO hard. Ok, its good to have a good challenge, but some puzzles here are downright frustrating. Its like they WANTED you to use an walkthrough. Still, this challenge makes the game worth your money. Persevere and you will beat the game.

Overall: Another fine addition to this fine series, Curse of the Blackmoor Manor may not have lots of new stuff, but it's a great game from an almost dead genre. You may complain that they made 11 games in 5 years, thinking they should enhance each game a little more, or you can praise the developers for giving us 11 great games in 5 years. Its up to you. I for one LOVE adventure games, and this IS a fine one, so I highly recommend it. Just be prepared for the scares.

FINAL SCORE: 8.6

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/07