Nancy Drew Challenge November Recap

The Nancy Drew Challenge is a reading challenge for 2010 for readers to attempt to read all 56 original yellow hardbacks that were in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. Click here for more information or to sign up for the challenge. At the end of each month, I will put up a post where participants of the challenge can recap how they did during that month.

This is it! The last month of the Nancy Drew Challenge! One more month to read at least 30 books to be eligible for these awesome prizes. If you haven't already finished the challenge how close are you to? How many more books left?

One of the awesome prizes up for grabs is Warnings at Waverly High. I originally had a long review about this game but I lost it somehow and thus lost any screencaps I had saved while playing. Therefore I will be posting screencaps from the Amazon site.
Threatening notes and dangerous accidents plague the valedictorian candidates at a prestigious boarding school. Suddenly the rumors start flying, and no one can tell the difference between fact and fiction. Does someone want to knock these students out of contention for top honors? What secret could the culprit be trying to protect? No one knows for sure, but thankfully, Nancy Drew's here to figure it out. Join her as she goes undercover to find out who's behind these strange occurrences. In Warnings at Waverly Academy, it's up to you and Nancy Drew to blend in with the student body. Cram for projects, navigate social cliques and text your new friends just like every other high-school student. When no one's around, sneak through the dorm rooms and take pictures of possible evidence with your cell phone camera. Become part of the scene by running the school snack bar and playing air hockey in the student lounge. Can you crack the case before the threats begin to turn deadly?

I haven't played computer games in a long time so it was a treat to try to crack this case. The story line is very engaging. I haven't played one of these Nancy Drew games before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Would Nancy be all goody goody like in the books? How would she adapt to new technology? Would the storyline be predictable?

All my questions were pretty much answered in the first few minutes of playing. While the game does revolve around a mystery and features Nancy Drew, it's not like reading a book at all. In fact, it's BETTER because you are now a part of the game. The story takes place in an upscale boarding school as Nancy goes undercover to find out who is threatening the top candidates.

There's lots of puzzles to solve, games to play and characters to talk to as you try to solve the case. There are some scenes that a little scary. They take place in the dark and quiet of an empty, abandoned basement. I honestly was a bit terrified that something was going to jump out at me. I was a tad disappointed that Bess, George and Ned don't really play a factor in the story. But all the other characters are so engaging that you don't really miss them.

Considering difficulty level, there were sometimes that I got a bit frustrated because I couldn't figure out what to do, where to go or who to ask. I found myself going around in circles clicking on everything. Luckily though it was never TOO frustrating to make me want to turn off the game. Younger players might decipher it easier, but it's also good to know that the game isn't TOO easy to ward off older player.

What I found most interesting was the storyline of how competitive school can really get and how some people will do anything to get to the top. Even though this is just a story, I know that there are people, even girls this age, that will do anything to make sure they will succeed and stop others from doing so. This would make a fantastic book as well.

From the screenshots below, you can see that the game graphic are gorgeous. While not 100% realistic they're extremely detailed and really pretty to look at. The human characters are a bit jerky at times, but overall they fit the game really well.



Overall, I would recommend this game for Nancy Drew fans and mystery fans of all ages. It's safe for kids but fun for all ages. I would love to play more of these games as they add a new and fun dimension to the Nancy Drew Universe.

Thanks to HerInteractive for sending me a review copy of this game to play.