tomatoworm's Full Review: Nancy Drew: The Secret Of Shadow Ranch for Windows
Based on one of Nancy's best books of all time "The Secret Of Shadow Ranch" sends you as Nancy Drew on a ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The aunt and uncle (the Rawleys) of your friends have called you over to solve yet another mystery. This time a phantom horse (OOoooo) of an romantic outlaw has been prowling around causing bad luck to whoever sees it. Before you arrive, the uncle gets bitten by a rattle-snake and has to go to the hospital, so none of your hosts are there.(Poor people!) Shorty, the cook claims that the snake came from the phantom horse ,but yada yada enough of the story; time for the review. If you want more about the story look it up or read the book, which is also very good.
The Graphics
First of all, I would like to say that the graphics have really improved since the first games of the series. Everything is realistic and colorful looking. Even the game window has improved to almost the whole screen! The phantom horse is a little washed out looking, but he's still pretty cool. The buildings in the ghost town have a very run-down down and ancient look to them. The lighting effects are well done in the cut-scenes and the little cracks of light in the egg house! Everything is as it should be in the graphics department. The character models are very realistic and their mouths match their talking. I could go on forever! -----------I give the graphics a 9/10
The Sound/Music
The music in this game is a great mix of swing and wild west themes. It's always very catchy and sometimes a little scary. Heck, there's even an electric and acoustic guitar song!(Soundtrack please!). It is very appealing to the ears and almost never gets old. Anyway the sound is also excellent. Every little cricket, horse, cow, wind and everything else immerses you in the action. The rest of the sounds are good too. Did I mention the music also plays in accordance to all the locations. For example when you are in the ghost town you will hear spooky themes; when in Indian cliff dwellings, acoustic riff? Oh yeah! The voice acting is really good and matches the character's personality perfectly. To sum this section off, I give the sounds a ----10/10. That was a mouthful! I should really make new sections.
The Gameplay
Finally! One of the most important factors, how does it play? Well, if you have played any of the other Nancy Drew games you will know that it is a point and click adventure where you collect items in an inventory, rifle through suspect's things, question them and solve puzzles. The characters are very well done and very interesting as you find out more about them. The puzzles vary from coded messages to sorting and many other little puzzle things. There are a few more things new to this game you can do like riding horses or exploring ghost towns that add great variety. Aside from a very few awkward puzzles and inventory, the game scores big on gameplay. Fun mini games like barrel racing or broom lassoing adds even more winning fun! The historical and educational value is as usual at it's best. The game is very long and will keep you at the edge of your seat as you uncover secrets. It is lastly very unlinear (thank goodness!) which means you can pretty much accomplish anything within a certain time period. It is true that there are many chores to do on the ranch. These tasks can be annoying ,because you have to do them over and over each day of the game. Later you have to bake a cake which can be a little frustrating if you don't put the right ingredients. Despite these little quirks, the game still shines with great quality. Overall there isn't more much to say about it except that it is really well crafted, and you'll just have to figure the rest by yourself. The gameplay hits a 9/10
Overall
If you like adventure games, get it. If you like Nancy Drew get it now. It is a very lengthy fulfilling adventure that you will definitely get your money's worth. To me it is one of the best adventure games of all time. To you? Well, you'll just have to play it. Price tags for it are very cheap now so you won't have trouble saving up for it. If you are a boy(me) and don't like any mushy girl stuff then at least try it. I never thought I would like these type of games until I tried it. Lastly, I think the world needs more games like this. Games you can enjoy on a nice afternoon that are slow paced and not to stimulating. I'm also amazed how well it runs. I'm running it on an old windows 98 and it hasn't crashed or glitched yet. Aggh, hand cramp! Anyway have fun!
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