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Nancy Drew: Danger by Design Review (continued)
More User Submitted Nancy Drew: Danger by Design Reviews
Date: 2006-09-09
Nancy's visit to Paris hits both new highs and lows
"Danger by Design" marks Nancy's fourteenth adventure from Her Interactive. This time around, Nancy finds herself in the City of Light (and love), Paris, investigating the mysterious, moody plus-size clothing designer Minette. Minette is exotic to say the least: she throws massive temper tantrums, fires assistants left and right, and lately she's been wearing a mysterious, Phantom-of-the-Opera-like mask.
Nancy arrives at Minette's design studio in an old windmill ("Moulin" in French) as her new intern, and receives anything but a warm greeting after losing her luggage. Minette's assistant Heather McKay shows Nancy the ropes instead. Nancy is staying with Jing Jing Ling, a plus-size model, at her luxurious apartment.
As usual, strange going-ons signal a new mystery for Nancy to solve. Danger By Design is based on the historical German occupation of Paris during WWII, including the French Resistance, so the educational element is high here. Nancy follows the trail of one Noisette Tournade, former owner of Minette's windmill and French Resistance heroine. Along the way, she meets a colourful cast of characters from the world of high fashion: Hugo Butterly, Minette's rival; Jean-Michel Traquenard, fashion editor for GlamGlam; and Dieter von Swesterkrank, fashion photographer extraordinaire.
The game does recycle tired puzzles from former ND games, including ever-present sliders, clock puzzles, and "build the food" combinations, but manages to create fresh puzzling experiences using an M380 decoder based on the WWII Enigma machine. The puzzles in Danger by Design are more difficult than those in the last few ND games.
New elements include a daring underwater exploration of Paris's catacombs, navigating Paris's metro system, and Nancy speaking (and reading) some French. Unfortunately, Her Interactive chose not to include famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur, even though they are shown on the map.
Some attempts were not as successful. The game seems to be sending a mixed message with Jing Jing, a plus-size model who's forced to constantly bake and eat cookies in order to gain the three pounds needed to be a perfect size 12. Add the fact that she's a pathological liar, and she's not the best role model. Also, the game involves one puzzle focused on a bottle of rare wine, even though it's referred to as a "beverage."
Voice acting is consistently above average. The German and French accents were heavy-handed and overdone. Background music was unobtrusive: the occasional lilting accordion breezing in and out, and excellent ambient sounds. Visuals were colourful and detailed, although some of the character modeling looked awkward (Jean-Mi's face seemed to slide into his chest like molten wax, and the veiled woman in the park seemed off).
The lowest point was the ending. I sat there in shock at the absurdity of the ending (think Rocky and Bullwinkle), and lameness of the final confrontation. After such an excellent setup, I expected far more. The game's ending is as weak as Blue Moon Canyon, which also felt hasty and inadequate. However, Danger By Design still has many redeeming features to recommend it, and is educational to boot.
Date: 2006-09-09
one of the more challenging mysteries
This was my favorite in the series yet. The graphics are stunning the whole Paris/ Fashion vibe is Tres chic! There are many fun puzzles, including a shopping district where you can haggle with the locals. Go underground Paris for your most challenging Nancy Drew maze yet! (be prepared to get wet!)at the end of your game, see the sneak preview for the next PC game! hint: think tropical! Note: you may want to try junior detective before advancing to senior, as some of the games seem almost too difficult in junior mode..
Date: 2006-08-31
Nancy Drew:Danger By Design
I have played all the Nancy Drew games since the first installment and have enjoyed playing them along with my children immensely. And been guilty of playing without them. This game in particular was a very quick finish and i was left feeling like there should have been more. As usual, the story line is filled with a lot of background history and this one gave you that, but i didn't get much of any background,if any,on the characters, at least, not as much as previous games. My favorite aspect to these games, aside from the fact that it's a game i can enjoy right along with the kids, is the puzzles and brainteasers. Much of those are lacking this time around. Most of the time was spent going from one train stop to another ad nauseam and puzzles were obvious to figure out without too much thought. Unfortunately, i played the junior detective level instead of the senior, so I'm not sure if this short changed my experience some what. All that aside, I still love these games and recommend it's purchase, although, this one will not be remembered as a favorite in the line. Looking forward to October and Nancy's adventure in Hawaii.
Date: 2006-08-31
Danger By Design
We enjoyed this game, but it did have a few places that were very challenging, and we had to go to the message board and the internet for hints on how to solve them. It was as good or better than any of the other games, and we have played them all. The graphics just get better and better with each game. We are diehard Nancy Drew fans...my daughter is eighteen, and I am 43, and we still look forward to every new game.
Date: 2006-08-30
Not as fun as previous titles
I don't know if it's just me, but this game didn't seem as coherent as the previous titles, all of which I enjoyed thoroughly. I had much more trouble keeping track of the story and what I was supposed to be doing with this one. Plus, it was very buggy. When I played at Senior Detective level, my roommate never showed up after her fitting and I couldn't finish the game. It was not nearly as fun as I hoped it would be. I hope the next one is better.
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