After
twenty-two globe-trotting adventures, I can imagine that Nancy Drew
must have a hard time keeping track of them all. Sharp-witted though
she is, she’s been through quite a lot over the years, and I’m
sure they all begin to blur together at some point. One car chase
is just like the other, one ransom note the same as the last one,
and so on. And that’s how I’m feeling about the series.
As endearing as it is, and as much as we have come to love its charmingly
formulaic format, its latest entry is virtually indistinguishable
from some of its predecessors, failing to display anything new or
even top previous mysteries in any way. I’m not even sure this
game has any right to proclaim itself “a mystery adventure”
on the box, seeing as it feels neither like a mystery nor an adventure.
Granted, we should be thankful that Her Interactive produces two of
these games a year, an output to be proud of, and we have come to
know that the summer title is usually shorter and less satisfying
than the fall title, but still. . . .

The
premise sounds enticing, if much like half of the other entries in
the series: Mysterious accidents. Possible foul play. Money at stake.
The only difference is that Nancy is – allegedly – battling
weather as a foe, chasing tornadoes in Oklahoma. Sounds cool, right?
Except you don’t really get to do that. Not that I know how
such an activity could be accomplished in an adventure game, but as
far as I’m concerned, the whole tornado gimmick is supposed
to be a big selling point for this game, and it doesn’t really
deliver. Sure, there are a few times where we get short cinematics
where the clouds grow dark, the winds pick up, and a twister tears
across the sky. It’s visually interesting, and yes, it is something
different, but it’s just not that exciting. I didn’t feel
the danger or fear that I should have.

If
anything, I felt bored. Nancy is hired by her wealthy uncle to figure
out who is sabotaging the a college storm tracking team, but she gets
to do very little investigating. Every day she gets a briefing from
one of the team members on what her chores are for the day, and when
she finishes those, someone else generally has other things for her
to do. She’s basically a servant for the duration of the “mystery,”
and it starts to become something of a running joke. A character asks
her to fix something, like a television or a car engine, and one dialogue
option is for her to lament, “But I don’t know how to
fix that!” Indeed, Nancy plays repairwoman or gofer for 95%
of the game, and it’s just not fun. Sure, she’s supposed
to be clever and handy and resourceful, but she’s been hired
as a detective. All of her tasks involve her solving complex puzzles
in order to fix something, and there comes a point when our disbelief
simply cannot be suspended anymore.

Nevertheless,
the game does display its usual strong points. The characters’
movements are lifelike; the voice acting is superb; the dialogue is
witty; the music is appropriate; the graphics are nice. But it all
seems to be in vain, for there is no real storyline to move anything
along. We don’t get to learn a lot about the suspects or snoop
through their things; most of the investigative work comes from overheard
conversations, and thus the conclusion is very unsatisfying because
we don’t feel like we’ve been a part of the mystery at
all.

What
I would like to see more of in the series is actual detective work,
in the spirit of the original book series. I want to see her scour
a room for clues; keep a file on her suspects and motives and evidence;
spy on people; wear disguises; etc. If I’m going to step into
Nancy Drew’s shoes, I want to feel like a detective and have
the opportunity to sort through the clues and try to figure out whodunit.
I don’t want to pretend to be a maid and then have the mystery
sorted out for me. That’s not fun for anyone.

Speaking of fun and of
not being able to distinguish one game from another, I would like
to quote a passage from Ray Ivey’s 2004 review of the tenth
game, The
Secret of Shadow Ranch (which seems very similar to Twister):

All computer and video
game designers should work with the following two placards hanging
visibly in their workplaces:

GAMES
ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FUN

IS THE PART I’M
WORKING ON NOW MAKING THE GAME MORE OR LESS
FUN?

I regret to say that with
its latest effort, Her Interactive practically erased six years of
work. What is also odd is that this is obviously not the first time
that excessive chores have plagued one of their games. I’m struggling
to figure out why feedback doesn’t seem to be implemented, and
how beta testers approved of this game as it is. Ray said it best:
Games are supposed to be fun. Trail of the Twister
is not.

System Requirements:

PC

• Operating System: Windows®
  XP/Vista/7
• 1 GHz or greater Pentium
  or equivalent class CPU
• 256 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

MAC

• Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard
  or higher
• Intel Processor
• 512 MB RAM
• At least 1.1 GB of hard
  drive space
• Intel GMA 950, ATI X1600,
  NVIDIA 7300 graphics card or better
• Keyboard and mouse
• Internet Connection