Mishaps aside, the ambient music tracks and related sound effects add another great layer to this game. Oddly for such a creepy house, there was a definite shortage of actual spooks. I think Haunted Mansion was edgier, with odd things bumping through the night. But, then again this is not a haunted house, but a “cursed” one, so maybe ghosts are not part of the prime design. But it just looks so creepy; I guess I just want ghosts too. Regardless, the sounds and related cinematics are very good. Whether it is an eerie breeze brushing by as you try to make your way down an endless stone stairway, wild screams in the night or flies buzzing around some unfriendly plants in the Greenhouse, they were all appreciated. My only criticism is that I want more of them. What can I say, I am a greedy gamer. There is also another new in-game element that impressed. Each time you use the clock to switch to the next day, you are awakened at 3:15AM. Remember, this is a Halloween tale, so you aren’t summoned at that hour for anything pleasant. A spooky lady in black, a cursed beast or some other evil beastie might be waiting for you in the dark house. This all adds up to a devilish atmosphere and one tasty game.

When the Story is A-mazing

Typically in the Nancy Drew games, the plot is stepped up quickly. There is a missing person, will or treasure paired with a haunted horse, carousel or house. You meet a set number of characters that are all key suspects for these odd events. You complete the tasks assigned to you and then go onto a new day. In Blackmoor however, there are some changes. First, in past games there was an alarm clock that played a big part in the gameplay. Some events, people and clues were only available at certain times during the day. To get to these quickly, you set the alarm for the time you wish to wake up. This device had its share of detractors and it vanished for the last few episodes. It’s back and bigger than ever in this game. I think the device is well used and saves a lot of frustration or perhaps boredom in having to wait a clock out, so I was glad to see its return.

But the new game aspect that truly surprised was the extreme non-linearity of the storyline. I have been somewhat conditioned to take care of whatever I find in an area of a Nancy Drew game as I come across it. After day one, I felt overworked and seriously lost. Then I realized there is one primary over-riding task and settled back in. Yes, this represents a departure for the series and I like it. Blackmoor is more demanding than the earlier games and is a surprising challenge. You have to complete one fairly intricate task at the end of the game, but there is no specific order in which to amass the component parts to this puzzle. There is a handy to-do checklist to keep you more or less on track and the individual tasks are not that hard to figure out. So, it is easy to relax into the gameplay and thoroughly enjoy yourself.

Going on a Ghost Hunt

The puzzles in Blackmoor are a departure from the last few titles. In recent games, there have been a number of busy work type challenges; collect the bugs, harvest the veggies or make a cake. Yep, that’s right — make a cake. I assume this was Her Interactive's effort to cater to the pre-teen girl that makes up a large share of their market. But apparently, they decided to return to more classic puzzle styling in Blackmoor. There was only one busy work task in the game and it was purely optional. The majority of the in-game challenges are classic mechanical or logic-based and these puzzles are liberally placed in every room and every available niche. Amazingly, despite the volume of challenges, they are well integrated, so Blackmoor remains firmly fixed in its storyline and never feels like a “puzzle” game. The sheer variety of puzzles, games and challenges give the gamer a decent length of playing time that isn’t stretched by tedious tasks or inane gameplay extenders. Even better, some of these puzzles are not that easy. For those who prefer a faster gameplay, if you look around this place there are some built-in cheats or hints to slide through the harder puzzles. There is also an “Easter Egg” that pops up in your inventory after you fool around with one particular “chattering” item. There was a similar pop up in Ghost Dogs used along a forest path to unlock a number of related “hidden extras.” So I am looking forward to a second walk around Blackmoor Manor just to find the hidden goodies.

And the prize goes to…

Nancy Drew games will always be the “comfort food” of gaming to me. They are somewhat predictable, but provide a well crafted, good looking and entertaining gaming experience at a reasonable cost. Despite that rather basic assessment, I am very pleasantly surprised at how strongly the series is holding up. Rather than becoming stale, this game is solid proof that the series continues to show new vigor with each release. I would rank Blackmoor as the one of the best of them all, if not the best so far. The enhanced graphics, more open-ended game play, a return to solid puzzling and a well crafted family-friendly game plot make for a nice piece of gaming. In the end, Nancy Drew proves she still has a lot of surprises up her sleeve and I am looking forward to the next game in the series.