Nancy Drew and the Secret of Shadow Ranch is the tenth game ( so far there have been twenty one releases in total )in Her Interactive’s teen adventure series and, as the name suggests , has a wild west theme. While Her Interactive’s target remains adventure titles for the teen and younger girl market, there’s nothing to say that their titles can’t be enjoyed by the older gamer. The games themselves stick to the same presentation formula. The opening menu, inventory tools, opening music all will be familiar to anybody who has played any of the other titles and even some of the characters voices will have be recognisable. Fortunately the titles are based in such varied locations and each with their own individual theme there is little chance of the gamer getting confused . The franchise is still going strong so maybe people like the sense of continuity or familiarity used within the titles.
The plot takes place in Arizona and really has all the components to make a good Western movie – a hidden treasure, a forbidden romance, a Red Indian’s claim to land and to top it all a phantom horse ! Nancy arrives at the ranch alone as her friends George and Bess are stuck in traffic and the ranch owners are at the local hospital in fact all she has for company are three ranch hands. It doesn’t take Nancy long to realise each of the ranch hands have their own agenda . Then there is the history of the ranch that unfolds gradually . A tale of forbidden love, a robbery, the hidden treasure (which seems to be the worst kept secret at the ranch – everybody knows about it except the owners J )and, more recently , a claim for land.
The gameplay methods and interface within the Nancy Drew series stick pretty much to their tried and tested formula. As with the other titles the main menu is presented as a stack of books with options on the spines and you seem to have unlimited saves which is always good.
The inventory system, however, I still find to be a bit cumbersome and think that a simple right click of the mouse to place items back in inventory would tidy things up for the gamer.
Nancy’s also has aids in the form of a notebook and mobile phone as part of her inventory. The notebook details what Nancy has learned in the game so far and also a list of objectives – very useful if you leave the game for a day or so to pick up where you left off. And the list of objectives helps in those “what next” moments. The mobile phone is used to make calls, emails and web search to aid in her investigations.
The inventory, notebook, cellphone and main menu options are all placed permanently across the bottom of the screen as is the dialogue window which appears when Nancy holds a conversation.
The puzzles range in difficulty and fun and, again, are integrated well into the storyline. There are a lot of mini games which will need to be completed to progress through the game. These range from learning to ride a horse, feeding the horses, making a cake ,and doing chores around the ranch. They all must be completed for you to progress eg learning to lassoo at the ranch so you can rope and climb in another area.
Again its hard to rate the difficulty level as it is designed for younger girls however I did find some of the puzzles troublesome. For instance when making the cake some of the measurements were a bit obscure – how many cups are in a litre anyway ?and when picking the vegetables they had to be just right if you brought Shorty vegetables that were over ripe or under ripe then you were ejected from the ranch, suitcases packed at the door, for not respecting produce. My difficulty was I couldn’t distinguish between the colours of some of them until I compared with others in the basket but by then it was too late as there was no way of getting rid of them. However, there is a facility in the main menu for a second chance which will retain all the ripe food you have picked for you to try again.
The presentation is of a high standard and creates a perfect western feel . The character renders too are wonderfully done and each with its own distinct personality for example we have a gruff Clint Eastwood style ranch hand and a more rotund ,camp voiced cook named Shorty. There certainly seems to be more characters to interact with in this episode even on the phone and I enjoyed the fact that I was able to leave the ranch for other locations .
Summary
Overall I enjoyed Nancy Drew and the Secret of Shadow Ranch slightly more than Nancy Drew: curse of Blackmoor Manor maybe because of its subject choice or the bright, open outdoor feel .Again it is well priced for a relatively difficult adventure title and is extremely well presented.
A selection of Nancy Drew titles are available to purchase at focusmm
