Review Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park Developer: Gorilla Publisher: Majesco Genre: Adventure Release Date: September 2007 Platform: Review by Randy Sluganski October 18, 2007		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

Everyone has their own different way of approaching a new game.  Some read the instruction booklet from cover to cover before even looking at the game.  Others jump right in, itching to get started immediately and damn the instruction booklet.   Me, I read the credits first.   I’ll look in the back of the instruction booklet for names of people I know in the industry.  If the credits are not in the booklet then I’ll load the game and go to the credits screen. 

So imagine my surprise – no, scratch that – imagine my shock and utter disbelief to discover that one of the writers for Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park (ND:DSOWP ) was old friend Hubert Chardot.  Yes, that Hubert Chardot, considered by many to be the father of the action/adventure genre:  The Alone in the Dark series, Shadow of the Comet, Prisoner of Ice – all bona fide classics.  And now Nancy Drew. (or should that be, ‘And now Nancy Drew?)

Those of you who are die hard Nancy Drew fans, will be surprised to learn that not only is Her Interactive not the developer of this newest ND adventure, but that it also forsaken the first-person point-of-view for a third-person point-of-view.  Blasphemy?  Well, I’m not here to judge, just to provide my opinion on the game, so you’ll have to make that call yourself. 

Nancy’s hometown of River Heights is home to Olde World Park, a new multi-million dollar theme park that features the peak of history’s greatest civilizations.  The park is owned and was developed by grandfatherly billionaire industrialist Thaddeus Belmont.   It’s often been rumored that Thaddeus obtained his fortune under shady circumstances and now on the eve of the park’s opening, the billionaire hasn’t been seen or heard from in days.

Well, it looks like this is a case for . . . Scooby Doo!  Ruh-roh?  While I can’t pinpoint an exact reason, ND:DSOWP often made me feel as though I was in an adventure with Scooby and the gang. Maybe it was the jaunty soundtrack or maybe it was Ned chauffeuring Nancy to-and-fro in his Mystery Van, er car.  Or maybe it was the mini games that reminded me of the old Scooby Doo games from The Learning Company.   Let’s investigate this together and see what we can uncover.

Nancy, as usual, is adept at uncovering a crime where none was known to exist.  This time around, the search for a friend’s lost dress and park pass eventually leads to a full-blown mystery.   The control pad on the left side of the Nintendo DS, is used to move Nancy around.  When there is something to investigate, a magnifying glass will appear on the screen.  A   silhouetted figure will appear to let you know when you can enter certain areas.  And this is my big problem with this game.  Every item you need to investigate is identified, every area you need to enter is marked.  There is nothing  -absolutely nothing – left to the imagination.  All of which leads me to believe that this game is geared towards the novice, preteen gamer. 

The game is played from a third-person perspective which means we get to see Nancy the entire game.  She’s a cute young girl, though at times it does look as though she’s had a Botox injection in her lips.  Nancy’s Clue Journal contains icons that can be touched to review clues, but really wasn’t much help during the game.  When Nancy is caught is an area she doesn’t belong in, she must stay in the shadows to avoid being spotted ala Thief.  If caught though, the game doesn’t end, but instead thankfully places you back at the beginning of the stealth section.   Frequently encountered locked doors can only be opened by playing a mini games that requires you to plop, moving colored balls into their respective like-colored holes in a key-shaped picture.

Some characters who are offering information freely, such as the female police officer, require mini games to get the character to open up, which doesn’t make a whit of sense.   Yet some other characters who have reason to hide their motives, provide information without requiring any mini games.  The logic is not always clear here.  The mini games themselves are innocuous and take advantage of the touch screen.   Color Match, Pathway, etc. are all meant to have you somehow duplicate a character’s emotions so that they will then open up to Nancy.

The game is light and breezy with an appropriate touch of silliness - one character makes a living by seeing werewolves everywhere – to dull any hard edge.  I did take some issue with Nancy’s sometimes dubious code of ethics – she has no qualms about breaking into the files at a mental institution or sneaking past a police officer, but I guess a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Developer Gorilla has done a commendable job with the subject matter – especially when you consider that licensed properties are usually the most difficult to develop due to the already built in restrictions -, but there is room for improvement.  As it is now, ND:DSOWP will only appeal to preteen females.  But the Nancy Drew audience is much more encompassing and Gorilla and Majesco have missed out on a potentially much larger audience by not offering different levels of play such as Junior and Senior Detective.   As is, Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park can easily be completed in four hours or less.