Developed by: Her Interactive | Published By: Dreamcatcher | Played: 10/7/04

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This game is much better than Secrets Can Kill. The hint line people have more real conversations with you, the characters are CG instead of 2D animations, the game fits on one disk, and the culprit is one of the main characters instead of some stranger.

The packages that show up in the mail with threats to kill you are a cool twist. It makes the player feel more personally emotionally involved in the plot to kill people.

This game has an appeal that all Nancy Drew game have, which is outlined in the review for Secret Of The Scarlet Hand.

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Of the other four Nancy Drew games that I played before this one, this version had me going to UHS-Hints.com much more often. Knowing what the next step is in the game is much harder to figure out in this version.

The hint line has the goodbye text first and the help me text second, and vice versa in later Nancy Drew's. It is much better to have the help me text option first, because most players call the hint line to get hints, so it is much more likely that they may accidentally say goodbye and have to dial again, increasing the frustration level.

This edition of Nancy Drew lacks the learning about stuff feature. In Message In A Haunted Mansion the player learns about Chinese characters and the history of San Francisco, in Secret Of The Scarlet Hand the player learns about Mayan history, and in Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake the player learns about national parks and prohibition gangsters. This one lack that learning experience.

The sweet-talkin' ways of Nick are just weird, and make the characters seem stereotypical and not believable. Also, when one of Nancy's friends on the phone start gossiping about soaps and slobbering over the celebrity thing, it just makes the whole experience seem unenjoyable, and makes the characters less believable. And certainly less likable.