Preview Nancy Drew: Curse of Blackmoor Manor Developer: Her Interactive Publisher: Atari Release Date: October 5th, 2004 Platform: Preview by Randy Sluganski September 20, 2004

Witches and werewolves and runes – oh my! No, we’re not talking about Harry Potter, it’s instead intrepid, teenage sleuth Nancy Drew.

Having just helping Nancy solve her eleventh pc adventure, I can soundly predict that Nancy Drew aficionados are in for a treat, and not a trick, this Halloween season.

Nancy’s newest adventure sees her off to the centuries old Blackmoor Manor located in the moors of jolly old England. Only it’s not so jolly for Nancy as newly wed Linda Penvellyn - a friend and former neighbor of the Drew family – now refuses to leave her bedroom and insists that there are strange goings on afoot in Blackmoor Manor.

Nancy – being the inquisitive type – decides to investigate further and luckily we get to tag along (you never know when Nancy might have a d’oh moment!).

The list of suspects include:

Mrs. Drake – family member who oversees the manor. A strict disciplinarian and somewhat of a prude, she seems to be fixated with that huge carnivorous plant in the conservatory.

Jane Penvellyn – Linda’s twelve-year old stepdaughter who loves to play boardgames. Could someone so young be responsible for the manor evil-doings? Hey, did you ever see The Bad Seed?!

Ethel Bosinny – Jane’s tutor. Charming, but strangely mysterious. Gotta admit though, she’s a cutie. Oh, if only I were twenty years younger and comprised of polygons.

Nigel Mookerjee – A local historian who is researching and cataloguing the Blackmoor Manor library. Or is his research just a pretense?

Brigette Penvellyn – Sure she’s been dead for over a century, but this is a ghost story after all!

Loulou – An eighty-year old parrot from the Amazon. Okay, she’s not really a suspect, I just like to say Loulou.

Some of the suspects this time around do move about the manor and even interact and sleep according to real time. For example, Jane has lessons everyday from 8am – 4pm, so Nancy cannot visit her room during these hours. There is also an alarm clock in Nancy’s room that can be set to awake her at specified times.

The manor itself is very well laid-out with enough secret corridors and hidden rooms to keep one searching every shadowy nook and cranny.

Most companies will market their newest game as the most challenging yet, but that claim is no exaggeration for Blackmoor Manor as I found it to have the most stimulating puzzles of any Nancy Drew game yet. Prepare to do some heavy duty reading and note-taking as you will need to familiarize yourself with astronomy, ancient runes, Latin and even cockney slang.

Nancy’s notebook is a huge help as it contains her thoughts and thus clues, but just as important is her telephone that has a browser so you can do some web surfing.

All in all, this is probably my favorite Nancy Drew game yet. It has just the right amount of spookiness and some clever puzzles. Hopefully, you’ll get to play it on a cold, dark night while the wind is whipping off the moors and the full moon is glowing through the flickering tree branches. Just remember to occasionally look over your shoulder….