Review Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! Developer: Her Interactive Publisher: Her Interactive Genre: Casual/Adventure Release Date: November 2008 Platform: Review by Ryan Casey November 25, 2008		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

For about a decade, if you can believe it, Nancy Drew has been solving mysteries on the PC, thanks to Her Interactive. Now, on the heels of her nineteenth (!) full-length adventure, part of the #1 selling original adventure series, she is back in a new casual series, Nancy Drew Dossier: Fast Fun for Busy Detectives". Rather than targeting the teenage girl audience, though, this new series is primarily aimed for adult women who are looking for a game that is short and easy to learn, though there’s no doubt that both males and females of all ages will enjoy it. Don’t worry, you still play as your favorite crime-solving heroine, you still get to meet interesting suspects and snoop for clues, but there are several twists to this new format that make it an addicting and highly enjoyable mystery experience.

In this first adventure, Nancy is on the set of a controversial remake of the infamous 1930’s film “Pharaoh,” which achieved its notoriety when its star, Lois Manson, died mysteriously when she was bitten by a poisonous snake on the set. Now, however, the film is the victim of a series of mysterious accidents, which many people have attributed to a curse and a black cat that has been seen around the set. She goes undercover as a production assistant to figure out who’s behind these “accidents” and get the film back on schedule.

The game is broken up into twenty-six chapters. Each chapter’s goal is featured in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Gameplay is straightforward: your magnifying glass cursor will sparkle when it comes across something of interest. When you click on it, you will see that item in a close-up lens. Sometimes the Action Bar, or Nancy’s Sleuth Kit, will light up at the bottom of the screen. It has icons for looking, grabbing, picking locks, and using the flashlight. Once you’re in a close-up of an item, you can back out of it, at which point the lens is still visible on the screen so you can see what you’ve already found. Let’s say, for example, you find a broken wire. Then, in another corner of the room, you find duct tape. You click on the duct tape, then the wire (or vice versa), and voila, you’ve earned yourself some points, which affect your detective status. Basically, every puzzle in the game is solved by combining one or more items. The number of items you have left to find in the room is in the bottom right corner, so you can keep track of how you’re doing. At the end of the game, if you’ve earned enough points from detecting and playing bonus rounds, there is a special alternate ending. If nothing else, it provides replay incentive in case you don’t catch all the clues the first time. I think the game does a great job of keeping you guessing at the culprit’s identity until the very end.

The beauty of it all is that, unlike the traditional search-and-find casual mystery games that have been coming out by the numbers lately, the concept of the game doesn’t wear thin after a few levels. Firstly, the game is plot-driven, so there are still characters to interact with, clues to find, detective work to do, etc. Secondly, Her Interactive found organic and innovative ways to use the item combination tactic, adapting it for different environments and different puzzles. Thirdly, there are mini-games within the game itself -- lock picking, decoding, bartending -- which can even be played in arcade mode. And finally, there is another type of puzzle to mix things up: interviewing.

In interview mode, Nancy must ask the right questions so as to earn points and, well, not sound stupid in front of the suspect. The suspect, from the shoulders up, appears in a box in the upper left corner -- sometimes s/he is animated, and other times s/he merely has an expression on his/her face to react to what Nancy has just said. At various points in the conversation, Nancy will begin a sentence -- for example, “I’m really excited to be working on the same movie of that actress, …” -- and you would choose “Lois Manson” in order to earn points.

The character animations, by the way, are very well-done and detailed, just as in the games, and the script and voice acting are, as always, superb. The graphics themselves are not as high quality, but are certainly very well done and fit the casual style of the game. Also, in between the chapters, and at various other points in the game, there are comic strip-style interludes, which are just neat to watch, and which provide some variety to the game.

Overall, this game was a blast. To be honest, it was actually more enjoyable in some respects than some of the PC adventures. It’s the kind of game that’s great to savor in chapters, to play little by little whenever you have time, and replay again and again to try to earn as many points as possible. Anybody can pick it up and start playing in no time, and I guarantee you’ll be hooked instantly with such a creative and clever concept. I highly recommend this game to everyone, and am already looking forward to the next installment!

System Requirements:

• Windows® XP/Vista
• 1 GHz or greater Pentium® or equivalent class processor
• 256 MB RAM
• Video Card: 32 MB DirectX 9.0-compatible graphics
• Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX sound
• 1 GB+ Hard Drive Space
• Windows-compatible mouse and speakers