Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand - PC

For some reason in all the years I've been playing these games, when it came time to pick out which title to play next I always skipped over Secret of the Scarlet Hand. I don't know why, but I always just assumed that I wouldn't like this game. Maybe it's because it's notoriously educational (and who wants a game that is like school?) or maybe it's because the previews for it aren't terribly interesting. Whatever the case, Nancy Drew has once again proved me wrong. My intuition on these games must be seriously off, because every game I'm sure I won't like ends up being one of my favorites. And this has indeed become one of my favorites of the early Nancy Drew titles. I'm going to split my review up into different sections so I can give the game a more accurate rating.PLOT - 5/5: Nancy is hired as the Deputy Curator at a Washington, DC museum called Beech Hill. It is quite an exciting time for Beech Hill because they are preparing to open a new exhibit on the Maya, the highlight of which will be a very rare (and very expensive) artifact - a large elaborately carved stone called a monolith.But poor Nancy just has the worst luck when it comes to vacations and dream jobs. Before she knows it, Beech Hill is robbed of one of its most beloved artifacts; a rare and unusual jade carving of the Mayan King Pacal. It seems to be related to a string of art thefts happening across the country, since in all the incidents Mayan jade artifacts were the target and a threatening red handprint was left at the scene.I thought this plot was just wonderful. It was well thought out, thorough, and unique among other ND titles. The length was perfect; I finished it over the course of a few days. There were lots of little twists and turns that I really enjoyed. It was interesting and intriguing, and very educational. Let me repeat that; it was VERY educational. It is set in a museum, after all. There is tons of information to take in - some of which is vital to the mystery of some of which is not. I have always loved history and am especially interested in the Maya and Aztec so this game was just my cup of tea. But if you don't like history - or aren't a big fan of plenty of reading in a ND game - this game might not be for you.CHARACTERS - 4/5: Suspects in this game include Joanna Riggs, the curator of Beech Hill and therefore Nancy's boss, a fairly serious young woman with a history of being a bit too eager to acquire artifacts for the museum. Henrik van der Hune is the museum's resident expert in translating Mayan glyphs, so he is arguably the only person in the museum who can guess an artifact's true value. Then there is Taylor Sinclair, an art dealer located in DC, who often does business with Joanna and appears to be unusually concerned over the museum's safety. Finally, there is Alejandro del Rio, a Mexican ambassador who accuses Beech Hill and other museums like it of flat-out stealing artifacts that rightfully belong to Mexico.Phone friends include Bess and George, the Hardy Boys, and Franklin Rose, who is a member of the Beech Hill board of directors and friend of Nancy's father. There are quite a few one or two time phone friends related to the plot as well.Unfortunately, the four suspects weren't very memorable. Their personalities were not particularly well defined and there wasn't anything quirky or fun about them. Worst of all, none of them were very suspicious. Basically, no one from this cast of characters is going to be making my favorites list anytime soon. However, the previous deputy curator, Sonny Joon, seen only in notebooks he left behind at the museum, was absolutely hilarious and his notebooks were a delightful comic relief. I hear he shows up again in some of the newer titles so I'm really looking forward to that.SETTING - 5/5: The setting was excellent. Beech Hill was very interesting and there was tons to look at inside. If it were a real museum I would definitely visit. Other places to see include Nancy's hotel room, Taylor's office, Alejandro's office, as well as some other locations that are unlocked throughout the course of the game. One thing that really blew me away was how realistic it all was. There were little things - like how could you see the exterior of every building before you entered it - that made a huge difference. It was so easy to get into the mystery because it really felt like I was there.PUZZLES - 4.5/5: I liked the puzzles, though this game tended to repeat itself as far as puzzles go. In other words, you do the same thing a few times throughout the game. The puzzles in the museum were mostly information scavenger hunts, where Nancy would be posed with a quiz question and you would have to search the museum exhibits for the answer. That didn't bother me, but I could easily understand someone finding it tedious and too slow-paced. In hindsight this game wasn't as puzzle-heavy as some other ND titles, which worked for me as I'm not a huge puzzle fan. But the puzzles did work in seamlessly with the plot and I never felt like I was stuck doing something unnecessary just to make the game longer.IS IT CHALLENGING? Not really. Most - if not all - of the puzzles are explained by the game, and Nancy can call her friends for hints. I did go online for help once for a game of "chance" that I lost maybe 20 times in a row, thinking that there might be some strategy I was missing. But it seems that the mini-game couldn't be won until you reached a certain point in the plot, which frankly was pretty frustrating to learn I had wasted all that time. Anyways, I would give it a 3 for challenge.ENDING - 3.5/5: The ending was probably the only part of this game that really didn't impress me. Although the ending was very intense, it was just sort of awkward and didn't make a whole lot of sense. The culprit wasn't too predictable and their motive made sense. Overall the ending was underwhelming. But be warned that the ending of this game is pretty creepy, and because of it I definitely wouldn't recommend this game for young children.FINAL SCORE:Plot: 5Characters: 4Setting: 5Puzzles: 4.5Challenge: 3Ending: 3.5= 25, divided by 6 = 4.16 rounded to 4 stars

