Just finished replaying Her Interactive’s “Nancy Drew: The Curse of Blackmoor Manor.” Yes, I’m a dweeb. Twenty-one-year-olds are probably not supposed to play Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure games. I mean, at least the “Broken Sword” series, right? Well, I like the ND adventures. They are, for the most part, reasonably intuitive, have decent voice acting, good writing, good graphics . . . besides which, who doesn’t think it’s fun to pick through a tangled web of lies and deceit with creepy noises echoing around you?
Anyway, the game held up for a second play. There are only a couple of inordinately annoying puzzles that have you scurrying about as far as you can go in the game’s world to collect information, and there are only two timed pieces that are far from impossible. Second play was four or five hours with a few good doses of dawdling. Still recommended.
Still doesn’t compare to “Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle” (”TDOTT”) from Pendulo Studios. I bought the game this summer and managed to save it until a couple of months ago. That game is a treat. The only pain in the ass is the ending – pure cliffhanger, story’s-not-over, we’re-gonna-have-a-sequel bullshit like the end of “TLJ: Dreamfall” – though it does promise more awesome graphics and hilarious writing/acting from independent Pendulo.