Nancy Drew
is hot on the sleuthing trail again, this time in Hawaii. As in the 13th
game of the series, Train to Blue Canyon, the Hardy Boys are also present, but
this time players get to actually play as the Hardy Boys! This combination
promises to be a lot of fun, but as in much of life, the reality falls a bit
short of the expectations.
Nancy Drew:
The Creature of Kapu Cave is the 15th installment in the
long-running Nancy Drew adventure series from Her Interactive. Most of the
elements are the same, such as the interface; the option of playing on a
Junior or Senior Detective level; the use of a phone, map and journal to keep
Nancy moving along and on track; mini-games; and activities to earn money,
which is used to gain information. Some features are new, such as playing as
the Hardy Boys and the use of GPS coordinates in the map interface.
This time
around, Nancy Drew isn’t actually on a case; instead, she is heading to Hawaii
to fill an internship with an entomologist. While she is there, however, she
soon becomes aware of a mystery involving Dr. Kim Quigley, the entomologist,
and the secretive Hilihili research facility on Kapu Island. To make matters
even more confusing, the Hardy Boys are also at Kapu Cave, investigating the
owners of an adventure/excursion outfit. Soon, these two mysteries become
intertwined.
As in many
of the games before, there are lots of “fetch and carry” errands that players
will need to do in order to earn money, namely fishing and gathering shells.
Unlike the endless car driving errands in Secret of the Old Clock, though,
these activities are pretty fun. There is also a mini-game in the shop, but I
never could figure out how to play it, and as it wasn’t integral to the game,
it was a meaningless addition for us.
The puzzles
are very easy to solve, and mostly involve entering in information such as
numbers, names and types of various items into objects that will then be
operable. There are two difficulty levels available which don’t change the
difficulty of the puzzles themselves, but gives players hints on how to solve
certain puzzles and what items need to be done next to advance the game.
The
characters in Kapu Cave are few, but are interesting and fun. We especially
enjoyed Big Mike and Pua, his surfing-obsessed daughter. The dialogue is
engaging, which is good, as it can’t be clicked through.
We enjoyed
playing Kapu Cave, and the fishing and necklace activities were neat, and
snorkeling was fun, as well. The look of the game is pretty, and the beach is
cool to experience. However, there are several things that unfortunately
detract from the overall quality of the game as a whole. The biggest problem
is that it’s entirely too short and can be finished in a couple of hours.
There aren’t enough mini-games, the puzzles are way too easy and some of the
errands are boring, such as the plant classification activity that players
have to do for Dr. Quigley.
Having the
Hardy Boys as playable characters is a good addition to the Nancy Drew series,
but these last two games in the series, Danger by Design and Kapu Cave, just
aren’t as good as many of the earlier games, such as Last Train to Blue Moon
Canyon, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, Secret of the
Scarlet Hand and Shadow Ranch (which was not as challenging as the other
games, but was a lot of fun for younger sleuths). The activities need to be
relevant to the story, the puzzles more varied as to difficulty and the
mini-games need to be better designed, in order to be on the same level of
quality as previously.
I would
suggest this game for families with several children that can play, or for
avid Nancy Drew fans. Otherwise, parents may want to wait until next year’s
installments.
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Gameplay: 6.5
The game is fun
to play, but is entirely too short. Also, there aren’t enough mini-games and
puzzles to do.
Graphics: 7.0
Everything looks
nice and the look of Hawaii is captured well.
Sound: 7.0
The music is also
fairly well-handled and is pleasant on the ears.
Difficulty: Easy
The game is very
easy, too easy.
Concept: 6.0
There is nothing
new here at all, really.
Overall: 6.5
This game just
doesn’t compare to previous Nancy Drew games. It’s too short, too easy and
doesn’t include enough variety. It’s hard to maintain a consistent high
quality in such a long series, but we’re hoping that next year’s games will be
back on track.
