Nancy Drew – Creature of ooops I mean Ransom of the Seven Ships is the latest installment of the 3D detective series. Like always it brings hopes of a great and mysterious adventure which is just waiting to be solved by eager minds. Unfortunately I think that RAN was a disaster.

First of all let’s talk bout the graphics. I’m what you would call a hardcore gamer and I love beautiful graphics. When it comes to adventure games I don’t expect spectacular graphics like those new games for the PS3 or Xbox360. Nancy Drew like always have decent graphics, but omg what is up with the people? I really would like the developers to spend more time and use higher graphics on the people because they look awful. Like someone else said George looked like she could be Nancy’s mom!

As this is a treasure hunt it’s appropriate to set the setting to an island, but wait haven’t that been done before? Yes! Creature of Kapu Cave! We’ve already seen this and it’s so uncreative to do this again. Hopefully the next game which will take place in a school will be better since that’s not been done before (except for one of the earliest games, but they don’t count!). On top having the same setting, navigating through the Island is an absolute mess. I cannot stress the fact that I drove around like 12 times before I eventually found the place I was supposed to go to. The Bat Steep I didn’t even find until I accidentally drove of road. I mean come on, how are people supposed to know that we’re supposed to drive of the road?

And the 3rd person games, absolutely dreadful. There were too many of them and there was no escaping them either, you had play through them all. The mini games were okay but the difficulty didn’t match the junior vs senior level at all. The junior puzzles were impossible. I tried and I tried, but eventually I gave up and emend up using a walkthrough through the whole game. Meh.

Anyway I won’t write a long detailed review but I give this game a 2 of 6. It’s the worst of the new Nancy Drew games in my opinion but still one can find little joy if you have a lot of patience.

Thanks Doffy! I guess I'll save this one for a rainy day.

Ana

Just Adventure just put up their review and gave the game an A-.

This is a VERY puzzle-intensive game, with some of the puzzles being timed. I think Doffy has very well expressed all of the reasons that some will be disappointed with this latest offering in the Nancy Drew series.

On the other hand, I also believe that for some percentage of players, this game will rank amongst their favorites, and I don't believe there will be much middle ground in the love-it-or-hate-it groups. I believe that some of the puzzles in this game were very clever and that this game will please all of those who were looking for a more challenging game. It will also please those who did not find the chit-chat between characters to be one of the best parts of the ND games. And, it will also please those who wished to dispense with cooking and sewing chores, and so forth.

Speaking for myself, I am glad that I played the game. It won't go on to my list of favorite Nancy Drew games, but I still found many things to enjoy. And I didn't have any problem with the graphics per se, or with the way that George and Bess looked, but then again maybe I'm just not all that observant.

I enjoyed the game very much. I didnt think the game was any harder than any other Nancy Drew game, actually I thought it was easier. I didnt really enjoy the timed puzzles but I was happy it didnt take me too long to do.
I thought the graphics were Nancy Drew style just like all her games. Thought George and Bess looked pretty good.
I thought the ending was great, lots better than the other games of Nancy.
I would give the game an A- only because of the timed puzzles.

I really liked the game as with all of the most recent Nancy Drew games i give it a 8/10, just wish it was longer.

I for one completely agree with Doffy. Too much arcade gaming with monkeys and with only three characters actually in main game it made the culprit pretty predictable. Too puzzle reliant with not enough emphasis on Nancy's sleuthing skills. I give it a thumbs down 3/10. My original review appears in a post at HER Announces: etc regarding the Waverly game.

As I can see everyone on this game was concerned about a map as I was. What I did was pull up the map behind George. I put a blank peice of copy paper over the computer screen. Traced the Island, roads, bridges and locations, and sand crossings.

It worked I had no problem getting around

Hey guys. I have this one but havent' played it yet and am wondering about the driving part. I hated the driving in SOC, and so I'm wondering if this time it's similar, different, easier or harder?

Thanks so much!
Cat

Cat, I haven't played SOC, but the driving is not difficult at all. I just disliked it because I was always lost--

I finally drew myself a map which helped immensely.