Nancy Drew: Danger By Design

"The first Nancy Drew game to disapoint, its still a solid adventure"

Yet again another game from this great series. Danger By Design is the fourteenth game, and just like all the others, its a first person adventure with 2D graphics and 3D animations.

All the Nancy Drew games are known to have spooky storylines and events, yet no blood and gore is ever seen. On this game though, only half of this is still right. (more on this later)

GRAPHICS (8): All Nancy Drew games use the same engine, without any changes on the graphical department. Ok, some animations seems to get better, but not by much. But the graphics are STILL great. The 2D backgrounds are in the same quality as the older games, but this game has some of the most varied places in all the series. The 3d animations are in the same quality since the 10th game, but there are even more animations now (the game has 2 cds). Anyway, nothing to complain, other than the fact that I believe its time to create a new engine. Than again, they release two games per year, so maybe using the same engine is a plus? Maybe, but I would LOVE to see full 3D graphics now…

Sound (6): The games on the series are known to have great sounds. And even though this game is no different, I feel that they took a step backwards. Where are the spooky songs from the other games? In here, most songs sounds like they came from a comedy cartoon, and this makes the sound department a bit more kiddish. The sound effects are still very realistic, but the surround effects are gone. Instead, it seems the sound is now mono, no matter from where the sound is coming, you'll hear it the same way. A huge step backwards in my opinion.

GAMEPLAY (5): Ok, this is the main reason for disappointment. All the Nancy Drew games had great gameplay, but something went very wrong here. Ok, the interface is better than ever, Nancy's diary is still here, and can be accessed very easily and the navigation is still easy. But some of the best features from the older games are gone. The time is not as important as it where. You can't even see the time, and even if you could, it would be useless, since Nancy goes to sleep at 8 PM anyway. What happened to the option to wake up in the middle of the night to investigate places where we couldn't before because someone was there? GONE! This nice feature was removed, but one of the worst ideas in the world was added: now you have limited money, and have to buy stuff from some merchants. C'mon, this is an adventure, not an RPG. And even worse, to get more money, you need to color some fake paintings. The images are already there, you just have to add some color, based on the original painting. Yes, to get money you have to act like you are 6 years old. Believe me, this gets old VERY fast, but you WILL need to paint a lot. Like the above weren't enough, the game now has some of the most stupid puzzles ever. You are a detective, but you have to catch roaches, play with kiss dolls (that paper dolls that comes with paper clothes and you have to dress them), develop pictures and bake chocolate cookies. And not, I'm not kidding. They made the game very boring, and since they even removed the spooky feeling from the other games, this feels like a game for little kids.

STORY (6): Well, the story is not bad. Nancy is called to go to work as an assistant in Paris for a crazy stylist, but the truth is that Nancy is actually trying to investigate the reason why her boss is getting some angry threatening letters. And even more mysterious: the stylist wears a mask, and lets no one see her face. And no one knows the reason for this. Nancy has to do a little undercover work, but since no one knows that she is a detective, she has to do every stupid job her boss tells her to do, and have to be careful when investigate something. Nice story, but a bit non-Nancy Drew for me. Where's the spooky feeling of the story? This is what I'm asking myself…

CHALLENGE (6): This game is the easiest of all the series, and this is another thing thyat disappoints. Nancy Drew games where always challenging, but this one is just so easy that gets boring. And added to the fact that most puzzles are childish, you won't have to use your brain a lot.

OVERALL: Well, I'm a huge fan of point-and-click adventures, and this IS a decent one. But I felt like the developers where trying to make the game more childish and funny than spooky, and this has nothing to do with Nancy Drew. If you are REALLY a fan of Nancy, go ahead and buy this one. But don't expect much. If you just want to know a Nancy Drew game, DON'T start with this one. Get any of the older games instead.

FINAL SCORE: 6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/07