I
have to say that like most Nancy Drew addicts, I have been eager for
this game to come out for a long time. Now that it has, I have a self-satisfied
smile on my face, knowing that as usual Ms. Drew and the gang have
managed to solve the mystery again, and in doing so, they’ve
created yet another hit for Her Interactive. This time our teenaged
friend Nancy is traveling to Ireland for a friend’s wedding,
playing maid-of-honor in the process. Of course, being a Nancy Drew
game, the fun (and mystery) start almost immediately when our girl
is run off the road by a raving Banshee. Not the way I’d like
to be welcomed to that beautiful country, but our girl is nothing
if not plucky, and finally finds her way to the castle and to her
friend Kyler. Apparently her groom-to-be is missing, and no one is
sure what’s happened to him. And while Nancy’s trip has
suddenly taken turn toward the mysterious, we the player don’t
mind at all. After all, how many of us will ever get to see Ireland
or a real castle in our lives?

Now, I don’t want
to give away the entire story here. I’d rather you played the
game and enjoyed finding your way to the end yourself. (Unless you’re
like me and need the occasional walkthrough!) So let’s jump
to the important stuff:

Graphics:

The
graphics in Castle Malloy are just as lovely as in previous games;
sharp, very colorful, and in some places true eye candy. When I first
walked into the Library I was bowled over by the details of the stonework,
the fireplace, and the glowing moon and stars that were visible from
just above Kyler’s desk. Beautiful! I’ve always enjoyed
the graphics in ND games, and this time was no exception. They’re
tasteful and very well-made, so that in some areas I wanted to climb
through my monitor and actually “be” in that space myself.
Everything looks touchable, from the leather-bound books, to the solid
stone walls, to the puzzles sprinkled around to play with. The graphics
not only engage the eye, but also the hands, making it seem almost
possible to feel everything around you.

Having said that, there
was one thing about the graphics that made game-play occasionally
difficult for me. Although we ARE in a dark, old castle with barely
if any electrical lighting, it can be almost too dark and hard to
see sometimes. For example, in the Great Room part of the outer wall
is gone and we can see the moonlight night beyond. It’s lovely,
but is also makes it a little difficult to see what is in the room
itself, despite the addition of a lantern early in the game. Also,
once Nancy makes her way outside to wander about the castle grounds,
it can be difficult to keep your eye on where you’re going,
which can sometimes mean falling into a bog! Granted, the lantern
is a huge help and it’s not a big problem, but something to
share for those of us who wear glasses and struggle with seeing things
in the dark.

The minor darkness issue
doesn’t take away from the game play or the genuine beauty of
the graphics though, so my grade for this area is a solid A.

Puzzles:

I
love puzzles and there is no shortage of them here. From cute kid-like
ones such as “find the difference” to more challenging
ones like the weight-balancing one, there’s plenty see, do,
and play with here at the Castle. Some of them are instantly intriguing,
such as the rune puzzle out on the castle grounds. Looking at blocks
with many different pictures and runes on them, then discovering how
to match them up is really a challenge, especially if you try it before
you receive a book full of hints! Also, trying to make your way across
the boggy grounds without falling in is a test all of its own. Every
puzzle seems geared towards both learning and having fun, and it was
always a bit of a triumph for me when I was able to solve one by myself!
Of course there are hints in the game that will give you what you
need, and those hints (often coming in books) are a life saver. There’s
something very satisfying about following a train of thought (or a
trail of breadcrumbs) and then seeing that moment when the puzzle
is solved and you get a prize. It reminds me of being a kid down at
the beach playing the game and trying to win a stuffed animal. Such
fun!

The puzzles I have to give
an A to as well!

Game play:

In
Castle Malloy we have a mix of moving normally about a room or space
as in previous games, but an addition has been made to this game that’s
a little different. When you are outside of the castle or local pub,
you’re moving about the castle grounds in 3rd person rather
than 1st. As soon as Nancy exits the castle or other indoor space,
we see her tiny little figure in front of us, holding her lantern,
and we as player maneuver her around the boggy grounds that way. When
she comes upon an area that can be entered or interacted with, the
game play returns to 1st person. Then when she exits again, the game
is in 3rd person once again.

I have to admit this took
me a bit of getting used to because I’ve always preferred 1st
person to 3rd person games. Especially since the Nancy Drew games
have been in 1st person from the beginning. I think that I would’ve
preferred this whole game to be in 1st person, but once I got used
to the back and forth way of playing, it wasn’t bad.

I’ll give game play
an A-.

Solving the mystery/Storytelling:

I
think one of the most important things in an adventure game is the
story behind the pretty graphics, and I enjoyed the storytelling in
this one a lot. It can’t be easy to come up with brand new stories
for each game as they come out, and it’s especially hard to
not become repetitive. This mixture of weddings, missing grooms, Irish
legends, and derring-do was a lot of fun and very original. The intrigue
of solving the mystery, as well as trying to figure out each player
and what was really going on in their minds was fun, and I especially
liked trying to figure out our bride-to-be. From the beginning I found
myself thinking about WHY she wasn’t more upset than she was,
and from that hook, came a great deal of intrigue and snoopy, delicious
detective work.

Yup, I have to give the
story part of our game a solid A as well.

Overall:

This
game was beautifully done, fun to play, and gorgeous to look at. With
only a few minor quibbles such as the darkness and the movements into
3rd person, I really loved this game. Sometimes you just can’t
put your finger on why a game works when another might not have (for
example, this Nancy-lover didn’t care much for White Wolf).
But for me I don’t always need to know. If I can sit down, pop
in the cd and get lost for a few hours or days, feeling completely
absorbed, then I know it’s a good game. That’s what happened
for me with The Haunting of Castle Malloy
and I think it will happen for you too.

My overall grade? A
all the way!

System Requirements:

• Windows® XP/Vista
• 1 GHz or greater Pentium
  or equivalent class CPU
• 128 MB of RAM
• 1 GB or more of hard
  drive space
• 32 MB DirectX 9.0 compatible
  video card
• 16 bit DirectX compatible
  sound card
• 24X CD-ROM drive, mouse,
  and speakers