Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch – PC – Review

Her Interactive has just released their tenth Nancy Drew adventure, The Secret of Shadow Ranch. With such a long running series as this, there usually comes a time when the material becomes old and stale. But Her Interactive, so far, has avoided this problem and continues to improve the games by adding minor changes, while maintaining the solid gameplay that has made this series so successful.

Shadow Ranch is a dude ranch out in the Western United States. Nancy is supposed to meet George and Bess at the vacation ranch, but of course, Nancy’s life is never that simple. When she arrives at the ranch, she is met with the news that the owners, the Rawleys, who are Bess’s Aunt and Uncle, are at the hospital treating Ed Rawley’s snake bite. George and Bess are also missing, as they are stranded at the airport waiting on a flight. This doesn’t mean that Nancy’s vacation will be dull, however, because as we all know, where Nancy is, mystery will soon follow.

According to the ranch employees, a mysterious phantom horse was sighted the same night that Ed Rawley was bitten by the rattlesnake, and no one seems to know anything about the strange apparition. Nancy soon discovers that the ranch has a rich past, replete with thwarted love and human greed, and coupled with the current tensions amongst residents, this makes for an interesting mystery.

Like all the previous Nancy Drew games, this game’s format is an adventure, played from a first-person perspective. Nancy spends her time talking to people and collecting inventory items, and also solving puzzles. The puzzles are well-integrated into the story, and really add to the feeling of involvement. The games in this series usually have rich educational detail, and this latest entry is no exception. Players will learn about the Anasazi Indians and some things about their culture, and also find out all there is to know about horses and how to take care of them.

Many of the puzzles are of the sliding type variety, but there are also several that require information gathering. New to the series are the addition of tasks that must be accomplished in order to advance the story, namely chores done for the various hands around the ranch. Again, these chores add to the feeling of really working at a dude ranch, but a few of them could be better designed as to the directions or clues given to successfully complete them. For instance, Nancy must bake a cake for the cook, Shorty. There are many choices required in this process, such as temperature, the size of the pan and the cooking time. This is purely a guessing process, especially for someone who has never baked a cake before. But, while this puzzle can be slightly annoying, there’s a real humdinger waiting further into the game.

At one point, Nancy must gather ten arrowheads. A few of these are easy to find, but the rest are extremely difficult, and boil down to a cursor/pixel hunt over every inch of ground. This is very frustrating, and while hints are available on various sites, they’re not much help. Many kids are going to get stuck and not be able to advance at this point.

However, despite a few poorly designed puzzles, the overall use of the puzzles and other story elements in immersing players in the story is probably the best I’ve ever seen in any game for this age range since the Oregon Trail series. Kids will really feel they are at a dude ranch.

The humor in this game is more pronounced than in many of the previous games, and is of the type to especially appeal to pre-teens. A tombstone in the desert proclaims the resting place of a favored mule in humorous words, a newspaper reads like a western Enquirer, and Shorty the cook is really funny with his comments. The story is also very well-done, and will definitely appeal to girls with its hints of a lost love a hundred years ago.

The interface is a little different, with a wider screen due to the inventory being accessible by clicking an icon, instead of being always visible on the side of the screen. Having a bigger screen is great, but the inventory handling is a little awkward, as players will have to first click on the needed item, then click to close the inventory screen, then do it all again to replace the item. This should have been handled with a right mouse click to draw up the inventory, and an automated method of replacing the item. Other changes include more features added to Nancy’s cell phone. Also, mini-games were added to the series a few games ago, and this one also has a fun strategy game at Mary Yazzie’s store, and the ability to barrel race.

As always, the graphics are nicely done, although the horse and characters are a little stiff appearing. The music is wonderful and really fits the western theme!

These games just keep getting better and better. My family (ages 14, 18 and 42) agrees that this is our favorite game from the series yet! We love the increased interactivity, the greater number of puzzles, the humor, and the strong plotting. While some of the puzzles are too difficult due to a lack of direction, the game as a whole is a winner and one that fans of Nancy Drew will be excited to receive!

Gameplay: 9
This game is what every adventure game should be, challenging yet fun! Directed toward kids ages 10-up, this game admirably fits its target audience. At the same time, adults will also find much to appeal here, I’ve been having a blast playing! The only reason the gameplay didn’t get a 10 is because of two of the puzzles, which could have been better designed.

Graphics: 8
Pretty good graphics, but the characters could have been more fluid.

Sound: 9
The music is perfect for the theme and is very catchy.

Difficulty:  Medium
The puzzles fall into a mid-range of difficulty for the most part, but a few are more challenging, mostly due to a lack of clues on how to solve, rather than an intrinsic difficulty.

Concept: 8.5
As this is the 10th in a series, there’s not anything startling new in this edition, but as always, it is well-executed. There are a few tweaks and additions, and these are good as well, although the inventory menu could use some improvement. The addition of mini-games a few games back is still present, and adds to the fun!

Multiplayer: No
Why not?

Overall: 9
A wonderful mystery for the whole family! The best in children’s games always tries to meld education with fun, and this game does that superbly, with a smooth integration of factoids about various things coupled with critical thinking activities and a fun adventure. Male or female, Nancy Drew fan or no, get this game!