Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand

The Good
Nancy gets a job as Deputy Curator in a museum that is trying to get ready for a big exhibit centered around the Mayan civilization.

I've played a few other games with this theme, so I wondered which parts of the Mayan culture would be incorporated in this one - and how they would differ. The only similarity I could see was the numbering system. In ND6 you get to dabble with Mayan words and their meanings, the names of the gods and their calendar. I have no clue if anything but the numbers are historically accurate, but they're all interesting so it really didn't matter to me.

This game is full of puzzles and they are all very well done. As you would expect, many of them involve inventory items and talking to other characters for clues. The puzzles are designed to make you explore the Beech Hill Museum thoroughly as you dig for the answers. Believe me, by the time you finish this game you'll know that museum like the back of your hand. None of them are particularly hard if you have explored well enough. You'll have a few pieces of equipment to operate, a unique method of assembling parts into a whole, tiles to rearrange, an easy maze, a few cute games to play, and many question & answer type puzzles. I personally think all of them were fun and were integrated well into the story line.

As this series progresses, the technology is getting better and better. Installation and gameplay were flawless throughout. The interface is simple to use. If you played previous Nancy Drew games, the first thing you'll notice is a slight change in the cursor. In many of the areas you are now able to use a "circle" arrow to turn completely around. What a time saver!

The actresses and actors did an excellent job portraying their characters. The creative conversations have flair and depth. The music had a distinctive Mexican flavor and I never got tired of hearing it. Sound effects were well done too.

I also like the fact that Nancy got a chance to travel outside the confines of the museum. Those locations were nothing more than another "room" but you got the feeling that she actually left the building.

The graphics were beautifully done - the characters as well as the "world". The Mayan artifacts are interesting and it is obvious there was much research done to be sure they looked authentic.

The Bad
I'm still complaining about the limited save game slots, but I don't think the designers are going to change that. It works well if you plan your saves properly, so it is something I'll just have to learn to live with.

The persona of one male character in the game is the double of one in The Final Scene with darker hair. His voice is completely different, at least.

There is little difference between the Junior and Senior detective levels. Why have a choice if that is the case?

The Bottom Line
Although it may not sound like it, this Nancy Drew game is my favorite in the series so far! Why? Because of the way the story unfolds and the quality and quantity of the puzzles. There's much more to it than flipping back and forth between characters asking questions. Unlike some of the other games, Nancy cannot use information she hasn't already gathered in the game - by reading, observing, listening and exploring. For instance, even if you have read a password in a walkthrough, until you learn it in the game, your answer will not work. So, things progress the way they would in real life.

Secret of the Scarlet Hand is a good one. I highly recommend it to all adventure lovers of any age.