Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Her Interactive Developer: Her Interactive Media: CD/2 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure/ Family
Graphics & Sound: Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice is number 18 in this long-running series of adventure titles that brings the teenage private eye into the interactive media. And this time, Nancy will be called to Italy to help the police solve a string of thefts. The series has typically had a fairly good grade when it comes to visuals, but then again, most adventure games focus on getting the look of the game right. The Phantom of Venice portrays the water-logged city beautifully and everything from the gondoliers to the architecture comes through pretty well. While there is nothing stupendous in the game's visuals, it definitely gets the job done. The game's sound is adequate, but like the visuals, is nothing that really stands out. The sound effects feel appropriate and the general feel of the city seems right. The game's music is subtle and gets the job done, but in the end, it is forgettable. At least Lani Minella reprises her role as Nancy Drew and continues to do a pretty good job.
Gameplay: Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice takes our little detective to Italy where she is called upon by the Venetian police to help solve a series of thefts. It is quickly discovered that the masked burglar is actually a crime syndicate that names each of its members after characters from Commedia Dell'Arte, and Nancy's ultimate goal is to find out who the syndicate's ring leader is, a person known only as Il Dottore. Throughout the adventure, Nancy (and you) will learn some Italian, play the card game Scopa and change outfits to either follow the latest fashions or disguise yourself in costumes. Every step you take brings you one clue closer to who is behind the thefts and finding the historic artifacts that have been stolen. Your journey through Italy will take you to Carnevale, Piazza San Marco and the waterways piloted by gondoliers. Each location is filled with quite a few interesting puzzles, and rarely do the game's obstacles feel forced, nor their solutions convoluted and out of place. All in all, the story itself was rather enjoyable, much like the past games in the series.
Difficulty: Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice's difficulty is on par with the previous games in the series. Most puzzles are fairly logical and I only had the occasional brick walls when going through it. In each Nancy Drew game, there have been several puzzles that could end the game prematurely if you failed to solve it correctly. The game also offers a pair of difficulty settings that give you the option of undoing your mistakes. This is a nice addition and not seen in a lot of adventure games, but then again, it isn't typically necessary since long-term consequences aren't usually apparent when you don't do something correct in the game.
Game Mechanics: Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice's controls also follow closely to the past games. Everything from the game's inventory system and general control of the game is pretty solid. Thankfully, there were only a couple of spots where pixel-hunting was necessary, and the game's story offers a few distractions (like trying to earn some Euros), so it doesn't ever really feel dragged out. In the end, the game's mechanics can be seen in pretty much any other adventure game, but then again, that's why it has a solid pick up and play value to it. While The Phantom of Venice won't win over any new audiences, the existing fan base (those people who have bought the previous Her Interactive games), will definitely find this latest installment enjoyable as well.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Minimum System Requirements: Windows XP/Vista, 1 GHz or greater Pentium 3 or equivalent class CPU, 128 MB of RAM, 1 GB or more hard drive space, 32 MB DirectX 9.0 compaible video card, 16 bit DirectX compatible sound card, 24x CD-ROM drive   Test System: Alienware Aurora m9700 Laptop, Windows XP Professional, AMD Turion 64 Mobile 2.41 GHz, 2 GB Ram, Dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS 256MB Video Cards, DirectX 9.0c
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