This game was fun but short. the thing i love is that within the game you have games you must play and complete in order to go further with your investigation. The only thing i didn't like about this game is that nancy's voice is so irritating and annoying like she was on too much prozac. Anyways one part i thought was poorly created was when i had to guess the password for the computer. Realistically all passwords must be one word (no spaces) so i tried everything. Finally i gave up. What do you know? in this game the password contains a space between the 2 words (which is not realistic to real computers) but oh well i just move on. Overall it was very fun to play and im in my mid 20's :)

This is one of my favorites in the series the game has fun puzzles, educational but in a fun way, good game length, its very kid and adult friendly no cussing or harsh scenes, and theres not a lot of moments where you cant figure out where to go or what to do.If your a new nd fan I would recommened scope out amazon you can find all the games used for cheap but in good condition!I would recommened this, Nancy Drew Secret At Shadow Ranch, Curse Of Blackmoor Manor, or Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake which got me into the games.If your daughter is intrested in the games and your worried about content and what shes getting exposed to don't worry nd games are very educational and have very mild content more reviews can be found on the nd site her interactive.

The game in the title was in the package I got, however, the description given neglected to mention that it came in a bundle of other computer games. I was lead to believe that it came on its own.

Another great Nancy Drew game. First person open world game with acceptable graphics (nothing special), Game play is easy, fun, and safe, violence is well hidden - as it par for these low tech style of games. Once you try one of the ND series games out - you will either like them all or none. For us, this game was worth buying and recommended. To save $$, look for games in collections of ND.

Bought as present for niece. Review as per her opinion. Navigation awkward and graphics a little dated. You have to take your own notes as no auto log to keep track of things. The sixth in the series but not the best-still fun but would prefer more depth.

I lost my copy of the game a couple years back so I brought it to replace it. Since the game is in an older format you have to install in a certain way. Her Interactive actually has a page discussing how to use older versions of the games with computers that are Vista or newer you just have to google it.

I'm an older ND fan. I've played at least 5 of the games, and this one is such a bore!! I bought it because of the great reviews. I can barely play for 5 minutes before I feel like doing something else. Castle Malloy, Crystal Skull, and Blackmoor Manor were excellent. The Wolf one was great too! I may not even get through this one.

I just love the Nancy Drew series of games. I have them all apart from the last two (which are not yet available in the UK) - but I will be purchasing them when they are available.

Great game play and very interesting to find out who the scarlet hand belongs to. Keeps you guessing. Great adventure.

:-)

Ce jeu est uniquement en anglais et ma langue est le français alors je ne puis vraiment pas aimer et apprécié des jeux que je ne peut pas jour pleinement. Il en est de même pour tous les jeux que j'ai commandés étant sur l'impression que ces jeux étaient écris en deux langues. Dans l'avenir, je vais commander mes jeux en français sur une autre plateforme

The product came on time and with bonus games too. The other games weren't nancy drew but cool to habe anyway. It is a little disaplointing that it does not come in a proper case but rather a type of cardboard set up so it could be bundled with the other games. If you want this for a collection i suggest looking else where. And if not than enjoy the extra games!